Behind My Mask: A Super Kid Self-Portrait!

 Hello, friends!

I have created a lesson for my students and any kiddos who wish to create titled Behind My Mask! When my students return in the fall (and, yes, I said 'when' as I am very hopeful and optimistic), they will be asked to mask-up. We always seem to start out school year with a selfie so I was bummed when I thought of the idea of my students drawing themselves with their best facial feature hidden. And that's where the idea of this surprise drawing came from. Here's a video! Feel free to use and share (with credit given, please and thank you):

I simply used paper, permanent marker, coloring markers and crayons. If I happen to teach virtually this fall, this lesson could also be done by my students at home. 

 This video is a short and simple one...when teaching, I plan to share with my students a variety of self-portraits and talk a lot more about lettering, fonts, skin tones, craftsmanship, good character...the list goes on! As you can see, I'd have a hard time fitting it into a video short enough to capture their attention. So, if you use this video, feel free to add on whatever you wish to include!

No one is excited about wearing a mask but...it's for our safety. And the best thing we can do for our kiddos is to put a positive spin on it, right? I hope to do that with this lesson. Enjoy!

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We Are Woven Together!

I've been thinking of new art lessons to bring into my art room this coming school year. I always want my lessons to have a focus on kindness, acceptance, empathy and love because, to me, that's what art is all about. I have put together a list of my favorite books to use when teaching and I thought I'd share it with you. 

As for the weaving project, you'll need a piece of white and black paper; yellow, red, white and black paint; a paintbrush and a cup of water; scissors and glue. Here we go:

I've been getting a lot of questions lately on how I plan to approach these types of lessons in my art room. Honestly, I'm going to be spending my summer reading, listening and learning. I don't know the answer to that question...yet. But I am open to learning. For now, this is my starting point and I thought I would share. 

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Let's Draw a Crab and Make Black Light Bubble Prints!

During Under the Sea week, I got a lot of requests for how to draw other sea creatures. So in this video, I'll show you how to draw a crab and his whole family! I'll also be sharing with you how to do bubble prints...that glow under black light! Bubble printing can be done with just water, dishsoap, food coloring and a straw. But if you want the bubbles to glow, you'll have to give fluorescent paint a try. Here we go:

Have fun!

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Let's Create a Mystery Word Painting!

Here's a fun little project that you can do with your friends and family...a Mystery Word Painting! Grab a white crayon, paper, watercolor paint and a plastic gift card and let's create!

Have fun!

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Under the Sea Week: A Coral Reef Relief Collage

 Yesterday, as apart of our Under the Sea Week, we created Coral Reef Relief Collages! If you want to create your own, grab the following supplies:

And now, let's create:

This one is so much fun and the possibilities are endless. 

If you want to join LIVE art class today, here's what you'll need! You can find me LIVE on my Facebook page, my Instagram or join the fun later by tuning in to my YouTube channel. Be sure and subscribe, new videos are added all the time! 

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Let's Make a Star Pop-Up!

Need a fun project for Mother's Day or any day? For this Glow Gallery star project, I'm using supplies by Pacon. You can shop their entire glow store here for all of your glow art show needs! I am using their Pacon paper and their Creativity Street Tempera Sticks. You can check out the video here:

I did this project years ago as a sub plan, if you can believe that! Here is what we created then and the supplies we used:

You can see more about this project in this blog post. Also, here is the video for this lesson:

Have fun!

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Let's Make an Abstract Word Painting!

Let's create an abstract word-painting! This one is fun and easy. All you'll need is a piece of paper, a permanent marker, water-based markers, a cup of water and a paintbrush. When you are finished with this painting, try painting your name as the words or someone else's name, like mom or dad! Let's get started:

Have fun!

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Wizard Week: Wizard Selfies!

Did we have fun making Wizard Selfies yesterday! It was such a blast and the Art Class with Cassie kids did an INCREDIBLE job! In case you missed it, here are the supplies we used:

And here's the video so you can create!

You won't want to miss today! We are making Baby Dragon Puppets! Grab your supplies and I'll see you on my Instagram or my Facebook LIVE at 11am CT. Or check the afterparty on my YouTube channel. New videos added daily so be sure to subscribe! 

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Outer Space Week: A Wrap Up!

This past week was Out of this World! We not only had space week but I also shared an Earth Day project each day! If you missed any of the Outer Space Projects then look no further, I've got them right here. If you want to check out the Earth Day projects, just hop over to my YouTube channel and search the "Let's Make" playlist! 

This was our sixth week of Art Class with Cassie and I excited to announce that next week our theme will be...Wizards! Stay tuned tomorrow for the list of projects and supplies needed. Until then, here's all the Outer Space projects from this week. 

