Art Teacherin' 101, Episode 42:Grab and Go, Sketchin' Sticks!

 Hey, y'all! As apart of my mission to get my art teacherin' life together (the never-ending quest, I swear!), I'm trying to manage my Early Finishers. I've chatted many-a-time about my fast friends here and here. However, sometimes, sending my EFers off on a fun and far-away adventure can serve as a distraction to my Pokey Lil Puppies (aka HOW ARE YOU STILL WORKING ON THIS PROJECT WE STARTED IN SEPTEMBER?!). For that reason, I've decided that SOMETIMES, my EFers will work in their sketchbooks. And, instead of just assigning the usual "free draw", I decided to take a page from my friend Kaitlyn's book and create Grab -n- Go Sketchin' Sticks! Here's more:

I mean, after all, what do our kids need to do more? DRAW! What are they usually doing? PLAYIN' ON THEIR MAMA'S PHONE! My kids were thrilled to draw with these...it was like a novelty. I was like, y'all know you can draw anytime, right?!

 I just so happen to keep my Grab -n- Go's in a cute container but it's totes not necessary. This ole flower frog finally came in handy! It's from TAG but several years old...so if you really want one, check ebay.

Here are just a few of my drawing prompts. I made them double sided so the artists can pick their favorite idea. If you need more prompts, just google "drawing prompts" and you'll find a never-ending list of fun.

 With these sticks, my students have options. They can use my drawing books. I keep them as organized as I can in these color-coded bins. I spray painted the binding to further color code them. 

They can also use my still-life drawing objects like my wooden mannequins, plastic dinosaurs, 3-D forms and flower pots. I love the incorporation of the mannequin in this prompt!

Kids also know that they can add color with color pencils, markers, oil pastels and more. Whatever is available on the shelf is fair game. Thanks for letting me share, y'all!

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In the Art Room: A Fun Drawing Game!

Hey, friends! Last night, on our Facebook LIVE Art Teacherin' Chat (which I host over on my FB page and on Instagram), the topic was sketchbooks. My third and fourth grade students recently finished painting their covers. They've been assembled by me and their job was to decorate them with duct tape and sketches, of course! You can read about how we create out sketchbooks right here. 

More details on how we "do" sketchbooks: organizing, distributing and purpose in an upcoming post. To be honest, I'm still workin out the kinks on that. However, I did wanna share this game as the kids really loved it and it got them stoked about drawing in their new books. It's not a game that I plan to play a lot as it did take some time to set up...but at least now we'll have our list of words and simply have to roll the dice (which was a Five Below find!). I think this game would also work super duper with a sub. Check out the video to see how I set up the game and to take a peek into their sketchbooks. 

LOVE to hear about your favorite sketch/drawing prompts. This is definitely one that I'll use again!

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