Most schools require their teachers to keep a folder of sub plans in their classroom, which is great for that occasional illness or emergency that causes you to be away from school for a few days. But where do you turn when life really gets in the way and your absence extends beyond the contents of your sub folder? This happened to me recently when I was called out of state … [Read more...]
How to Play the Elements of Art & Principles of Design Memory Game
I'm always on the lookout for creative, new ways to teach my students the Elements of Art and Principles of Design (affiliate link). You may have played a version of this game before Recently, I attended a bridal shower where we played a memory game.... the "put-a-bunch-of … [Read more...]
Animated Art “Books” for Kids
Here's a fun site I just discovered for those of you with lower elementary age students... Mighty Books.com offers animated books for early readers with a variety of themes. Visit the page titled, "Art & Music" for slide shows of paintings by Van Gogh, Renoir or Remington set to the music of great composers, or assemble a virtual jigsaw puzzle made from the "Carnival of … [Read more...]
Dale Chihuly Glass Sculpture Inspiration
"Fireworks of Glass" is the largest permanent sculpture of blown glass by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. This 43-foot tower mesmerizes children and adults alike at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. If you're curious about the art of glass blowing and how it's done, visit "Fireworks of Glass" at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis website, where there are all kinds … [Read more...]
Computer Art ala Picasso!
There are so many ways to be creative with a computer! Here's a site where you can click and drag to create your very own Picasso-like portrait. This would be a fun activity for students after learning about the real Picasso! Be sure to check out this site's "gallery" to see the fun others have had at PicassoHead.com!1. Go to http://www.picassohead.com/create.html 2. … [Read more...]
Words as Art – Wonderful Word Clouds!
Word clouds are fun to make for holidays or anytime of year! This is a great project for home schoolers, or any class with access to computers. A word cloud is a random arrangement of words, in this case a passage of writing where common words such as "and", "the", "if", etc. are omitted and the text is then arranged in random order, with the words that appear more often being … [Read more...]
The Marshmallow Challenge
I love to end our school year with a fun activity that my students will remember. This year, I discovered The Marshmallow Challenge while watching a TED Talk and I couldn’t wait to try it! This activity encourages creativity, problem solving and teamwork…. skills that are essential for becoming an innovator in today’s rapidly changing world. Click here to watch a short video … [Read more...]
Dot Monsters!
Dot Monsters are a perfect activity to teach to the whole class or use with those "early finishers" who end up with free time after completing a project. Kids from 1st grade through 6th grade love making these! Dot Monsters nurture imagination and encourage creative thinking and problem solving.... and they're FUN! Here's how you make them: 1. Any size paper will work for … [Read more...]