Cassie Stephens: art day

Showing posts with label art day. Show all posts

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Floating Chalk Print Snow Globe!

YOU GUYS. I can't tell you how excited I am about this one! After I created my first Snow Globe lesson , I started getting all sorts of ideas on how to add color to the background. I thought...what about chalk prints?!

I first shared the process of Floating Chalk Prints back in 2014 (that's wild!) and you can check out that post here. But really...not much has changed! You'll need:

* A basin of water. And, seriously, nothing but water.

* Freart chalk, found here. Sidewalk chalk won't work...and artist chalk is so expensive and little...this stuff is seriously the best.

* If you are looking for round paper, Prang just created some!

And that's it! Of course, you might want these free downloads from yours truly...

Get your Snow Globe download here.

And free winter drawing idea sheet here!

Okay, now...let's get started. I promise...you and your students are gonna love this!

RIGHT?! Out of all the methods I tried for adding color to the background (and I have another fun one that I'll be sharing here and on YouTube soon...I always post to YouTube first so, please be sure and subscribe to be alerted!)

Whenever I share the process of floating chalk prints, I always get the question "do you have to spray or set the chalk once dry?" NOPE! Which is what makes it even more amazing!

I hope y'all have fun! I can't open my comment section here on my blog, unfortunately, because I get spammed for days BUT...I am active on Instagram and Facebook! BTW...I recently had a fake Facbeook account created in my name and likeness. It's not me! The one I have linked here is my account. So...if you do this lesson in any way, I'd love to see! Please be sure and tag me.

And...friendly reminder...that if you are interested in receiving any of my books for the holidays, you may want to order super soon! I sign all of my books before packing them up and sending them your way. You can find them here!

Let's Draw (and Paint!) a Snow Globe

Since Prang came out with their new round paper, I've had so many ideas about what can be created in a round format. Last week I shared this wreath project...and today I thought I'd share a Snow Globe lesson with ya! I even created some free downloads for you to use. All I ask is that you only use them in your creative world and don't copy then and sell them on Teachers Pay Teachers (yes, it happens. A lot.)

Now, this isn't my first Snow Globe lesson...I did a Snow Globe City project with my fourth graders that's a little different. If you'd like to check that out, go here.

Also...stay tuned! I got SO MANY ideas on how to add color the background of these Snow Globes that I have two more videos and lessons coming your way. So...the best thing to do is to subscribe to my YouTube channel. You can do so here. I have three more videos for kids that will be landing there this week!

Now...on to the video:

Yay, so fun!

Tap this link for the free download to the Snow Globe sheet.

Tap here for this idea sheet, free!

And...I'm not just sayin' this cuz I work with Prang BUT...their markers, which I never used before working with them, are simply the best! They are heavily pigmented and work really will with this type of painting-without-painting type of project.

AND...just a reminder, if you'd like any of my books as Christmas presents for teachers, friends or the young artists in your life, might I recommend you purchase them sooner rather than later. This way they will (fingers crossed) arrive in time for the holidays. Chat soon!

Hello, friends. It's that time of year...the time of year when we start seeing (and hearing) a whole lot about yee ole Elf on a Shelf.

I don't know how or where this whole elf thing started but when I saw it's popularity in stores and in the chatter with my students, I started thinking: should I? I mean, I love to have things that engage my students, get them excited, laughing and having fun...could an elf be just the thing? Especially for these dreary winter days.

So, I did it. I got an elf. Now, not one of those branded ones because I'm a cheapo. No, I found a colorful one at Michaels and thought, yep! I guess I'm doing this!

For YEARS my students absolutely LOVED Esmerelda, our art room elf. I'm here to share with you the pros...and the cons...in case you find yourself contemplating whether or not you too should get an art room elf.

PRO:

* THEY LOVE IT! All of my students absolutely adored the art room elf. It got them so excited to come to art class, even more than they normally are. During the first few minutes of art, I would greet my students in the hallway and let them know that Esmerelda was in the room. They were to go into the room and look for her...but they had to be quite (she's shy) and absolutely not run. My art room has a lotta space...which lends itself to the occasional sprint. This was a fun way to kick off class. Once they 'found' her, students were to meet me on the floor in our instructional area.

