Hey, friends! If the winter weather is causing you to have brain freeze and you are stumped for ideas on art lessons, I've put together this HUGE blog post filled with my favorite winter art lessons. Many of them also include instructional video...this way if you are out sick or find yourself feeling a little under the weather, you can simply have me be your art teacherin' sub. All I ask in return is that if you post projects that your students have created, inspired by my lessons, you give me a shout out. It's always nice to give art teachers credit for their lessons...especially when they share them for free as I'm doing here. I also LOVE to reshare your projects on my Instagram which would gain your more followers. So it's a win-win! The Heather Galler coffee cups were created by my second graders some years ago and they are still a fave lesson of mine. You can find the details here.
I really am a sucker for black glue and chalk pastel, y'all. Each one of these fourth grade pieces was a stunner...and such a great lesson on using a new supply and color theory. Lesson with video here.
This second grade selfie lesson introduced my students to the world of printmaking! We had a blast creating these prints for our hats and mittens. Complete lesson here.
In need of some lessons for the kindergarten crowd? This one was a hit with mine...video lesson here!
Speaking of kindergarten...here is a winter landscape lesson that I've done with them for years. It teaches tint and shades as well as collage. You can find it here.
As my fourth graders wrap up this lesson, lemme tell you, the results have been amazing and it's quickly becoming my new fave project! More details with video here!
When I posted this photo on my Instagram a while back it got a whole lot of love. I promised I'd share this lesson with you all and here I am! My fourth graders are ALMOST done with these, hoping to do the last step within the next couple of art classes. I'll be sure to share the end results. Until then, I've created a lesson video for you and your kids! I'll walk you thru the lesson break down and supplies in this blog post.
I hope you and your students enjoy!
Supplies:
* Watercolor paint. In the video, and in my room, the kids used Pelikan brand watercolor paint. I'll be sharing more about watercolor in a blog post tomorrow so stay tuned if you have quesions.
* Cardboard pizza rounds. I get mine from a restaurant supply place called GFS or Gordon Food Service. Amazon used to sell them. I usually can get 100 for under $20.
* Paper. I always order 80-90 lbs paper and we use that for EVERYTHING.
* Glitter (ugh!) or fake snow. I found some super cheap after Christmas!
Day 1: I see my fourth graders for an hour. On the first day, we were able to create our practice sketches and paint our final circles.
Day 2: What I didn't show in the video was how we added a little sparkle to our circles. At the start of art, the big circles were passed back. The kids "painted" them with ModPodge mixed with glitter. Once those were done, we chatted on the floor about how to paint these papers for their cities.
Day 3: Cities! We really talked about how to make a building look 3-D and the kids rocked it. Many of them drew in pencil first...but that was just suggested, not required.
Up next...cut these out, add or our cities and start on our snow! I'm excited, I cannot wait to see these complete! I'll be sure to pop back by and share more as we finish.
I have not done a needlepoint version of Andy yet...I just got so excited about working on my next pattern that I moved on. I'm hoping to create a needle point version soon. For now, I'm just stuck with a Shaggy Andy. My goal is to create a series of these artists...making one big ole latch hook artist rug. Crazy? Yeah...but what else would you expect? If you've never latch hooked before, the supplies are available at most craft stores. You can find out details about the process here.
To give you an idea of what the needlepoint version would look like, just check out the back of my latch hook! Of course this is the design in reverse...but it kinda gives you an idea. I love the back of latch hook just as much as the front...I might have to hang these so they can be seen from the front and the back!
Need a fun lesson for your first graders tomorrow? I think I might have something for you: these adorable penguins! This lesson teaches so stinkin' much: warm colors, brush control, using watercolors, painting spirals, a review of lines and shapes and much more. The kids loved creating these.
I made a video just for you to share with your students to walk them through this lesson. Here I'll break it down for you day by day.
If this image looks familiar, that's because my kindergarten did a slightly similar lesson. You can check that out here. I see both my kindergarten and my first graders for 30 minutes twice a week. So here's how we spent Day 1 and 2: Painting spirals! Midway through day 2, most kids were finished painting their 12" X 18" papers with spirals. Once complete, the kids placed their work on the drying rack and worked on the following...
With my shorter art classes, we don't have sketchbooks. Instead, we sketch on dry erase boards. This cuts down on paper waste...and, added bonus, kids LOVE drawing on dry erase boards. I got mine at the Dollar Tree. I created a step by step penguin so my students could practice independently while their classmates finished their paintings. This is something new I've been doing this year and I love it. Not a moment of instructional/practice/work time wasted...and no wasted paper either!
Day 3: guided penguin drawing. These guys are huge, measuring in at 12" X 18". We used bingo daubers and drew on the floor. Yes, crazy...but it is the method that I found works best for me and my students. I had each place a messy mat under their penguin so we wouldn't get ink on the floor. Of course we did! It mopped up.
Day 4: The following art class, we added the chalk to create form and painted. Some classes moved quickly enough that we were also able to cut them out!
