Do you have a class mascot in your art room? I do! Actually, I have a few class mascots. And they all have assorted backstories. They help me with my classroom management (along ... Read More
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Marie Kondo Your Art Room: Get Organized Now!
Marie Kondo Tidying Up for Teachers Got a messy art room? It might be time to Marie Kondo your space! If you're unaware, Marie is a Japanese organizing consultant who has written ... Read More
James Rizzi Cityscapes Art Lesson
Kids can’t resist drawing funny, zany doodle faces—especially when they’re part of a James Rizzi cityscapes art lesson. In this project, those silly smiles pop up on unexpected ... Read More
Artist Trading Cards Lesson: Great Art Sub Plan Idea!
Artist trading cards are like bite-sized foods, itty bitty kitties, and mini horses. They're all things people are obsessed with. And big things, too, of course. Think: ... Read More
STEAM Bulletin Board Idea: Experiment with Art!
I love science as much as I love art. Chemistry was a favorite subject in high school. So when I became an art teacher, I set out to integrate STEAM -like principles into my ... Read More
Onomatopoeia Pop Art Word Projects
"BAM!" This onomatopoeia pop art project is by far one of my favorite 5th grade art lessons. It might be because I like to pepper my teaching with constant sound words like, ... Read More
Henri Matisse Cut Outs Projects
Henri Matisse Cut Outs Art Project Henri Matisse began his art career as a painter. And for many years, he dazzled the world with beautiful painted compositions of fruit, ... Read More
Window Painting in the Art Room
For 15 years, I covered up my art room windows with fall leaves, winter snowflakes, and spring flowers. It always looked terribly amateur and uninteresting. I wish I had thought of ... Read More
Mr. Brush Crochet Pattern
Mr. Brush has been a class mascot in my art room for a number of years. He's been a key motivator in getting my wild n' wacky kindergarteners to focus on our art lesson. Because ... Read More
Metal Tooling Using Visual Texture
Metal tooling, also called "repousse" and "metal embossing" is a type of low-relief sculpture in which tools are used to create a design on metal. This centuries old ... Read More
Snowflake Art Lesson for Kindergarten
Need a quick and simple one-day art project for the last days in December or January? This is my favorite go-to kindergarten snowflake art lesson. It reinforces prior knowledge ... Read More
Kindergarten Collage Project: Mixed Media Fun!
Creating a collage project with kindergarten is a great skill-builder and problem-solver activity. Hear me out. Kindergarten is all about learning through exploration. It's a ... Read More