* NOT ALL CHILDREN HAVE ONE! Students are always abuzz this time of year if they have an elf at home. And they want to talk about it! And then there are the children who don't have one...and often, they don't understand why. The premise is that they are magical...and students are left wondering why they weren't chosen to have one visit their home. So having an art room elf meant that everyone got one! Everyone got to experience a little of the magic. Those students seems to cherish Esmerelda the most.

* IT KEEPS THE ART ROOM MAGICAL! I found a tiny door at my local Goodwill and added that one year. Students knew that when the door appeared, Esmerelda was not far behind. Some students would ask why I had an elf and other classrooms didn't. Because...art class is magical! Magical things happen here!

CONS:

* ELVES ARE A LOTTA WORK! Look...having an elf means you gotta do something EVERY DAY. So...prepare your ideas ahead of time. Keep some simple like...drawing on the dry erase board or tipping over a box of blocks. Having a list of ideas really helps because you don't wanna get caught moving it around right as the students are walking in the door. My suggestion: do it the night before. Or...if this sounds like too much, don't do it at all!

* YOU'LL HAVE SOME NAY-SAYERS! Surprisingly, the older kids WANT to believe...or they just want to act wild the first few minutes of art class...but you'll always have some nay-sayers. Just have an answer ready to roll out and don't engage in too many back and forth's. I usually said, "if you don't believe Esmerelda is real, that's okay. Just don't say it too loudly, we don't want to hurt her feelings." And leave it at that.

* THE KIDS GET A LITTLE TOO WILD! Let's be real...between programs and parties and interruptions to your schedule, you hardly have time to do your lessons. Now...adding an elf to the mix?! Look, if you aren't feelin' this, don't do it! You are the teacher, you get to decide. You do you and, at this point, you do what you can to make it across the Winter Break finish line. Know that I'm rooting for you either way!

Just a reminder: if you'd like my books to arrive in time for a Christmas present for a teacher, a young artist, an aspiring art teacher or a gift to yourself, please consider ordering soon! I'm signing each before popping them in the mail. You can find all of my books here!

My Book Larry the Line and More!

So...I can't believe I never did this but...I FORGOT TO SHARE ON MY BLOG THAT I WROTE A CHILDREN'S BOOK!

Seriously?!

Yes, seriously, I wrote a children's book and yes, seriously...I forgot to mention it here.

It's official: I'm the worst blogger.

I think I was just so excited that I posted to my other social media accounts right away...and then I was so excited to pack up and send Larry the Line out that I just, well, forgot. But, better late than never, as they say and so...here we are.

I wrote a children's book called Larry the Line!

Now for those of you who are the OG's of this here blog, you may already know all about Larry the Line. He's a friend of mine. He can make three straight lines for me!

I came up with the poem during my first year teaching when I was trying to think of a fun and engaging way to teach students about line. It's a short poem and it's aways been a wild hit with my students. I've chatted about it here and here.

And made plenty of videos about it too.

After writing and self-publishing Larry the Line, which you can find here, I decided to also create digital downloads to go with it. I had so many requests for them, especially that clay sheet (see below) I thought I'd make it happen. You can pick the downloads up here.

So...sorry I was keepin' secrets from you but now you know!

You can also pick up my other book Art Teacherin' 101 here.

And stay tuned...because I have something big coming soon and I promise, you'll be the first-ish to know. ;)

My 12 Favorite Winter Art Lessons!

Need some fun winter art lessons? Here ya go!

Greetings, art teacherin' and art-lovin' friends!

I got such a wonderful response from my last blog post where I shared my 25 Favorite Lessons for Valentine's Day that I thought I'd continue to share.

Today I'm sharing with you my very favorite WINTER lessons! Around here, we are just now experiencing the cooler temps with winter on the horizon. What better time to incorporate it into your art teacherin' world?

So I present to you my favorite winter lessons, ALL FREE! Just tap the link listed with each lesson and you'll find a kid-friendly video, handouts and lessons. Feel free to use in your art room but, please, be sure and give credit if you decide to post on social media. AND, of course, please do not repackage my lessons and sell on TPT. I know what you are thinking, "Cassie, people do that?!"

YESSSS! All the time! SMH.

Anyway, let's get started!

If you are looking for one of those lessons that, let me be honest, takes a while (sometimes those can be a good thing!) this Snow Globes is for you! The kids do love it! Drawing buildings is their favorite part but we also do a lot of painting and, despite my custodian's protests, we do bust out the glitter. Here's the full lesson with video!

This lesson could totally be shortened with less painting! We painted these papers to draw on but you could always use colorful construction paper or copy paper to eliminate that step.

