Showing posts with label art teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art teacher. Show all posts

Sunday, January 5, 2025

10 of My Favorite Heart-Themed Lessons of All Time!

Hey, friends! Earlier this week, I shared some of my favorite lessons to ease back into the art room. They were all Valentine's themed to give you a jump start on a display for next month. You can check out that blog post (where each lesson comes with a video!) right here. 

Today I'm sharing lessons that are also Valentine's themed (or really heart/love themed!) but there are a little more in-depth and will take multiple class periods. Personally...I love a long project for these long winter days. It means less prep (after the first initial wave of tons of prep, ha!) and gives the kids something to really dig their teeth into. So, let's dive in! Just follow the lesson links and that will take you to the full lesson, video and resources!


Let's start strong with this Candy Hearts lesson that I did with my fourth graders! They loved creating large candy hearts and coming up with a (teacher-approved, ahem) saying. You can check out the lesson and video process here. 

Spring is when I LOVE to dive into weaving so...why not get everyone prepped by doing a paper weaving project? It's a great way to remind your students of the weaving process. Or...introduce them to it! This is a weaving (with a little bit of sewing) project that I did with my first graders. You can check it out here. 
Looking to dive into printmaking in the next couple of weeks? Here's a lesson that I did year after year with my second graders because it was such a hit! We made so many prints that we did some print swaps before adding our cut letters to these pieces. We even framed them with our scrappy messy mats! All the details can be found here. 
Speaking of printmaking, would you believe that kindergarten created these?! We used foam stickers and had a blast. You can check out the lesson here. 
And we then used our printing plates to create THESE! I know, I love em! You can see how we did it in this blog post
My third graders FLIPPED OUT over creating these plaster chocolates with puffy paint icing! Send out an email requesting heart shaped boxes now and use them for a display or, do what we did, and make your own! Details here. 
If you are in the mood to bust out the clay, might I recommend these? This project was one I did with my teachers, faculty and staff at my school! It was so fun to come together and create. I did create a video for them to watch and you can check it out here. 
In the mood to try a new art supply? For these, we used Celluclay, one of my personal favorite supplies to use when I create! These were made with an aluminum foil armature and Celluclay on top. You can check out the details here. 
Since these projects can take a while, you'll find you have some students who finish before others. I resolve that a couple of ways: I allow those students to 'assist' other artists by creating with them (with student permission, of course) or...I give them another lesson to do! This was one of those 'early finisher art lessons' that I created. I simply played the video for those kids and they got to work. This one is much easier than it looks! Here's the details! 

If you are looking for a lesson that can ultimately become a school wide collaborative or a mural, check out this one. This is a SUB PLAN! Granted, my sub KILLED it but...I do have the full video for you and your students to view here. 

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Monday, December 30, 2024

10 Lessons to Ease into the New Year, Valentine's Edition

Okay, listen, I get it. We're still in December and you may not want to be thinking about what's gonna go down in your art room next week (or this week? Do you return to school on Friday?). Regardless, I thought I'd help you out by offering some of my favorite EASY and engaging lessons that will allow you to ease your way back to the art room. Most of these lessons have a video so you can play that for your students while you grab your coffee and try to remember what day it is.

Let's start here! This lesson is ALWAYS a hit and, believe it or not, I do it with kindergarten. HOWEVER...when I return to school after a  long break, the last thing I wanna do is prep like mad for 5 different grade levels. It stresses me out and, because our students our little mirrors who reflect us, it stresses the kids out. SO! I often do this lesson with EVERYBODY, kindergarten through 4th. Does it make for a lotta messy paint trays, paintbrush washing and overflowing drying racks? YES. But does it also make for a gorgeous display of hearts created by the whole school that is ready to be hung BEFORE Valentine's Day (always the goal, right?!). Yes! So, let's go. Full lesson here.
This is a fun one and totally addictive so...beware! 
If you want to start with a little less mess, then just bust out the black, red and white oil pastels and get the kids drawing! They adore drawing cute stuff and these little Valentines critters are perfect for that. I created a video for each. You can check out the blog post with all the info here. We also did a stamped background that is totally optional. Here's the video for the bunny:

Now, if you want a demo on how to create the stamped heart background, be sure and check out the panda video (below) as I walk you through those initial steps. 
Here's how you can draw a long with me to create this fox:

And here's how to create the background and draw that panda:
Here's the video for that:

And last but not least!

Let's draw this cute Valentine's Pup!

For your older students, third on up, they may enjoy creating this 3-D heart!
This one is super low-mess as all it requires are markers, water and a paintbrush (and an oil pastel once dry, but that's totally optional). I share the details in this blog post. 


This project was done in just 30 minutes (the length of my art classes) and only uses chalk! I was also able to introduce my students to a contemporary artist for the process. Details here!


This is probably one of my all-time fave kid-approved lessons: this Chris Uphues-inspired heart art! 

If you need a line review lesson, you might want to try these Romero Britto-inspired hearts on for size! 
Of course, you should definitely share my book Larry the Line which also has two printable pages of line-inspiration in the back! 


And if you are looking for a lesson that packs a powerful contemporary artist punch, then THIS lesson with an introduction to four artists who use hearts in their art is the one for you! I did this on a half day with fourth graders and they knocked it out in one class period! 

Of course, since we are going to be talking about hearts, now is also a great time to either introduce or review SHAPES! Don't forget...Alfred can help you with that!
Remember: take it easy as you ease on in to this new year! Have fun!

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Monday, December 23, 2024

Let's Paint a Christmas Wreath!


