Art Lessons for Kids
On my recent visit to New York City, I picked up a few picture books to inspire some new art lessons. Barefoot Books had a great representation at FAO Schwarz. If you don’t know about Barefoot Books, look for them during your next visit to your local bookstore. I love their non-fiction picture books. Color, [...]
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 [...]
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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 [...]
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Barbara Jean Hicks is a beloved children’s book author from Port Hueneme, California. If you visit Barbara’s website, you’ll discover that she is not only a writer, but a lover of cats! I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Barbara recently and as a tribute to her adorable book Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli my first graders created some [...]
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Children’s picture books make the best art projects. Sometimes I use the illustrations for inspiration, other times, I read the book to the class and create an art lesson around it. If I read a book, it’s mostly fiction, but every now and again, a non-fiction book makes a perfect read-aloud. Here are my favorites [...]
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Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg just might be the most perfect art book for children. It is simple, colorful, engaging and has a great message. I heard about this adorable book through the Deep Space Sparkle Facebook page. Many of the you suggested it as a great read for the beginning of the year. And [...]
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I received a copy of Mariah Bruehl’s book, Playful Learning, during her blog tour held last September. What a fun book to receive in the mail: bright, colorful and inspiring! Playful Learning is a guide to simple activities that promote reading, writing, math, science and social skills for young children. Of course, she includes a [...]
I have the sweetest husband in the world. I came home from work today, wandered upstairs to my bedroom/office and saw this book leaning up against my computer. Last year, Dana Hudepohl contacted me and asked if she could write a piece about Deep Space Sparkle. Of course, I said yes. After a few interviews, [...]
Brown Bear, Brown Bear…What Do You See? I see 20 Kindergarteners smiling at me! I’m back in the art room-my happy place-with three classes of adorable Kinders. As I suggested back in my post “First Day of Art Class” I started the year with a Painted Paper project. My Kinder teachers asked me if I could [...]
Here’s another question from a reader that I wanted to share with you all. Kim is a Kindergarten teacher who wants to use books to introduce famous artists to her class. I wish I had a list to give Kim and all the other art teachers who have asked me over the years, but I [...]
A trip to the library last fall yielded a plethora of art ideas. Keith Baker’s Big Fat Hen is filled with fabulous illustrations. Colorful, vibrant, detailed and adorable. Perfect for fifth grade! Similar to my chalk lizard project, this lesson produces fabulous results even for the self-proclaimed artistically-challenged student’s. Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker I [...]
While looking through the library one afternoon, I stumbled across Kevin Henkes’s picture book, “Old Bear”. The adorable illustrations inspired me to create a combination bear painting and leaf print art lesson for my fourth graders. We used one 50-minute period to draw and paint the bear and another period to print the leaves. This [...]
