Make your own Eric Carle-inspired butterfly Eric Carle's colorful collages are among the first works of art that many young children are exposed to.... who doesn’t love his charming illustrations?? It's easy to make your own collage butterflies inspired by Eric Carle.... just follow these simple instructions. And be sure to check out some of the beautiful butterflies below, … [Read more...]
How to Make Colorful Textured Paper
It's easy and FUN to make this colorful textured paper! We made lots of it in a recent teacher workshop I taught. To make this amazing-looking paper, all you need is a small piece of plastic (an expired credit card or gift card works well) with notches cut into one side of it, and some tempera paint. Pour some of two different primary colors (red, yellow, or turquoise) onto a … [Read more...]
Monoprints
This charming one-of-a-kind flower created by Robin D. With monoprints, only one print can be made from each original design, but you can repaint the printing surface and draw as many new designs as you like! Students of all ages will enjoy charming results. Remember that any words or letters you write will print in reverse! Materials: Aluminum foil (a little larger then … [Read more...]
Create Your Own Color Wheel
Nothing teaches you as much about color mixing as creating your own color wheel! Here's some helpful vocabulary and directions for creating a color wheel of your own: Primary colors - red, yellow and blue (colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors) Secondary colors - orange, green and violet (colors that are created by mixing two primary colors … [Read more...]
Monet’s Ice Cream Sundae Party
1st Grade Ice Cream Sundae...don't you just love kids' art??!This is a FUN lesson in color mixing and mixing tints (a tint is any color plus white). I got this out of an old School Arts Magazine years ago and just simplified it a little. It's a great opportunity to talk to kids about Impressionist painter, Claude Monet, and the scrumptious colors he used! I usually do this … [Read more...]
Kids’ Art Gift Wrap
One of my awesome parent volunteers recently shared a great idea with me that I wanted to pass along.... "Kids' Art Gift Wrap"! She was so enthusiastic about it, I couldn't wait to try it myself. Here's how you do it:Roll out a long piece of butcher paper (down a hallway, sidewalk, or wherever you have room) and provide paints, brushes, glitter, etc. for your students to … [Read more...]
Shadow Tracing
Shadow tracing is a project that students from about 2nd or 3rd grade and up will love doing. It fits right in with discussions about composition, color theory, and positive/negative shapes. In the interest of full disclosure, one of the reasons students love it so much is that they have to go outside to do it! I guess we don't get out as often as we should in Art class, so … [Read more...]