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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In the Art Room: Colorful Village, An Update!

It's gotten pretty spooky here on the blog...what can I say, I love me some Halloween. And, by the way, you ain't seen nuthin' yet as I have so many Halloweenie DIY's to share! I'm beyond excited...but, for now, I'll take a wee break to share this super fun, art-ucational and easy SUB PLAN that my kiddos have been working on. 

That's right, a couple of weeks ago, I was out of town for a few days and needed to leave my sub and my students some fun plans. I created the following video for her to share with the students:

I try my hardest to request the same subs when possible so that they know my students and they know the drill: show my video up to the portion that the kids will be creating that day and get them rolling. If I'm gone a number of days, then I have them continue with the video on the following art classes. 

 Often times, when I prepare sub plans, I'll have the sub do the same project with nearly all of my classes (in this case, my friends in kindergarten worked on something else). I do this for a couple of reasons: less prep for me as far as materials and supplies goes and less prep for the sub. My subs are usually not art teachers so I like to keep their life simple. A happy sub is an art teacher's BFF...and in this case, mine was so happy, she left me an email saying she cleaned my tables for me. THANK YOU, MS. SHORT! 

 When I returned to school the following week, I was created by these beauties! The kids worked on 9" X 12" paper. You can read about the supplies used here. 

 By the way, looking for sub plans? I've got a ton and I'm happy to share. You can find them here. Also here you'll see how I set up for a sub...when I have the time to do so.

And if you'd rather just listen to this ding-dong talk sub plannin', well, here you go! But now, let's get back to the sub plan at hand, shall we?

  My students have felt so much pride in their work since I taught them how to draw in the third dimension. They are now pros! I love their fun and funky villages. 

 Reason #3 I LOOOOOOVE having every grade level do the same project when I am away: because when I return, we just drop in to finishing it off! That means I don't have to scramble to see what it was we were previously doing  and I don't have to prep new plans for the upcoming week. I can simply return to school, drop in to the pre-planned lesson and relax knowing that the art educatin' still goes on...with little stress from me. 

 This also gives me time to see where we left off on previous projects and where the next couple of art classes will take us. It's like a moment to breathe. And who doesn't need that?

 While I'm breathing (usually into a paper bag), my students are wrapping up their drawing and coloring. Once complete, they use liquid watercolors to add patches of cool colors. A light sprinkle of table salt adds the fun effect you see. 

 I'm so excited to display these along with the other landscape projects we are currently elbows deep in. 

 By the way, I'm a huge fan of Sax brand liquid watercolors. Last year, I liked them so much, I also purchased their fluorescent watercolors. Meh. I'll explain my feelings on those in uno momento. 

But first let's ooh and ahh over this salt-sprinkly goodness, shall we?

 So the Sax brand fluorescent paints were just weird, I don't know how else to describe them. I most def would not recommend them. They were more like a weird watery-soapy tempera than they were a watercolor. The kids liked them. I was not a fan.

 I tested the waters with a few classes and then promptly switched back to the ole tried and true. 

 The paintings still looked fabo so no complaints here. I work with some seriously awesome artists, what can I say? 

 One of our words of the week was VARIETY...I requested variety of houses, sizes, patterns, colors, you name it. And they delivered. 

 It was pointed out to me by several of the kids which house was mine...needless to say, it was always the craziest. Aw, shucks. They get me...every.single.art.class. Poor kids! 

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Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 22

Ah, yes. Preparing for a sub. Always a...pleasure. 

Oh, what was that? Not exactly the first word that came to your mind? Yeah, me neither. So I thought I'd share with y'all just how I go about preparing for a sub that will (hopefully) make their life as easy as possible which will make for a happy return for me. Much unlike my first year teaching when I found all of my brand spankin' new markers left decapped and strewn about. It looked like a freakin' war zone where the kids were the obvious victors (I half expected to find the sub laid out with markers sticking out of him like some kid created voodoo doll). 

So, sit back, cap those markers and let's talk subbie plans.

I learned that when I'm out for several days, I need to have a high quality lesson for the kids. I began creating recorded sub plans last year when I was out for a stretch with jury duty. I was thrilled to hear that my sub loved the idea of recorded lessons and that my kids enjoyed it as well. I've not looked back since. Here's my latest sub vid: 

 Not even gonna pull your leg: this kind of sub planning takes time. A lot of it. And planning ahead is not my bag, baby, so the struggle to create such extensive plans is real. That being said, if I can do it, you can do it. Or just use my plans cuz my mama taught me how to share. 

Here's a peak of what was left for my sub: a recorded plan and, if all else fails, a story board version. This also will serve as a reminder of the steps to follow for those early finishers or Forgetful Franks.

 I loved having a cart to load up over the course of several days. This allowed me to add to the cart in between classes. It was also nice to wheel out of the way.

Since I'm super visual, laid out everything in such a way that made some sort of sense (hopefully!). Having everything labeled with the same color sticky note was key. 

I tried to be as thorough as possible...but you always forget something. For that reason, I made sure to let my fellow teacher buddies know that I'd be out and to be sure and check on the sub. 

It's so nice to have the time to prepare to be this elaborate...but, let's face it, this is what sub planning looks like in an ideal world. 

 Often times, we only have time to prepare the bare minimum. For that reason, it's important to have a Sub Tub stocked with the basics: Emergency Procedures, Class Lists, Schedule and Basic Sub Notes. Also...simply sub plans that can be used for all grade levels. I have several books for my sub to read to my kids as well as "how to draw" sheets that he/she can bust out in a pinch. 

But this time around, I decided to go big...here's to hoping it works out! I'll be certain to share the Monsters of Creativity mural once complete. 

My sweet friend Julie also offered to cover my sewing club class...so I had a cart ready for her as well. 

What do y'all do to prepare for a sub? What are your Must Have's? Love to share ideas!

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