Tis the time of the year to get to creating! If you are like me, then you just can't seem to part with your paper bag collection. I always see endless ideas on Pinterest and Instagram for bags so I just can't part with them! Last year, I recycled my bags by painting them into holiday motif bags and it was so much fun. I have been doing it again this year and decided to film the process in case you'd like to join me.

Something fun I found is that...once your painting is complete, you have an original masterpiece that can be framed and enjoyed! 

Here's the process:

If you have children who need to scratch that creative itch over the holidays or are hosting a family gathering, this may be a fun activity for everyone!

And now I can't stop painting on bags and stuff!
Have fun!



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Cassie's Christmas Closet!

Hey there! As I was unpacking my Christmas clothes at the start of the month, I decided to film the process. However...it was kinda boring just holding the clothing up so...I thought I'd try some on for ya! I only managed to scrape the tip of the Christmas clothes iceberg but these are my faves. I'd love to hear yours!

And...if you are looking to up your closet game, I highly recommend the following:

*Hit the thrift stores! I PERSONALLY...love to have one-of-a-kind items. So the thrift and resale shops are always the best. For those of you saying "I never find anything at the thrift store"...me neither! The key is to go often. And, if you can, go earlier rather than later in the day.

*Hit those sale racks! I never shop full retail. Never ever. I always put on my blinders and go straight to the sale rack. What other people decide is 'too weird' or 'out there' always ends up on the sale rack and, wouldn't you know, that's always my fave finds.

*MAKE IT YOURSELF! I know, you may not be able to sew but...I didn't either for the longest time. So...start with upcycling outfits by adding to them with your own bit of flair and just gradually go from there. You seriously won't regret learning a new skill like sewing, needle felting or the like.

*Have fun with what ya got! Chances are you have a closet full of possibilities. You just need to mix and match the patterns and prints a bit. You'll get better at this. My hot take: start adding more black and white dots and/or stripes to your wardrobe as THAT goest with everything and offers a flair of fun.

Happy Holidays, y'all!
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Friday, September 9, 2022

Dot Day Celebration!

Every year, Dot Day creeps up on me and I find myself scrambling for ideas. This year, I decided to create Dot Day Stations for my students to travel to in my 30 minute art class. I had four tables set up with four different activities of dot makin' mayhem and the kids LOVED IT! So much so that I decided to extend the activities to next week! We'll use our dots to create a collage (like what's seen in the image above). Added bonus: the kids are exploring 12 different art making techniques! Here is what we did on the first day:

The following day, students rotated between these stations:

And my older students did these activities:
I did this with my first through fourth grade students and, seriously, they had the best time. Here's a little short of us in action:

If you need more Dot Day ideas, I have plenty of blog posts! You can check them out here...this one has a free downloadable activity sheet! This one has a lot of ideas for kindergarten through fourth! And this one was a HUGE hit last year and could also be done in one day! Okay...seriously...if you google "Cassie Stephens Dot Day" and hit that image search button...you'll have a ton of ideas and videos. Have so much fun!


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Thursday, November 11, 2021

Sewing Basics!

My fourth graders are getting ready for a new sewing adventure! Last year, they stitched these pizza pillows. Next up, we are dying our own fabric and creating a kind of faux-Shibori dyed pillow (see below). 
I love teaching sewing (and all things fibers) to my students. If you are interested but don't know where to start, I share all of my tips and tricks in my book Stitch and String Lab for Kids

I'll be sharing my favorite fibers projects in an upcoming post but if you just can't wait, you can hop over to my YouTube channel and visit my "Fibers" playlist! Be sure and subscribe, I'm currently adding a lot of video content!

I decided to create a video to walk my students through sewing basics. I played it today on our first day of stitching and it was a hit! I didn't have to thread a single needle and only tied one knot. If you'd like to view it, here you go:

Feel free to use it in your art teacherin' world!
There are a lot of things I've learned about teaching children to stitch over the years. Many of my tips you'll see in the video. However, I plan to share much more in upcoming Art Teacherin' 101 videos. 

Just a preview: fourth graders opened their dyed fabric, pinned it and began stitching in 30 minutes! When they are interested, it's amazing how fast they can work. 
Here's where we're heading. Again, this is a project from my book and always a hit. Happy stitching!

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Thursday, April 16, 2020

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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Friday, April 10, 2020

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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Sunday, April 5, 2020

Pirate Week: Alligator Puppet and a Weekly Wrap Up!

Wow! I don't know about you, but Pirate Week was an absolute blast! So many of you joined the fun that I loved seeing photos of you and your children creating along with me. It means the world to me. Thank you so much for sharing! In case you missed out on making your own Alligator Puppet, here's the list of supplies you'll need:
And here's the how-to video:
In case you missed any of our Pirate Week adventures, I thought I'd do a recap of all of our projects here! I'll be sharing the videos here but if you want a list of supplies, you can check out this blog post.

There's what we created on Thursday...a crowd favorite: Treasure Maps!
I brought back the Salt Dough Clay recipe because it was such a hit during Zany Scientist Week. With it, we created the details on our Treasure Chest!
We constructed a Pirate Ship Collage with materials found around the home:
And we even drew ourselves as pirates when we created this Wanted Pirate Poster!
I'll be going LIVE again this week for...Superhero Week! Stay tuned for the projects I have lined up for us, I'll be posting later on today. You can catch me LIVE here on Facebook or on Instagram. You can also catch me later on my YouTube channel.

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Friday, April 3, 2020

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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