Marker Print Snow Globes

Well, hello there! As you can see, I am CLEARLY snow globe obsessed at the moment. I shared my first Snow Globe lesson here and then shared a floating chalk print version here. Today I thought I'd share a version of adding color the background with little marker and water.  As a teacher...or a parent who loves to create with their artsy kiddos, these ideas will give you three fun options for completing your snow globes!

Let's talk supplies:

* Pizza pan, a sheet of aluminum foil or any non-porous, flat surface

* Paper. I'm using a mixed media paper or one that's a little thicker than copy paper. 

* Black permanent marker

* Water-based markers, I prefer Prang Markers

* Spritz or spray bottle of water

Here's the how-to video:

Just a reminder that you can get my free snow globe downloads here.

What I did find is that the lighter color markers work best...as the darker color markers are a little too dark and may hide the drawing underneath. But the real fun is in drawing a lotta these globes so you can explore a lotta printing. Also...I have found that using one of those misting spray bottles is the best as opposed to a regular spray bottle. AND the pizza pan is from Dollar Tree! 

If you need some drawing ideas, I got ya covered. Tap the link to download and print!

I can't wait to see what you and the artists in your life create! If you do share to social media, please make sure you tag me here so I can see!

I've got a lotta winter videos coming to my YouTube channel soon. So if you need some inspo, the best way to stay up to date is to subscribe. You can do that here. Chat soon!

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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. ;)

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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. 

If you are interested, you could check out my book where I share all of this and so much more!

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Favorite Lessons for Valentines Day and Celebrating LOVE!

Let's talk all things Valentine's and celebrating LOVE, shall we? I'm putting together A TON of lessons in this post from weaving to painting, sculpture to clay all for your heart-themed pleasure. So, let's get started!

This Jen Stark lesson was one my students really enjoyed last year. You can find all the details, including a video, right here! 

I did this lesson with my kindergarten and third graders last year and both LOVED it. It's so open ended and allows for big messes and exploration. Try doing this on large paper for big, colorful results. I just happened to have a ton of this large yellow construction paper so that's what we used! Full lesson with video right here. 

Wanna do some printmaking? I've done this lesson with first and second grade in the past. Each one is so sweet and allows students to really spend a lot of time exploring printmaking. A hit, I promise! Lesson right here. 

This lesson is one that everyone seems to love! AND each one of these adorable critters comes complete with a how-to-draw video. SO, all ya gotta do is hit play and walk away! Here's the video right here for all animals!

Of course, it's the Year of the Rabbit! So you could use that rabbit drawing to celebrate. 

If you are looking for a weaving project, here's one that my first graders have done nearly every year. It's a great way to introduce weaving and a little sewing too! All the details with plenty of paper weaving videos here. 

My fourth graders LOVED making these! These giant candy hearts were so fun and made quite the impact when we displayed them with a huge candy heart box. Lesson with video here. 

Follow-up blog post can be found here. 

If you want to go a little smaller in scale, you could try this candy heart drawing on for size! Info with video here. 

Many artists have been inspired by the shape of hearts to create their art. In this lesson, students explored four different artists and a variety of media. It's a fun one and we did it in one art class! Lesson with video here. 

Kindergarten had so much fun exploring printmaking with these hearts. We used a book as our inspiration. Lesson here...and check out the lesson below for the follow up project we did!

Aren't they gorgeous?! AND kindergarten made them, y'all! All the details here. 

Can you really celebrate Valentine's Day without celebrating the work of Britto? My first graders reviewed pattern and line with this lesson. We also used bleeding tissue paper and paint sticks for this. So, lots of mixed media! All the details can be found here. 

What's Valentine's Day without a box of chocolates? We learned about the artist Peter Anton and created plaster chocolates and a papier mache box in this lesson. Video right here!

Looking for simple and FUN? Try this Chris Uphues-inspired lesson. This post has a video and a free handout! You can thank me later. The kids LOVE this one!

Feeling ambitious? Try on a school-wide collaborative! In this, my students, kindergarten through fourth grade, each created a heart using a different medium. You can find out who made what and how it call came together, here. 

Several years ago, I had to do jury duty so I created this lesson for my students to do with my sub. That's right, this here is a SUB PLAN. And she rocked it! And so did the kids, of course. Video lesson here. 

