PDF LESSON PLANS…
Fun with Portraits Art Lesson Plans
The quintessential art lesson for elementary school: self-portraits! This 24-page lesson plan booklet includes six easy portrait ideas. Easy-to-follow steps, supply lists, full-color photo-tutorials, … [Read More...]
Architecture Made Easy Art Lesson PLans
Drawing buildings are fun but can be a challenge. Use the clever techniques in this 23-page booklet to turn every child into a budding … [Read More...]
Easy Clay Projects Art Lesson Plans
Working with clay is perhaps one of the most rewarding experiences of a child's elementary art career. All that squeezing and shaping and then finally....a finished piece! Kids love them and parents … [Read More...]
What Do You See? Art Lesson Plans
Based on the books by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, my What Do You See? Art Lesson booklet contains three adorable art lessons for the younger set. Children create their own painted paper for either … [Read More...]
FEBRUARY ART PROJECTS
Valentine’s Day Heart Collage
Inspired by Valentine's Day , I pulled out my file on Jim Dine and created this multi-step collage project for my second graders. I used a station-method of attack with this lesson. I set up a … [Read More...]
Valentines Day Art Project
Just in time for Valentine's Day, this colorful bouquet will be admired by all. Easy to do; just paint a vase and stems and add paper flowers. Here's how my second graders did … [Read More...]
Painted Paper Hearts Art Project
Laura at Painted Paper is my go-to source for inspiration. No one can teach color theory like she can! So when I saw her Picasso-Inspired Hearts, I knew I had to give these a try. I had one more … [Read More...]
Dr. Seuss Day “One Fish Two Fish” Art Project
Here is a great Dr. Seuss Day art project for your little ones. Inspired by my favorite "One Fish Two Fish", this lesson is perfect for any lower elementary grade including Kinders. Supplies: 2 … [Read More...]
RECENT POSTS…
Butterfly Painting Art Lesson
A trip to the local Monarch Butterfly Preserve is an annual field trip for our kinders. After they returned, a butterfly art lesson reinforced all they learned about these beautiful creatures. I posted pictures of Monarchs (and a few other colorful varieties) on the white board and spoke to the children about butterfly body parts. I photocopied a few detailed pictures of butterflies, so the children could identify the scale of the wings compared to the size of the bodies. I found some old … [Read More...]
Do YOU Have a Hat?
A while ago, I stumbled across the most adorable children's books. Do You Have a Hat? written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Geraldo Valerio features the hats of some very famous individuals: Goya, Lincoln, Carmen Miranda to name a few. It's a great read for the classroom; funny, brief, historical and visually dynamic. Since the book was written for the younger elementary student, I geared the art lesson for 1st grade. I created hat templates for the children to trace and … [Read More...]
Laurel Burch Cat Art Project
I've been admiring this art project for a while now. VK Bowerman's Laurel Burch Cat project is colorful and fun. VK doesn't have a website, only a Flickr account, so I can't provide a website. But please visit her Flickr page and prepare to be inspired by wonderful work. I studied VK's project and visited the official website of Laurel Burch. Between the two, I was able to introduce this California folk artist to my second and third grade students. The project requires a few steps and … [Read More...]
Farm Anatomy and The Perfectly Imperfect Home
My bookshelves look a bit different lately. My beloved young adult novels are making room for their more mature cousins...illustrated art books. Perhaps it's because my creative endeavors have switched in recent months. I no longer reserve blocks of my week to my middle-grade novel aspirations, instead, I devote much of my free-time to Deep Space Sparkle and the pursuit of living the artful life. Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of Country Life by Julia Rothman has made … [Read More...]
The Primary Portrait Project: Tempera Paint
This is part three of my quest for determining the best medium for primary portraits. Last week my first grade students created beautiful oil pastel portraits, then another first grade class created their portraits using chalk pastels. Today, my final first grade class used my favorite medium:tempera paints. Tempera paint has always been one of my favorite mediums. There is something about the intensity of the color that appeals to me. I use Crayola Brand Tempera Paint. It is the brand … [Read More...]