Oh! AND just to make sure you don't miss out on next week, I go LIVE every weekday at 11am CT. You can find me live on my Facebook and my Instagram. If you've missed any of our themed weeks, you can find all of the videos on my YouTube channel! Be sure and subscribe, new videos are added every day! 

We did created collagraph rocketship prints on Friday!

Made fun puppets on a moon stage on Thursday!

Wednesday was a kid-favorite as we created Salt Dough Solar Systems!

Making this Talking Alien was a whole lot of fun too!

And on Monday we created Astronaut Self-Portraits!

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Dinosaur Week: Pop-Up Dinosaurs Love Snacks!

Our Dinosaur Week adventures continued on Thursday with this super fun activity: Dinosaurs Love Snacks! Here's the supplies suggested:

And here's the video so you can create along with me!

Have fun!

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Let's Make a Pop-Up Perspective!

Ask any ole art teacher what one of the toughest things to teach is and you'll hear: Perspective! Well, check out this easy and fun pop-perspective project I came up with. I think you and your young artists will love it. Have fun!

Happy creating!

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Superhero Week: Superhero Costume!

What's a superhero without their disguise? Yesterday we explored picking three colors that defined our superhero and then created cuffs and a mask to complete our look. It was so much fun and the supplies were simple. If no construction paper is available, I share a way to take white paper and make it colorful and fun to work with.

You can create short cuffs or big ones. I'll show you how to do both! As for today...

It's our last day of Superhero Week! How did that happen?! Today we'll be finishing by creating a miniature comic based on our superhero. I can't wait to see the comic books all you artists create! 

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Superhero Week: Super Pop-Up Card!

Wow! The artists who joined me live yesterday really had a lot of fun with this one: a Super Pop-Up Card! If you've not made a pop-up card before, you really outta give this simple project a shot. Here's the list of supplies you'll need:

You'll need two pieces of paper, one for the card and the other for your buildings and superhero. And here's how you can create your own card:

The possibilities of what you can create with this simple pop-up concept are limitless! If you want to join us today, here's what you might want to have on hand:

You can watch LIVE today (and every weekday) on my Facebook or my Instagram. You can also watch all videos the next day on my YouTube channel. New videos are up all the time so you might want to be sure to subscribe! 

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Pirate Week: Treasure Maps

Yesterday was so much fun on our Pirate Week adventure as we created Hidden Treasure Maps!

 The Art Class with Cassie kids really seemed to love this one as I got so many emails and messages of kids and their maps. They arrrrrre rockin' Pirate Week! In case you missed it, no worries, here is the list of supplies we used:

Today is our last day of Pirate Week! I cannot even believe it, where did the time go? Today we'll be making a puppet version of our very favorite friend, Allie Gator! You've seen him all week, now let's try our hand at making our own. Here are the supplies:

If you wish to join me LIVE you can do so on my Facebook page or my Instagram. And if you miss, don't worry! All videos go to my YouTube channel the following day. Be sure and subscribe because new videos are dropped almost daily! See you soon. 

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Pirate Week!

I hope you Pirates are as excited as I am about Pirate Week! We are going into our third week of themed home-based creating and I am loving it! In case you missed, we've done Robot Week and Zany Scientist Week. All of those videos you can now catch on my YouTube channel. More are added all the time so I would encourage you to subscribe! 

Once again, we are keeping the supplies simple. Most days we are just using household items. So that you can scavenge around for them like a true pirate, I'm including the list of supplies for each day this week! 

When I go LIVE, I do so on Facebook and Instagram. You can find me there, each weekday at 11am CT. 

If you know of ANYONE who would like to join, please know that this is absolutely free. Anyone is able to be apart of the creatin' fun. Art teachers, feel free to add this to your list of creative activities your students can do at home. Our kids are currently left with a lot of time on their hands. Let's fill their days with a bit of normalcy and FUN! Thank you SO MUCH for continuing to get the word out, it means the world to me and our creative kiddos. 

On Monday, we'll be drawing Wanted Pirate Posters! To get those creative juices flowing, I created not one but TWO coloring sheets! You can find them here and here. 

Just for fun, I created these What's Your Pirate Name sheets. You can use these any ole time but we'll definitely be taking a look at them on Monday! Of course, coming up with your own name is most of the fun!

Tuesday's activity is going to be all about recycling as we use a toilet paper tube and a cereal box as our main creating source!

Last week, making our own clay was a HUGE hit! If you want to make your clay in advance or find out more, just hop over here! 

The most fun in making your own treasure map is making it look old when you are finished. For that you can use a cup of coffee or tea. I used my cold cup of morning coffee and it worked great. 

I love making puppets, they are so much fun. And this one is a simple puppet that can actually be transformed into so many things. We'll be making a Crocodile Puppet with ours!

And here's the daily lineup! I hope to see you there. 

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