My daughter had a make-your-own play doh night at her preschool (YMCA, which has been really great so far!) and I thought it would be a fun activity for my little students right before winter break. We used the recipe that they used at my daughter’s school, because the dough came out really nice and soft! There are only three ingredients: regular flour, salt and alum (can be found in the spice section at your grocery store). Well, and water. … Read more…
Have you read the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg? Celebrate Oops on January 15, 2015! It is a super fun, interactive book that teaches kids that it’s OK to make mistakes! From their website: “CELEBRATE OOPS! is an initiative designed to build confidence and turn accidents into teaching moments. Launching on January 15, 2015 CELEBRATE OOPS! will instill an important life lesson (it’s okay to make mistakes) and foster a great spirit of creativity in your classroom and/or library.” Watch a … Read more…
The creative students at Artisan des Arts made manga self-portraits and I loved them so much I wanted to try it with my own students. The students used the website Face Your Manga to create an avatar. (Of course, out of the thousands of symbols, hair details, eyes and other options, we came across two that were not good for kids, so next year I think I’m just going to print out examples of eyes, noses, mouths, etc and have … Read more…
I wanted my Kindergarten classes to practice rolling coils with clay before we started on our actual clay project. I had written out all of their names on long pieces of paper at the beginning of the year, but decided to change the project I had planned. I gave each child a paper with their name written on it. They practiced rolling clay coils with their fingers and then bent the coils to fit on the letters. This was a … Read more…
There is a big sale going on at TPT from Dec. 1-2ish. Let’s celebrate super cyber savings! The sale runs: December 1st 12:01AM (ET) through December 2nd 11:59PM (ET) Many sellers will have 20% sales, plus use the promo code: TPTCYBER to add an extra 10% to your entire order. I have two new products in my shop I’d like to tell you about. First is a Henri Matisse PowerPoint that is appropriate for students in grades K-2. (Since K … Read more…
Materials you will need: images of Piet Mondrian’s artwork construction paper precut black strips glue stick red, yellow and blue crayons (or markers) scissors Goals: identify, describe and analyze the artwork of Piet Mondrian use balance and space to create an interesting composition develop fine motor skills by using glue sticks and coloring solidly identify the primary colors Steps: 1. Show and discuss the artworks of Piet Mondrian. Ask the students to describe the artworks and tell about his style … Read more…
As an art teacher, I’d like to encourage you to give gifts that inspire creativity in children. Instead of more plastic trinkets, stuffed animals or electronics, how about something that will get your kids building and creating? An art kit is always a great idea. Things to include in an art kit: 1. Paper such as the Strathmore Visual Journal or a watercolor pad. I love this watercolor paper from Target. 2. Neon Gel Crayons: I love the smooth feeling … Read more…