The Primary Portrait Project: Chalk Pastel
This is part two of my quest for determining the best medium for primary portraits. Last week my first grade students created beautiful oil pastel portraits. I love oil pastels as they are super easy for prep and clean-up but on the downside, they require a great deal of patience. Little ones don't often have the stamina to color over all the white paper. Today I switched gears and brought out the messy stuff: chalk pastel! I know what you're thinking. Never used chalk on portraits … [Read More...]
The Primary Portrait Project: Oil Pastel
Portraits are the quintessential elementary art project and for good reason--they are adorable and a keepsake that every parent appreciates. But some portrait lessons are better than others. It's fascinating to me why some lessons work while others don't. I've been teaching for a while now, so I have a fairly solid understanding on what techniques work best for the very young, but still, I couldn't resist conducting a little experiment. Which technique/media results in the most sucessful … [Read More...]
Op-Art Line Doodle
I made a vow at the beginning of the year to step out of my teaching comfort zone and introduce art projects to my students that may not be something I would normally gravitate to. These line drawings were such a thing. Other art teachers have done this lesson and according to their blogs, quite successfully. Not me. Before I get into the do's and don'ts, I just have to say that my fourth grade students really had fun with this lesson. And I mean lots of fun. The kid's attention was keen … [Read More...]
Fairy Tale Kings and Queens Art Project
Continuing along with my Fairy Tale Royals art unit, fourth grade students used the classic double-loading paintbrush technique and drawing with black paint to create these stunning Fairy Tale Royals. Starting Off To begin, hand each student a piece of 12" x 18" white drawing/construction paper. Place small tubs of black liquid tempera paint (mixed with a bit of water) and small tipped brushes on each table. For a table of 5-6 kids, I place two containers of black paint. For ease of prep, … [Read More...]
Watercolor Castle Art Project
My Kinder students joined in on the fairy tale fun by learning how to turn lines and shapes into a castle. By combining squares, rectangles, triangle and a few half circles, Kinders created their very own castle. You don't need many supplies; a 12" x 18" piece of regular drawing paper, some liquid watercolors and some oil pastels. I like to start the drawing with a simple line. Children select their favorite color and draw a line across the bottom of the paper, being careful not to touch … [Read More...]
Fairy Tale Castles Art Project
Castles are a sure thing in the art room. Every grade level loves to make castles and I often do a castle project with my fourth grade students. But this time, I wanted an easy, two-lesson project better suited for my second grade students. The castle project from Knights and Castles Things to Make and Do (Activity Books) was a great place to start. Instead of the 3-D castle illustrated in the book, I opted for a "flat" project. After a brief talk on castles and all the wonderful features … [Read More...]
What Do You See? Art Lesson Plans
Based on the books by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, my What Do You See? Art Lesson booklet contains three adorable art lessons for the younger set. Children create their own painted paper for either a brown bear, panda bear or polar bear and use templates to create their own bear. Alternatively, the polar bear lesson uses either observational drawing skills or templates for the project. The lessons will take three, forty-minute class sessions to complete and uses basic supplies: tempera paint, … [Read More...]
Princess and the Pea Art Lesson
Here is a great lesson that uses oil pastels/crayons and watercolor for a classic resist lesson. Very easy to draw, this Princess and The Pea project can be achieved in two, 45-minute class sessions. This project was inspired by a Princess and the Pea art project on the Easely Amused website, a children's art workshop in Mississippi. They have great lesson ideas, so check it out! You'll need the following supplies: 12" x 18" white construction/sulphite paper Black oil pastels Colored … [Read More...]
The Organized Art Teacher: Trying New Things
In the series, The Organized Art Teacher, I will offer creative ways to start the year off with an organized mindset. Ever wondered how other art teachers store their old lesson plans and samples? What about creating a balanced art curriculum or how to track what each class created? And what about inside the art room...what's the best way to plan a theme-based art unit? This series will show you how starting with how to organize and store your art lessons and then how to manage lesson planning. … [Read More...]
