Warm/Cool Color Name Designs, 3rd/4th Grade

This is a simple and fun way to teach contour or echo lines, and also teach some simple warm and cool colors.

Start with a 9x12 piece of paper. Have the student write their name in the center. I prefer cursive.

Then, with a ruler draw a slanted line that goes THROUGH your name evenly.

On one side start with the 'echo' line or contour line, going around JUST that side. Keep going all the way out to the edges. Do the same thing on the other side, and match up the lines if you can.

Outline in sharpie.

Have the students pick three warm colors, and three cool colors...then color in a pattern. Warm on one side, cool on the other.

They love these and they are VERY simple to teach!

Falling back in Space Portraits! 3rd Grade

*repost*

Here are some 'while working' shots that I grabbed because I love these! They are so fun. I got this idea from another teacher in my district last year where I taught. She said it was a huge hit among her 5th graders. Well, I decided to try it with 3rd and it worked.

1. Start with a LARGE sheet of paper...18x24 is what we used
2. Have students trace hands facing outward, towards the top of the paper. A friend may help.
3. Put papers on the ground, and have students trace their feet facing outward slightly towards the bottom of the paper. **they LOVE this part!**
4. Have students draw an oval/circle for the head slightly above the hands (in the middle)...add details to the face, hair, etc...to make it look like them
5. Then, add a neck, show them how to attach the arms to the hands, and the pants to the feet. The arms and legs get larger as they get closer to the tracings of hands and feet. Draw details, details, details!
6. Discuss how they are 'flying back in space' and WHERE ARE THEY?! I have students drawing outer space, under the ocean, in a lightening storm, in tornadoes, etc....
7. Outline in sharpies
8. Paint with watercolors (we added crayon detail for small things as a wax-resist)

Create your own Cartoon Characters, 3rd Grade

The kids ate this project up. I really had NO idea how much they would love creating their own cartoon characters! I have a worksheet that a previous teacher left (looks like it was scanned from a book, maybe?) that has some ideas of eyes, noses, mouths, heads and bodies of characters. It helps to get the kids started. They are free to use their own ideas, too-in fact, it's encouraged.


We start off on a 9x12 manilla paper, and the students sketch 8 characters.

Then, they have to choose their favorite 4.

Then, they put their favorite 4 on a 9x12 white paper (we fold it in half twice to get 4 equal spaces).

Students then outline, color in prismacolors, add a border to each character (that goes with the theme), and create a name for their character.

They are then cut into 4, and mounted on a black piece of paper.

I didn't realize how much they'd LOVE this project...seriously, they were obsessed! But, it was great for hand-eye coordination, to get their little minds going creatively, and to use colored pencils.

Who knows-one day, these could be famous :)

Cities using Rulers, 3rd Grade

I think I have an obsession with cityscapes. Either way, the kids don't seem to mind--because they LOVE drawing cities, too especially when I give them free reign of what type of buildings/companies/stores/restaurants can go into them.

This year, I incorporated ruler use, and had each student make a 3.5 " building and a 5" building. Anything like that to throw some math in the lesson is always a plus! I went around and "checked" the buildings to make sure they were accurate.

This time around, we used prismacolors for our cities, and watercolor for our sky. I tend to switch it up every year--this year, I liked the results!

Nutcrackers, 3rd Grade

I was struggling with what to do with my 3rd graders this year for the holiday, and then stumbled upon this lesson on drawing a nutcracker.

It was a HIT.

The kids loved it...and I LOVED the results!!

My students used rulers, and did not use tracers. This way, all the results were varied.

Thankful Turkeys, 1st-4th grade

I taught the students how to draw the turkey that was posted on Art Projects For Kids (which was a great base for lots of turkey-projects), and then gave them a variety of materials to use.

I love the one posted directly below, because they chose to add textured grass by doing tissue-paper grass. They all turned out really cute, and the kids always love learning something new to draw and add to their book of "can-do's".

Hot Air Balloons, 3rd Grade

Just had to share how lovely these turned out (I've posted previously on this lesson!)--love them. But, who am I kidding-I love everything they do.

3-dimensional pop out shapes, 3rd Grade

This is a great project to use a ruler, teach a little about 3-D and form.

Just start with a plain white piece of paper. Draw a center dot. Have them draw 3-5 shapes around the center dot. (I usually recommend circles, square, trianges, rectangles, hearts or diamonds)

Then, show them how to use a ruler and connect the edges of the shape to the center dot. Any edge that you lay your ruler down and it cuts through the shape means DON'T draw the line!

