An Ancient Clay Trick
In my college clay class I learned this extremely valuable clay trick. One of my students called it an “ancient clay secret” so I like to call it that too. This technique may be one that is known…
Art Projects for Kids + Tips for the Teacher!
Art Projects for Kids + Tips for the Teacher!
Elementary Art Projects & Creative Lessons for Kids
Welcome to Art is Basic, a blog full of elementary art lessons, easy art projects, and teaching ideas for K-5 classrooms. Browse hundreds of engaging activities designed to inspire young artists.
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Buildings in Perspective: 1st Grade
This was a project that my first graders started when I was absent from school. I printed off the handout from Art Projects for Kids and the children got their first introduction to perspective. Thanks for the great…
Keith Haring Inspired Figures– 4th grade
These are drawings by 4th/5th graders. Who was Keith Haring? What is gesture drawing? The 4/5s learned about the artwork of Keith Haring and practiced figural drawing. In pairs, the students posed for each other and practiced gesture…
NAEA Conference
So…. is anyone else going to the National Art Ed. Conference?? Registration is open now. If you haven’t ever been before, it is an AMAZING conference. All day fun.. your brain will be exploding with ideas and excitement.…
Clouds in Art
The fifth/sixth grade class painted watercolor clouds. I have blogged about this project before here.
Featuring Magazine
Have you heard about Featuring Magazine?In the Spring of 2012, an inspiring magazine will see the light: FEATURING.FEATURING is a printed magazine that can be ordered online only.FEATURING will appear as a quarterly publication. I am pleased to…
Painted Korhogo Cloths– 3rd Grade
This project focused on how symbols and designs are used in African art. The students designed their own painted Korhogo cloth. They decorated the border with symbols and drew their main figure with Sharpie. Then, they added paint…
Year in Review
It’s been a great year at Art is Basic. We’ve made tons of colorful art and expanded our skills. My blog now has over 300 followers, which is super cool and way more than I ever thought would…
Miro Squiggle Drawings– 1st Grade
Juan Miro is one of my favorite artists. I used artwork by Miro to help the kids learn the difference between abstract and realistic art. The kids analyzed his artwork and we categorized prints. Then, they drew…
Cool Hands, Warm Heart– Kindergarten
These charming pictures of hands were a lesson on warm and cool colors. The hands are colored in cool colors and the heart is colored in warm colors.
Bubble Prints
Over the summer I tested out several ways to make bubble prints. I experimented and discovered they way that works best for me. I decided to do bubble printing with some students this week, because it is the…
Snowflakes
These traditional snowflake paper cuts are so simple, yet so fun. I know other art teacher bloggers have posted them recently too. Here are some we made this week.
Snowglobe Picture
These were some pictures we made today with the third graders. The kids used markers and construction paper crayons to draw their snow scene on the globe. Then they added white paint dots for snow. Some glued on…
Pacific Northwest Coast Masks– third/fourth grades
The third/fourth grade classes made paper mache masks. We used inspiration from the Pacific Northwest Coast masks and viewed a video about their culture. Here are the steps we used. Start with a papermache mask form (we used…