Deep Space Sparkle Art Lessons for Kids
In a few weeks I will be giving a talk to my local SCBWI group (The Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators). I belonged to this group for ten years while pursuing my dream of publishing my middle grade novel. I LOVE this group. They are the most giving of people and the encouragement [...]
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I love happy art lessons. The ones that engage children right from the get-go. These painted paper butterflies are a perennial favorite in my art room. My first graders make painted paper and then use the paper to create butterfly wings. I set out wing templates from my Eric Carle-Inspired Lesson Plans PDF but encourage [...]
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I recently introduced my Kinders to the magic of watercolor and oil pastel resist. I love hearing the squeals of delight after seeing white oil pastel appear through a wash of color. These are the simple joys of teaching art. As with most watercolor projects, a good drawing lays the foundation for a successful project. [...]
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I’m in the planning stage of this year’s ceramic tile mural. A few weeks ago, a few 6th graders suggested that the mural theme have something to do with the United States. I was thinking that we might do a mural on Ancient Aztecs but after researching images, I decided that there wasn’t enough variety [...]
A lovely surprise yesterday…one of my favorite lessons in my favorite art magazine. Arts and Activities sent me some copies of their 80th Anniversary issue. I have used and been inspired by many art lessons from this publication and had to think which one was my favorite. In the end, I loved Lady Liberty as it [...]
Looking for a lesson on the Masters? Here’s a directory of my art lessons from the past ten years featuring the great artists… Cezanne: Still-Life in Chalk and Tempera Paint for upper grades Chagall: Marc Chagall’s “Drawing a Dream” Kahlo: Frida Kahlo Portrait Klee: Paul Klee Buildings in pen and watercolors for upper grades, Paul [...]
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I’ve been doing a different Kinder portrait for the last ten years of teaching art. I love mixing things up and experimenting with different combination of media. This year, I combined my favorite tempera paint with chalk and oil pastels. This might be my favorite combo of all! I use one of three techniques for [...]
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Bryce Canyon and Arches National Park in Utah offers the most humbling panoramas. Majestic rock formations, iron-rich colors and endless blue skies are an artist’s dream. These landscapes in my newest PDF offers the student artist a glimpse into the magic of Utah.
In this 15-page lesson plan, student’s learn how to draw a landscape focusing on perspective and space to create distance. Students use chalk and oil pastels to draw arches, hoodoos and cacti. Using the vibrant colors of the Southwest, children observe through photographs the rock formations and draw their own landscape.
Click here to read more….
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Inspired by illustrator, Marz Jr. 5th grade students looked at pictures of skyscrapers and created a retro line drawing of their observations. The students used a black sharpie to draw the contour lines of a skyscraper (we looked at famous New York landmarks) and then got busy adding the dozens and dozens of extra windows and doors. I suggested drawing 2-3 skyscrapers on the colored paper and leaving enough room for a 4th skyscraper somewhere on the paper.
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What do homophones, homonyms and art have in common? Not much but the book, Cat Tale
In this single, subject lesson plan, children create secondary colors from primary colors without even using a paintbrush. Inspired by three adventure-seeking cats who spend the afternoon chasing words, including homophones and homonyms, this book bridges reading skills and art.
The book provides wonderful visuals to support their tongue-twisting adventure and offers art students the chance to explore shapes, movement and self-expression. Perfect for children in grades 1-3.
Click here to read more…
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Pointillism and Valentine’s Day collides with this easy, abstract art lesson for third grade kids. On a piece of sulphite paper (12″ x 9″), kids used Q-tips dipped in liquid tempera paints to color in their abstract hearts. Using purples, reds and white gave this project a most definitive Valentine’s Day look.
To read the rest of this post, click here
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I went to my local Indie bookstore a while back searching for a book to tie-in with my Valentine’s Day themed art lessons. I gravitated towards the sea of pink and red and searched for an appropriate book for my first and second graders. I was disappointed with the selection but to be fair, I [...]
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Part of my grade 5 art curriculum is to introduce a collage art lesson. The concept of collage seems easy; placing and arranging layers of paper, paint and subjects on a piece of paper, but in truth, it is a hard concept to grasp. For children, the inherit action to place objects around the perimeter [...]
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Here are two fail-proof 9-page art lesson plans that will add a spot of color to your winter classroom…. The Shape of My Heart Inspired by the book, The Shape of My Heart by Mark Sperring, this 9-page art lesson plan introduces young children to shapes, watercolor techniques and positive and negative space. Full-color photo [...]
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