Elementary Art Lessons, Projects & Teaching Ideas for K–5

Because art is fundamental to who we are. Art has always been a basic form of human communication. From cave walls to classroom walls, art helps us express ideas, tell stories, and better understand the world around us. I believe art is an essential part of every child's education, which is why I chose the name Art is Basic. Here you'll find K–5 creative art lessons, teaching ideas, and printable resources to help K–5 art teachers inspire young artists.

Colorful abstract art with flowers, leaves, and text that reads "and under my feet here, and love in our hearts, today is the happiest birthday," as if painted on the pages of a sketchbook.

Sketchbook Pages

These are two pages I made while “taking” the online Strathmore Visual Journaling Course. Pam Carriker led us through the process of using photocopies of some of our old collages, cutting them up and adding layers of gesso…

January 26, 2011
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A pointillist painting of people relaxing on a lawn near a river with trees; there are umbrellas and a black dog.

Pointillist Trees

The 3/4s painted Pointillist Trees. They have studied trees in Science. We learned about the artist Georges Seurat by reading Scholastic Art magazine. Students identified and described Pointillist paintings. They created a Pointillist painting of trees showing dimension and form by…

January 25, 2011
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A child's drawing of a snowy landscape with houses, a person, a reindeer, a snowman, and mountains in the background. This 2nd grade artwork has a charming quality that brings to mind the folk art style of Grandma Moses.

Grandma Moses Landscapes — 2nd Grade

The goals for this project are to We learned about the artist Grandma Moses and created a winter collage using various materials. We read a couple books about Grandma Moses and looked at her artwork.

January 24, 2011

Handmade penguin figurine on paper with a drawn blue sky and fish, making it a delightful kindergarten project.

Kindergarten Penguins

The kindergartners are studying penguins in their classroom, so we made penguins out of model magic modelling compound. One trick to get the parts to stick better is to use just a bit of regular hand lotion on…

January 21, 2011
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A child's drawing with a yellow triangle, blue squares, pink shapes, and various doodles on a white paper showcases an array of geometric and organic shapes typical of kindergarten creativity.

Geometric and Organic Shape Collage, Kindergarten

Shape Collages— The kindergartners learned about geometric and organic shapes. We read a book called When a Line Bends, a Shape Begins. We made a shape collage using cut construction paper. Lines and shapes were added with marker.

January 14, 2011
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Book Winner!

True Random Number Generator Min:1 Max: 9 Generate… Result: 6 jenplusfive YOU ARE THE WINNER!! Send me your address. You can send it to marcia @ eagleschool.org

January 14, 2011
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A colorful journal page features red and green peppermint candy drawings with the words "under the tree," and "Christmas 2010.

Crusade #47

Another challenge I recently discovered is Michelle Ward’s street team crusade. There is a new technique every month and then you post your results. This month the challenge is “It’s a Wrap”. You are supposed to incorporate wrapping…

January 13, 2011
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Last chance!

Last chance to sign up for this random giveaway of an art book. See this post to sign up. I will choose a winner tomorrow.

January 13, 2011
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Egyptian profile paintings–4th/5th grade

Egyptian Profile Paintings:The 4/5s have studied ancient Egypt in their social studies class. In Art class, they are using the standard proportions of the human face to draw each other in profile. Then, they are adding typical ancient…

January 11, 2011

Colorful sketch of a pink toy rabbit and a brown toy bear sitting together with stacked multi-colored blocks.

Sketchbook Pages

“highly prized” drawings for the Sketchbook Challenge

January 10, 2011
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Abstract painting with colorful patterns, flowers, and geometric shapes on a light blue background. Spiral-bound sketchbook.

Sketchbook Pages

This last one will have text added to it later probably.

January 10, 2011

The Art Book titled "Painting Greeting Cards for Fun & Profit" by Jeanette Robertson, displayed on a blue fabric background.

Woot Woot!! Art Book Giveaway!!

In honor of reaching 100 followers on this blog, which in my opinion is really darn cool, I’m going to do a series of giveaways. In the spirit of sharing, decluttering and passing things on to good homes,…

January 9, 2011
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Abstract watercolor painting with various colorful shapes on a spiral-bound sketchbook page.

99 followers!

Wow! I have 99 followers! I decided that when I reach 100, I’m going to have a special giveaway. It will probably involve an art book or magazines from my stash. 🙂 And here is another sketchbook…

January 9, 2011
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