While it’s just soooo tempting to take the foot off the pedal in your final few weeks, there is still lots of fun to be had in the art room. And if you are intentional, you can accomplish two things at once: cleaning up your art room for summer break while prepping for Fall.
And while I’m firmly in the minimalist camp for clean-up, I hate to throw away those dredges of paints and all those scrap papers.
One of the best tips I ever received as an art teacher was from my friend, Laura Lohmann from Painted Paper Art. She always has her students create painted paper from left-over paints and large sheets of less-than-perfect papers.
And don’t throw away the box of paper scraps, however much you are tempted. Having children use up the scraps in a few projects not only is great for Mother Earth but all that cutting increases fine motor skills.
Here are a few more projects that use up scraps of paper:
And if you’ve ever used large papers for messy mats, don’t throw them away. Cut up the paint splattered messy mats into strips to use for next year’s art projects (great for art borders!).
Mother’s Day
Unless you’ve been working on a project for Mother’s Day already, you might want to make something quick as time is running out. I love these paper crowns that require some card stock, a copy machine and markers. Easy peasy!
If you are looking for other May-Themed art activities, here are a few ideas to toss around…
- Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
- Cinco de Mayo May 5th
- Teacher Appreciation Week May 5th-9th
- Mother’s Day May 11th
- Victoria Day May 19th
- Memorial Day May 26th
And last but not least…. Let’s take a moment to celebrate our May Birthday Artists who have given the art world so much beauty….
- Keith Haring May 4th
- Salvador Dali May 11th
- Frank Stella May 12th
- Georges Braque May 13th
- Jasper Johns May 15th
- Albrecht Durer May 21st
- Henri Rousseau May 21st
Sparkle on,
Patty
the calendar was confusing when I saw the note “what to do with leftover paint” I thought it would take me to a linked blog post with ideas but it was nothing.
Hi there! If you download the calendar and click on the words “what to do with leftover paint” it takes you directly to a blog post all about what to do with left over paint ❤️. The links are clickable and working. Please reach out to us at support@deepspacesparkle.com if you have any questions.
Hi, when I click on “End of the year clean up strategies” and then on download it tells me: this page couldn’t be found.
Hi Susanne! This is Bethany from Team Sparkle. Thanks so much for letting us know that there is an issue with the link. We working on getting that taken care of, so please try again shortly. Thanks!
I can’t get the download link to work- nothing happens.
Hi Terri! This is Bethany from Team Sparkle. Thanks so much for letting us know that there is an issue with the link. We working on getting that taken care of, so please try again tomorrow. Thanks!
I enjoy “Open Art Studio” for the last weeks of school. The annual art fair is mid-May so students are working diligently up to that point with finishing touches on projects. The OAS is a nice creative break for students to use whatever open art supplies are available – especially using up the last bits of things. This allows them to either try something new (that maybe their grade did not use) or return to a favorite art medium. I also do a quick art assessment to show their progress from the first weeks of school.
i appreciate the list of artist birthdates given for the month of May..wish you could create such a list for all the months..thank you…love Tasneem
I locw the freshness of the ideas
Where is the calendar to download? And is there a way to access the whole year so I can plan with it in mind?
Hi Maria! We are so happy to found us. Unfortunately the calendar is no longer available. We have updated the blog to reflect that. So sorry for any confusion.