If you are looking for a fun winter collaborative project, that could be it! Skip the background painting and just create these. Add them to a backdrop and, ta da! Instant winter mural!
We hung these up with the kindergarten snowman for a fun and frosty display. Have fun, y'all!
Every time I post on this blog lately, I find myself apologizing for not posting more. I'm tired of apologizing and I miss it here...and y'all! One of my goals this year is to get back here at least twice a week (my goal is three) to share lessons and whatever else that's goin' on. So, to kick off the new year, I thought I'd share a project I wrapped with kindergarten that they totally loved...and I think your kids will too. I created this lesson video for you to share with your students! I'll break it down day by day as to how I taught it in my art room.
Day 1: We painted spirals. I have my kindergarten for 30 minute art classes. Most of them finished their spiral paintings on one day but some wanted to paint the following. We used watercolor paint which is what I demo with in the video. Also, those warm color paintings? Those are by the first grade...and I'll be sharing that lesson with you later this week.
Teaching kids brush control and proper brush use is no easy task...but it can be fun. Here's a clip of me teaching my students how to correctly use their paint brushes and achieve delicate spiral lines.
If I have learned one thing about teaching kids, it's that silly sticks! They'll remember things if they are super silly and fun. That's basically my teaching philosophy.
Day 2: On the second day, we gathered with a clean 12" X 18" piece of paper and met on the floor with our bingo daubers (we call them paint markers). Because our daubers are filled with permanent ink, we placed another sheet of paper under ours to protect the floor...at least that was the idea. We did have a couple of incidences but we managed to get the floor clean. I did try to have them do a draw along with me while at their seats: TOTAL BUST. The kiddos couldn't focus when they were all spread out and it was just not fun. So we did a Round 2 on the floor and it was great. Day 3: We added the chalk and the paint to our snowman.
Day 4: We cut them out and added them to our backgrounds! Most kids added stick hands and a few even added boots.
This little guy got carried away decorating the background of his before cutting it out and adding it to his painted paper. I love it so much! Especially that rainbow scarf!
Something I was considering for y'all: * If you are short on time, skip the painted background. Have the kids create their snowman and then just paint the background of that paper when finished. * If you don't have paint markers or bingo daubers, try using Sharpie markers or black paint! If you use Sharpie markers, work on a sheet of paper that is 9" X 12" as the lines are much smaller than the daubers. * The kids could color in the scarf and hat, not paint. I did that with a couple of classes when I didn't have time to get out the paint and they look great!
Love to hear from y'all if you give this lesson a go. Your kids will love it!
I need y'all to say a lil prayer for me...as we are heading into a FULL week next week! That's right. While some of y'all teacherin' friends work a partial week, we are in it to win it, truckin' all the way until 10am on Friday morning. If I make it if the kids make it that long. Every last one of us is runnin' on fumes and hot chocolate at this point. BUT...we still makin' some masterpieces!
None of which I've had two seconds to blog about...so that's super awesome. My goal is to post a bunch of winter-themed lessons on this here blog super soon. AND I do believe I've been saying that for months but things have been cray around here. I'm inching closer to being finished with my new book (preorder here, eep!!) and having some time to actually create and catch up on this here blog is quickly becoming a reality. I'm so happy for it! In the meantime, if you follow me on IG, then you've seen a lotta these lessons already. I've even shared the details in my stories. But the plan is to create real live videos for you to share with your kiddos over my break. So...stay tuned.
One project I'm stoked to share are these here super cute first grade penguins. The kids and I are loving this lesson and learning so much! Bingo daubers were used for both this lesson and the third grade abstract name design shown above.
Since kindergarten is wrapping up their snowmen this week, I had to wear this here snowman dress, right? I found it on Amazon and it was both inexpensive and super cute, if I do say so. And I just did. But not as cute as these guys...
These were all lookin' pretty adorable but adding the chalk around the edge and to the cheeks totally took it to another level.
That night, my good buddy Tamara hosted a craft night...and I made this cute lil toy soldier! She is the most amazing host. We had a wonderful dinner WHILE creating. Thankfully she had the templates for the solider all cut out so it was just a matter of picking my colors, tracing and cutting. She even had a frame for each one of us. I was pretty excited to finish...and have him match my bonus room so well.
Another week, another tree skirt. It's the most tree skirtin'est time of the year!
These second grade chalked background for an upcoming Wolf Kahn-inspired landscape has me really excited. Yet another lesson to share with y'all soon!
I have found that all the shops have the best tacky holiday sweaters right now! Target is where I scored this lil number and I love it.
Speakin' of love, that's what I feel when I stare at these fourth grade beauties. Stay tuned on this one, we'll soon be adding these to our snow globes.
And would you look at that! We got all fancy for our nephew's wedding this weekend and I just had to share...we clean up pretty good.
Labels: elementary art, vintage clothing
art class,
cassie stephens,
first grade,
kindergarten lessons,
printmaking,
winter,
winter art lessons,
winter landscapes,
winter portraits