This heart-themed clay project is one that I lead the faculty and staff at my school to create. It was an Our Heart Gives Them Wings project and it was so fun to come together as a staff and create. Here's the video I made for the staff to view. 

My second graders used foil and celluclay to create these hearts! I love them, they look so very Jim Dine-y, don't you think? Video lesson and more details right here.

Need a fast and furious, one day art lesson inspired by an artist? This one IS THE BEST! The kids get messy, explore chalk, learn about J Goldcrown...what more could you ask for? Video and more here!

My first graders used up scraps to create the hearts you see above and below. We also learned about positive and negative space. This was a fun one and the results were so stinkin' pretty! Lesson here. 

AND more Chris Uphues love for y'all. These were collage hearts created by second graders and they were just the cutest thing! We added them to our heart printed background, seen below. Lesson here. 

Whew! AND there you have it! I hope you find something here to get you to Valentine's Day! BUT I really believe we can celebrate love all year 'round, don't you? Enjoy!

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Favorite Winter Projects for After Winter Break!

Happy New Year! If you are anything like me, you've spent ZERO time thinking about returning to school next week. Like, I mean, my brain has been switched to ANYTHING-BUT-SCHOOL mode. As it should be, I say. Until, that is, the end of break sneaks up on me!

So to put your cute little head at a tiny bit of ease, I thought I'd share my favorite winter lessons here in this blog post. Be sure and tap the highlighted link to each as many feature the full lesson WITH VIDEO. For free, of course. Cuz I'm a giver, y'all. 

Let's start off with some ambitiousness, shall we? If you are feeling up to it, might I recommend this tree weaving lesson? In my book, Stitch and String Lab for Kids I share how to create the evergreen tree weaving but you can also find the details here, just flip the plate upside down!

A lesson that my students love (and everyone who gives this one a shot!) is this Jen Aranyi-inspired winterscape! We create ours on cardboard pizza rounds found at Gordon Food Service (I'm lucky to have one down the road) but they could just as easily be created on white paper! If you are on a cart and want less mess, try doing the sky with the marker/water method, found here!

Want to introduce your students to printmaking? I love this printmaking lesson that could easily be done with kids of all ages. Okay, look, I'm not gonna lie: I often do the same lesson with multiple grade levels. It's much easier with my 30 minute classes that come back to back (with up to 8-9 classes a day). So, go easy on yourself! If that's what you do, just know that I'm right here with you! Lesson details here. 

This fun lesson introduces students to a wide variety of media from bingo daubers to chalk to...watercolor! Lesson details with video right here!

I did this project with my first graders and they always love it! We work big, 12X18 paper background but you could definitely work smaller, like even half that size. No bingo daubers? Try Sharpies!

This lesson for my kindergarteners is similar to that of the penguins which leads me to my next idea: do similar lessons! Less supply prep and less worry on your part. This year I have made an effort to clump lessons by supplies. I'm too old to be runnin around like a waitress, y'all. Lesson with video here. 

If you feel like tucking into a long lesson, this one might be for you. You know, there's something to be said for long lessons...it means less planning. You could shorten it, however by just making the snowglobes much smaller! Lesson with video here. 

As soon as we return to school, I plan to have my students dive into clay and create clay mugs! Our tradition has been to drink hot chocolate from our mugs once complete. This was inspired by an art lesson we did where we created hot chocolate collages! If you have no kiln, creating these collages and then celebrating with a hot chocolate party may be an idea for you! 

Here's a look at our mugs! Every grade level, except kindergarten, does this every year...so many of them have a collection of mugs at home! We also do another clay project but this one is easily their favorite. Lesson with a couple of videos here.

It's the year of the Rabbit! Did you know? If you need some quick lessons for your younger students, I piled a bunch of them in this blog post, check it out! 

Need even more cuteness? Here's another lesson that your kids WILL LOVE! My students had so much fun with this one and couldn't wait to take their kittens home. Lesson with video right here. 

Okay, need more ideas? Well, I actually have MUCH more! Just visit here where I did a deeper dive into all of the winter-y lessons on my blog. AND if you want to jump ahead and start working on art for Valentine's day, check out this post. See ya soon!

 

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