It's easy and fun for kids to make their own painted papers for collage. The resulting textures, patterns, and color variations will add extra delight to every project. Making painted paper is a perfect "process-art" activity for the first day of school or anytime you need some "art therapy"! What you'll need for making painted papers: 9 x 12 white construction paper, at … [Read more...]
5 Reasons Why You Only Need 3 Tempera Colors for Your K-5 Students
Shopping for tempera paint can make you feel like a kid in a candy store! How can you resist filling your basket with all those juicy colors?? When you're in the market for paint for your elementary classroom or homeschool, you really only need 3 colors of tempera to provide a great learning experience for your students, and you'll simplify your life at the same … [Read more...]
Helpful Tips for Painting with Kids
No one likes having a “bad hair day”…. not even your paintbrush! When younger students are used to painting with liquid watercolors or liquid tempera, they often forget to add water to their paint when they start working with cake-style colors, like the popular Prang OVL-8 set (affiliate link). Without enough water to liquify the paint, students tend to grind their brush … [Read more...]
Paint a Monochromatic Delft-Inspired Plate
Parents, are you looking for ways to keep your kids learning and engaged at home that don't involve screen time? I’ve got you covered! I'll be posting more of my favorite art projects using minimal supplies that you might already have at home. These projects develop the skills of critical thinking, analysis, problem-solving, and invention - the very qualities we need to see … [Read more...]
“Collage Who You Are” Self-Portrait
For centuries, artists have created self-portraits to give others a glimpse into who they are. Since our likes and dislikes, personalities, hobbies, and skills all contribute to making us interesting and unique, why not include those in a self-portrait, too? And what could be a more fun approach to this than a mixed media collage??! For this project we used a bit of … [Read more...]
The Great Tertiary Color Debate
The internet…. that great supplier of information at your fingertips, making it fast and easy to find answers and share them with the world! But what if those answers being shared are incorrect?? Vladimir Lenin once said, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” (Hmmmm….. did Lenin really say that, or has it just been credited to him so often it’s assumed to be true??) … [Read more...]
How to Care for Your Art Room Brushes
Let’s face it, art room brushes take a beating. But don’t throw them away - rejuvenate them instead! I used to think “The Masters” Brush Cleaner and Preserver was only for my expensive art brushes at home. Somehow the brushes in my classroom didn’t seem ‘worthy’. How crazy is that?! Now that I’ve started using it on my classroom brushes, I’m completely hooked, and here’s … [Read more...]
Valentine Color Mixing – Paint 100 Hearts!
With Valentines Day (and the '100th Day of School') just around the corner, I thought I’d post this heart-themed version of my 'Mixing 100 Colors’ lesson! Mixing the colors and then painting hearts requires a little longer attention span, so I’ve found that 4th grade and up does best with this version. But younger students can also do this if they just work a little larger and … [Read more...]
How to Ruin a Paintbrush in One Simple Step
Watercolor or tempera paint in cake form offers lots of advantages for elementary students. But this kind of paint can also be hard on brushes! When younger students are used to painting with liquid watercolors or liquid tempera, they often forget to add water to their paint when they switch to working with cake-style colors. Then, they compensate for this lack of water by … [Read more...]
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