One of my most popular lessons both with teachers and students is the one inspired by Jen Aranyi! Just tap the link and you'll find a video as well as a handout!

You'll notice we are working on cardboard circles here...one of my very favorite surfaces! You can buy cardboard circles at your local food supplier. I get mine at Gordon Food Services (GFS) where they sell them in a variety of sizes. I like the brand Circle King.

Ya know how "you live and you learn"? Well...after having done this lesson and others involving "black glue", I'm going to share with you a different and much easier way to get the effect of black glue without making it!

But before I do that, you can find a video for this super fun and colorful lesson here.

So, don't make black glue. Seriously. Unless you hate yourself and have more time than you know what to do with. Because, honestly, it's the worst and there is a MUCH better way!

When doing this lesson, for example, have students draw their trees with black washable markers. I prefer Prang markers (always! Trust me!). Then, using ELMER'S GLUE ALL (never EVER School Glue), have students trace over their black lines. Overnight, the waterbased marker and the glue will mix and mingle and create...a black glue line! Don't believe me? Check out this blog post and video where I share the process.

So I've shared with you some lessons I've done with my older kids so let's now focus on kindergarten and first. Here's a lesson I did many years in a row! I love it because it teachers value. Students create tints for the snow and shade for the sky. We also practice our cutting skills with collage. Full lesson here.

Okay, kindergarten!

Another super popular winter lesson (and one that the kids love) is this Winter Penguin lesson I did with my first graders. All the details can be found, including a video, here.

We kick things off with a painting review as well as warm an cool colors. The first graders painted the warm color papers while the kinder did the cool for their lesson, details below. We talked A LOT about holding our paintbrush and brush control.

Using one of my favorite art supplies: the bingo dauber; we created these penguins! Again, the lesson has all the details so be sure and check it out!

And here's some kindergarten cuteness! Same method as the first grade project except we did snowmen instead. Full lesson with video here.

We used chalk after drawing our snowmen to add the pops of color.

Got that one class that's ahead of the rest and you need a one day lesson for? Well, here ya go!

Looking to dip your toes into some printmaking? This one is always a hit with my second graders. No printing ink? No problem! Tap the link and I'll show you how to do printmaking with markers!

Such a fun way to create winter selfies!

How about a cup of hot chocolate? In this blog post, I share with you this quick lesson as well as five other quick winter projects!

Don't you love a fast and effective art lesson?!

One of my favorite all time lessons is for kids to create their own mugs and drink hot chocolate out of them! For all of THOSE details, just tap here!

Speaking of printmaking: if you have Gelli Plates and have been dying to bust them out, here's your sign. And your lesson!

Now we took ours a step further by printing on fabric and stitching the into banners but...let's be real: how many of us have sewing machines?! So you can try it with a small group or just enjoy the printmaking process!

Tis the season to remember just how important collaborations in art can be! For that reason, why not try a big ole winter collaboration on for size?!

Look how colorful and fun!

What to do with all of those paper snowflakes you teach the kids how to make? Try THIS project on for size! Faux metal tooling with fourth grade -- stunning!

Thanks for checking out this post on my very favorite winter lessons! In case you haven't heard, I've written two new books and have self-published! You can take a closer look and find them both here.

Thank you as always for all of the support, y'all!

First Day of Art for Kindergarten

People can tell me how they run their classroom all day long and I do love to hear about it because I am a person who LOVES to try new things. I like to throw EVERYTHING at the art teacherin' wall just to see what sticks. But what REALLY helps me is seeing it in action. Sure I can imagine what Call and Response or a behavior management plan my look like but it's so much better to see it happening. So...that's why I love to share what it looks like in my art room. For that reason, I'll be sharing my first day teaching kindergarten right here!

If this video looks a little familiar that's because...I have been running my first day of kindergarten the very same way FOR YEARS. If it works, stick with it, right? And I'll be adding links to more blog posts with videos here.

This blog post breaks down the lesson and why I teach certain routines on that first day.

Want more details on where this lesson goes from here and how it becomes my kindergarten unit on line? Try this post!

If you are craving more First Day videos, here's a compilation of first day lessons with all students.

If you've never done paper sculptures with your students, they are an absolute blast. ALL kids can have great success right out of the gate. This provides an immediate love for art class which is what we all want, right? I've even done this lesson with my older students as a Getting to Know You activity.