Once you show them on the board, they will fully understand.

You can add stripes and designs to your shapes like mine. We use marker to color them in. Then, have the students cut out the entire design and post onto a background colored paper that compliments the art piece.

This is a great one-day project, and they love the result...and so do I!

Tropical Fish, 3rd Grade

For this project, I give the students a photocopy, that have about 10 different small detailed pictures of various fish. They are to pick one that they like, and try to draw the basic shape of the fish on a 12x18 piece of black paper. Then, they may add whatever designs they'd like to their fish. It may be realistic, or abstract.

They use prismacolor colored pencils (which work marvelous on black paper!), and must press hard with them! These took a long time, but they were just gorgeous!

(sorry for the glare...this one is laminated!)

Warm/Cool Hands, 3rd Grade

I got this idea from Art Projects for Kids a while back. I did make some significant changes. She uses a template, and we did it all from scratch and used different shapes in the background. You also get the chance to touch on warm and cool colors again, which is always great.



1. Start with 9x12 white piece of paper

2. Draw either a circle, triangle or square in the upper right part of the paper (not all the way to the corner)

3. Draw echo lines or contour lines that follow the shape all the way to the edges of the paper.

3. Lay your hand down and trace it (I suggest getting your hand near the original shape)

4. Outline everything in sharpie

5. Students decide if the hand will be warm or cool, and the background will be opposite color scheme. Then, begin painting with tempera. Keep the same pattern. Yellow/Red/Orange...repeat. Everyone can have their own pattern of doing color, doesn't matter : )

6. Once dry, a re-outline is good to do. We ran out of time, so we didn't do this in the photos above.

My students LOVED this. Many of them voted this as favorite project of the year...which surprised me some, but...hey! I think they turned out nice.

Lizards, 3rd Grade

I saw this project and even I felt intimidated by it! I thought, wow...I have never really drawn a lizard before, this will be hard. But, it really is simple once broken down into steps, and I felt confident enough to teach it to my 3rd graders. They are an awesome group of kids that are super excited about learning and trying new things. I almost NEVER hear whining out of them, which is all sorts of awesome, right?

These were done on 9x12 black construction paper. Drew with a black oil pastel first (no pencils!), added color with chalk pastels, and then re-outlined in a black oil pastel again to make 'em pop. The detailed directions are on that link given above.

I LOVE getting ideas from other art teachers, it rocks...and so do these:

*UPDATE* Falling back in space self-portraits, 3rd Grade

Oh the sound of the OoooOoo's and Ahhhh's when these got hung in the hallway today could have been heard from across the street. These were a HIT!

Hot Air Balloons, 3rd Grade

Wow. I have used SO many of Patty's idea's, its crazy. I have MORE to come. I am only in my 2nd year of teaching and I just want to try EVERYTHING, and I have so many cool lessons from last year that I've ditched already. I'm sure I'll come back to them, but I just want to try all these new, fabulous ideas I'm finding through all my art teacher friends.

This was her Hot Air Balloon project. In some classes we used marker, in others (like these), we used crayon and pastel for the background. I think all of them are bright, vibrant and fun.

Palm Tree Silhouettes, 3rd Grade

I got this idea through another blog. I love perusing those blogs and finding what I can to get lessons or ideas. We started with a 12x18 white piece of paper. We talked about the color wheels. We started with green, and went around...adding all the colors, blending with watercolor. The students added the silhouette part using black tempera the 2nd week. One of the students, you'll see, took a little artistic license and it's not exactly a "silhouette" anymore. But, its lovely nevertheless.

Wayne Thiebaud and Printmaking, 3rd Grade

I wanted to teach the kids about printmaking. I wanted to teach the kids about an artist. They are always so interested in drawing yummy things. So, who better to teach them about then Wayne Thiebaud?! Some of their prints turned out so good. In the final project (which you won't see today) the students have selected their favorite 4 prints and arranged them the way you'd see a pop artist do so. I'm excited about them, so I want to give a preview. Happy Monday!

Under the Sea, 3rd Grade

This isn't one of my actual lessons, we're doing this for our "Art to Remember" fundraiser project in one our 3rd grade classes...however, I love this one and it's not even done yet.

Wanted to share....

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.

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.

Snowy Evergreens, 3rd Grade

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.