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.

How to draw Santa, 1st Grade

Last year I posted this. I think its a fun way at the holidays to teach the concept of portraits, yet, apply it to the season.

I got this lesson from a great friend of mine who teaches Elementary Art.

Here are the easy step by steps:

Then color....and have fun!

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.

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.