Paper Plate Mosaics, 2nd Grade

After doing this with 2nd grade, I definitely think it could work with 3rd, maybe even better. The concept of mosaic I found a little difficult for the 2nd graders. However, some of them definitely got it. I think this year I will try it with 3rd grade. After they were all finished with the mosaic, we covered with a 50/50 glue and water mixture to seal it.

Owls, 1st Grade

Yet another tearing project. Oh how they love to tear paper. This is so simple, but so fun. Enjoy.

American Flags, 4th/5th Grade

What an awesome project to do around memorial day, veterans day, presidents day....something to that affect ;-) My students saw my example and said, "I CAN'T DO THAT!" Of course they could, and they did. It is a step by step, right brain activity, this example shows they did pretty awesome with it.

Bad Hair Day, 4th Grade

Coming up are a back-log of projects, but I want to share.

This is Bad Hair Day, a classic online art project. I saw some great results online and wanted to try it myself last year, and wow-wow-wow. They are amazing. All sharpie, thats it. The designs are fantastic, here are two of my favorite.

Tear Poinsettias, 2nd Grade

I actually started out with my other poinsettia project you've seen posted on here. But, by my 7th or 8th class of 2nd grade, I was totally sick of that project. Instead, we started making tear poinsettias. They actually loved it! The freedom to rip paper is sort of exhilarating to the students. So, here is the result, I almost like it better then the other ones.


Simple and beautiful. If I were a parent I'd hang it every year at this time of year.

Christmas Trees, Kindergarten

We started with yellow paper and drew a very simple tree, no pencils, no markers, just crayons. I had the kiddo's cut out the tree, which is a task, because they often want to cut the stump off too. Then we glued onto red paper, and added sequins for ornaments. They freak out over this, they love anything that shines! Then, they were to add the 'tree skirt'. We added some packages under the tree, and the results are pretty good for this age group.

Build-your-own Snowman Ornament, 2nd Grade

The reason I like doing this is not for the big huge mess that my room ends up in, with itty bitty pieces of scraps everywhere, believe it or not; but because the students really learn how to build and piece things together. They also get to put their creative hand on them and make any type of snowman character they want.
I think I may be done posting Christmas projects now...we'll see, we'll see.

Mitten Ornaments, 1st Grade

In 1st grade we made mitten ornaments. It was a make and take type deal....the kids love that because I normally hang onto their art projects forever, because I just never know what may come up :-)

3-d Candy Canes, 3rd/4th Grade

My sister actually found this project for me on a blog, and I fell in love when I saw it. I tried it out real quick, and scrapped my other plan. We did these instead. Go to her blog for the tutorial. They are made from simple computer paper, using marker, a ruler and clear tape. You need a pencil for curling. SO SIMPLE. An art teachers dream for a quick, fun, one day holiday themed project.

Thanks to my sister for throwing this idea my way.

Pictures around the room

I took notice today to the things around my room(s). I looked at the way things are organized and how most things have a "place"...sort of. I am very interested in the organization and decoration of other art rooms, probably because this is only my 2nd year of teaching. So, I figured the curiosity is out there, and I'd post some random pictures of things around my room(s). Maybe it will encourage others to do the same and satisfy my hidden desires to see such things. :)

Houses, Kindergarten

I rarely post Kindergarten lessons...because, to be honest, they are often times a mess. I know that sounds so horrible, but I don't teach just regular AM and PM kinders, I teach the full day guys. They need a little bit of extra help, and are overall a little bit of a tough group. I was proud of them this week with their house projects. They followed along, and some of them even looked like houses in the end! Here is one of my favorites.

My favorite part (riiiight) is the floating candy cane in the sky. The kids just cannot get Christmas off their mind, can you blame them, really?

Snowy Evergreens, 3rd Grade

Snow Globes, 4th Grade

Poinsettias, 2nd Grade

This is a project I do around Christmas time, obviously. I like that I get to teach the kids how to cut better, glue control (oh that's a biggie), and assembling a project together (collaging, per-say). These are a beautiful addition to the hallway. I also change it up with what we 'add' for detail. For instance, this time, I had metallic paper so I used that for the vase and for the little petals. Last year I used feathers and added them for fun. I didn't have feathers this year, so I decided to add glitter. Whatever you add, they turn out really fun and they are a great project for any parent to take out every year at Christmas-time and decorate the house with.

