25 of My Favorite Sub Plans for the Art Room!

Hey, friends! 

I'm so excited to be heading to Chicago in a couple of weeks for the National Art Educator's Association conference. Will you be there? It's March 4th - 8th and I'm stoked. Mostly I'm excited because I get to see YOU (hopefully!). I'll be with my friends at Prang in their booth on Thursday, March 5th and Friday, March 6th from 11am-2pm. I'll have a limited number of my books with me to sell and sign...but you don't have to buy a book to drop by. Prang is hosting a Build Your Own Palette party where you can create your own watercolor tray. So be sure and stop by...say hi and grab some swag!

While I LOVE going to NAEA, I hate the preparation for the event. Cleaning my art room, prepping supplies and...coming up with sub plans that I know will be a success for my sub and my students. 

For that reason...I put together a HUGE blog post with all of my favorite sub plan lessons! All of these are totally free, many come with free downloads and videos for your sub to play. So! Just click on the link and visit the post for each of these plans. I've used them all in my art room with success so I know you will too!

First up, we have this Colorful Village sub plan that can be done any number of ways...so feel free to customize to what suits you, your supplies, your sub and your students! In this lesson, my students used neon oil pastels and watercolor paint. 

Now, watercolor is NOT something I would have my sub use (unless I knew the sub and trusted they would have success) so...for the few days that you are gone, the students could work on this portion of the project: drawing 3-D houses and adding color. When you return, you'll have a project ready to jump right into...with watercolor!

An updated version of this lesson is one I did with markers! Instead of using oil pastels or watercolor paint, this lesson, which comes with a free download, makes for fewer supplies. This means less prep for you and your sub!

This lesson was always a wild hit with my students as they loved learning about the artist James Rizzi as well as created their own fun face buildings. This lesson calls for permanent markers and regular coloring markers...and that's it!

For this lesson, you can check out the video as well as the two free downloads here!

To see my students' creations, visit this post!

This fun lesson gets your artists creating drawings of their favorite art supplies! This lesson has two versions: one of the supplies with funny faces and personalities and another one a little more 'realistic'. Find the video lesson as well as free drawing downloads here. 

Tis the season for selfies! Here's a fun self-portrait drawing lesson that is inspired by the artist Romero Britto. You can find the lesson video here!

My students love creating castles! This lesson also involves limited supplies which is perfect for a sub!

This lesson not only comes with a video lesson BUT...tons of free downloads! This lesson is perfect for 2nd grade and up! Check it out here. 

My first graders drew themselves as scientists for years and they are ALWAYS the cutest drawings ever! You can check out the full lesson here.

To go along with that lesson, why not have your artists create these exploding beaker bottles?! I love these pop-up style drawing that transform...and so do the kids. Find the lesson here. 

One year, I had a pirate themed art show and had my students draw themselves as pirates. It was easily one of their favorite activities! You can check out the drawing video here. 

For some coloring sheets to go along with this lesson, check this post out!

To go along with the pirate selfies, here's a fun collage project you and your artists will enjoy!

How about drawing a pirate map?! I've got a video where I'll show your artists how to create their own. Find it here. 

How about a superhero selfie?! Another art show theme that I did was a superhero one. To kick things off, why not have your artists create a superhero selfie?! Find the video lesson here. 

This lesson can be tied with a book like The Dot (I always love having books for my sub to read that tie in with the lesson) and is a fun way to get students to really thing outside the box. I have a free download for this as well as a drawing video. Check all that out here. 

How about having students create little selfies that can later be used to create a school-wide selfie collab! Check out the video lesson here. 

Feeling a little more ambitious? These collages are so much fun for kids of all ages! Check out the video lesson here. 

These collages inspired by contemporary artist Greg Mike always give me so much joy as they are so much fun for the kids to create and funny to put on display. Lesson video here!

A CLASSIC that I did year after year with my students is this pop-up star lesson. It's a great line review. It also involves a writing activity that is precious: the students write about what makes them a star. This is the perfect art show piece so if you are looking forward to that and need a sub plan...here ya go!

This is a lesson that I created for as a sub plan years ago...you can find the details here!

How about a little origami? Man...if you want kids to go bonkers, just teach them how to create these cute cats and dogs with a little drinking dish! All the video lesson details here. 

How about this sweet origami lesson?! It's precious and the kids will love creating it. Video lesson here. 

Let's create some positive word posters to bring cheer to the hallways? Check out this lesson to do just that!

Are these not the cutest little wizards ever?! Let me show your artists how to create them here!

Aren't these Wayne Thiebaud-inspired cakes just the coolest? Wanna have your artists create them while you are away at NAEA? Then just click here!

Alright, friends! There's 25 sub plans for ya, hopefully you'll find something here AND...I do hope to see you at the Prang booth at NAEA on Thursday and Friday 11-2pm! We'll chat, take selfies and create!

Read more »

How to Draw (and Paint!) Gingerbread Houses!

Hi, friends!

Coming to you with a new, fun and wintery lesson just in time for the holidays. Here's a How to Draw (and Paint!) Gingerbread lesson that you and your artists will love. Added bonus: this one comes with a FREE download! Just check it out below. But first, the video:

Because I know you may be short on time (and attentio span), I thought it would be fun to do this lesson a copule of different ways. One, why not make 'em little? By folding a square of paper in quarters, you end up with four little squares for practice drawing your houses. When finished, I used watercolor pencils (my new fave!) for a quick painting project. 

This idea sheet will break down the steps easily! So you and your artists can either follow along with me as I draw in my video OR...they can simply use the drawing sheet! You can find it for free here!

Now, I've not played around with these watercolor pencils from Prang very much until recently. I was VERY suprised how bright and colorful the colors were once paint was added. I did like that the set of 10 pencils came with a paintbrush too. It was the perfect size for this activity! AND...I was even able to add color and paint to the popsicle stick frames!

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday! 

If you are still hunting around for the perfect Christmas gift, I have some super fun books that you and yours may enjoy! I've been packing the up and getting them out as the orders come in so they make it in time for the holidays. Now's the time! Here's a link to my books. 

Stay cozy, friends!

Read more »

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!

Read more »

Let's Draw! Candy Corn...that's also a Vampire!

Let's Draw! A...Vampire Candy Corn because...why not? 

Let me show you how in less than two minutes:

See? Wasn't that super easy and fun?! 

Want to draw more Kooky Candy Corns? Well, just tap the link for a download to this drawing sheet and enjoy!

Let's Draw Candy Corn!

Read more »

Snacktastic Chefs Week: Salt Dough Pizza and 3-D Cake!

 Alright you snacktastic chefs! Here's a little bit of a round-up of our projects from Wednesday and Thursday. In case you missed, we made Salt Dough Pizza! Here's the list of supplies:

And here's the video:

On Thursday, we made cake!

 All you need are the following supplies:

I'll show you how to draw both of these cakes right here:

Today we are BAKING! It's important to set that butter out about an hour before I go LIVE so it is softened. You can bake cookies with me on Instagram, Facebook or catch me later on YouTube. New videos are uploaded to my channel multiple times a day so you might want to subscribe!

Read more »