Santa Clause Portraits, 1st Grade

I taught the 1st graders about portraits, and then we drew our Santa. I got this easy step-by-step way to draw the jolly-ole-man from my friend who teaches in the next county over. I love it. The kids feel SO proud of their work, and people's responses to them have been AWESOME.
The one with the purple background, for some reason, reminds me of my father-in-law. :-)

Candy Canes, 2nd Grade

I love this project around the holidays. It's a simple 2-day lesson and the kids really enjoy it. It is the only time they are able to use a tracer all year. They must draw 10 candy canes at least, and some need to be overlapping. They have to draw the lines of candy cane in a curved fashion to make it look 3-D (we used glitter crayons). They also need to 'know' what type of candy cane they are drawing, so is it Strawberry Banana, or just plain Peppermint? The results are lovely. Glitter is added for some fun. The students drew borders around the edge if they had time. Sorry for the bad pictures...I didn't crop them.

Andy Warhol Cats, 4th Grade

Again...totally not a cat person. But, we have to respect the great Andy Warhol for his lovely cat drawings of Sam. We looked at "Red Sam" and used him as an inspiration. I let the kids use chalk to color him in, and they had to name their cats, this student didn't get that far, yet.

It is quite realistic, and I love the "ready to pounce" cat stance...too cute.

Spheres In Space, 3rd Grade

Yet another one I did with help from my favorite website for teachers. This one the kids loved, and really teaches them about light source and how to draw a "realistic" looking sphere.

Contour Leaf Design, 2nd Grade

Cats, 1st Grade

I have to say, I really hate cats as pets (sorry to anyone who really does like them). But, when I came across a cute cat project, again on Artprojectforkids.org, I couldn't pass it up. I did change it a bit, but the basic drawing of the cat came from her. I cannot resist early in the year doing step-by-step drawings with the kids because it really teaches them to follow along and to use their eyes to help them draw. They learn about size and proportion, and as I do more like this with them I can start to loosen the reigns later in the year. We used chalk to finish them up, the kids got super messy and LOVED it, and I think they are super cute. Just purrrrrfect. (Did I really just say that? Ohhh I am so elementary)

Crowded Elevators, 3rd Grade

Every month my friend from college, who is also an elementary art teacher like to get together at our favorite place, Panera. We discuss lots of things, but mainly new art lessons. Being young in this, we need ideas all the time, so this project is a product of our monthly get-togethers. She did this project with her students, and so I decided to try it. I was thrilled with the results. The goal was to get the kids to understand how to draw people in front of one another and overlapping bodies. We made their "crowds of 5" in elevators. They could do their families, a bunch of girls shopping, skateboarders (as you will see), doctors in a hospital elevator...the options are endless. I am really happy about the way they turned out. I made a bulletin board recently of them, and the teachers cannot believe how well the kids did.

Foreground, MIddleground and Background Tree's, 2nd Grade

How on earth were these created in one day you may ask? A miracle. A plain old miracle. I have to thank one my favorite blogs for this idea: ArtProjectsForKids. She has great ideas, this one may be from another source, too. However, a lot of my ideas stem from hers. So, here is the most recent project.

These teach the kids (2nd graders) about foreground, middleground and background, and the use of oil pastels and blending. I love them, and they are currently hanging in the hallway!

Scary Houses (a start), 2nd Grade

I'm not at all into witches, goblins, monsters, blood, gore or ghosts....but I do think that "scary" houses are cool at Halloween time. I don't call them haunted, because, well, I don't believe in ghosts. But, scary...scary is fine at this time of year. It's also a good opportunity to teach them about houses, and how to draw certain things (windows, doors, etc). They had a fun time drawing crooked, broken, creeky, and old scary houses.


Another example, of where I yet again...let the finished results slip past my doorway without snagging a picture or two.

Symmetrical Jewels, 3rd Grade

I love, love, love, LOVE these. We talked about symmetry, horizontal and vertical lines, outlining, and how to use oil pastels. I can't wait to hang these in the hall tomorrow.

Bug Drawings, 4th Grade

Seriously. Look at this. These are 4th graders and without exaggerating...MOST of them draw this good. I am pleasantly surprised at the level of artwork coming out of these children. It gets me excited about all potential art projects we can do this year.

We are drawing insects from observation (looking at detailed pictures of them), we do not trace, we just use our eyes to help us draw. I am loving the results. This is just the first step to a really long project, our bug jars.