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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In the Art Room: Top Ten Favorite Winter Art Lessons!

 On my way in to school this morning, IT SNOWED! Well...it "snowed" Tennessee style. It looked like a blizzard of dandruff bits but for us in the South, that means a lot! It put me in the mood for all things winter and so I thought I'd put together a list of my Top Ten Favorite Winter Art Lessons. If you follow the link on each of these, you'll find a video for most and a lesson for all. Let's go!

 SNOW GLOBE CITIES! This lesson was a hit with my fourth graders last year. They really loved working on their buildings that were inspired by famous places from around the globe...get it, GLOBE?! yeah, it's okay, they didn't get it either. 

 PENGUIN LOVE! My first graders created these last winter and they made our halls so cute, cuddly and happy. We went big with these guys and my students could not have loved it more!

 KINDERGARTEN SNOWMEN! This lesson was pretty similar to the first grade one in that the background involved learning how to paint overlapping spiral lines. 

 WATERCOLOR WINTERSCAPES! My third graders are getting ready to work on these tomorrow! We paint ours on cardboard pizza rounds, inspired by the artist Jen Aranyi. 

 KINDERGARTEN WINTER LANDSCAPES! The smallest of artists made the snowiest of artwork! Follow the link on more lesson details. 

 HOT CHOCOLATE TIME! My second graders were inspired by the artist Heather Galler to create these delicious cups of hot cocoa. I'm thinking I need to bring this lesson back soon! 

 FAUX STAINED GLASS WINDOW! My fourth graders created these fun pieces inspired by stained glass windows. They even learned how real stained glass windows are made, check out the video!

 PRINTED MITTENS AND HAT SELF-PORTRAIT! Oh, these second grade selfies were a hit! This is another lesson I think needs a repeat this winter. 

LOOKING FOR MORE LESSONS AND INSPIRATION? Well, then, just head over here! I've got plenty more. Happy wintery creations! 

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In the Art Room: Top 14 Favorite Valentine's Day Lessons

Well, hello lovies! In this blog post, I thought I'd share with you 14 of my very favorite Valentine's Day inspired lessons...perfect for these chilly and cold months. Let's let warm fuzzies abound in the art room! 

To find the lessons, just follow the link. Many of them have a video to share with your kids. Also...several of them are sub plan videos! Perfect if you have to take a day. I know I could use one. 

First up are these sweet Jim Dine-inspired heart sculptures created by my second graders. We used Celluclay and aluminum foil to make these beauties and the kids loved making them. 

Next up are these amazing LOVE prints created by my first graders. We chatted about Robert Indiana before diving into these. We had a whole lotta printmaking fun with this one. 

Last year, I did this lesson with my second graders. They were able to choose their own "kind" four letter word (we had: nice, kind, love, glow, hope, good, etc.) and used strips of paper to create the letters. Those turned out so fun. 

First grade artists created these huge Romero Britto-inspired hearts last year with bleeding tissue paper and paint sticks. We made these on huge 18" square sheets of paper. 

Speaking of first grade, here's a peak at what mine are working on right now...weaving! Heart weavings that we'll put together to create a faux quilt. This is one of my favorite lessons but mostly because I do love to teach weaving. 

Chris Uphues is one of my very favorite contemporary artists to share with my kids because 1. he's the nicest and 2. his artwork speaks to them. It's so happy! My students adored this lesson a couple years ago! 

If you need a quick one-day lesson that will introduce your kids to a new artist, you might want to try this one on for size. It's inspired by J. Goldcrown and all you need is black paper and chalk for amazing results. 

One year, we were inspired by Peter Anton's fake food sculptures to make some box of chocolates of our own. Third grade thought this was the coolest project ever. 

If you are like me, you do long art lessons...and then need a shorter one to pick up momentum again. I think my students might be the same way. This lesson is a quicker with beautiful results. Here's what we did with the paper after we cut the hearts how: filled them with a video of tissue paper!

And here's what we did with the hearts we cut out. So cute, right? 

This lesson is similar to the first I shared except that there are wings added with plaster. I'm thinking of doing this lesson with my third graders super soon...just need to work out the specifics...but I'm sure they will love it. Video details and more here. 

Need a sub plan? I did this Romero Britto inspired collaborative with my kids when I was out on jury duty. Lesson and video right here. 

Need something big and happy to spread the love? My kids EACH contributed to the Our School has Heart mural. Visit this post to see what each different grade level created for this mural from embroidery to painting to sculpture and needle felting! 

My fourth graders tackled this lesson a couple years ago right after they finished the following sculpture lesson...

Boy did we have a ball with this lesson! A super fun sculpture project for the kiddos. 

This lesson I created a little while back for my kindergarten and first graders. We loved the printed hearts and the fun guided drawing animals. Video lessons for each critter. 

Looking for a fun way to introduce your kids to four contemporary artists who use hearts in their work? This video lesson just might be for you!

Oh! And if you are looking for something to do with your faculty and staff to bring the love, you might want to check out these our Clay Hearts with Wings...a huge hit with my coworkers. Video too!

Okay, y'all...that was WAY more than 14 projects so have fun! 

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In the Art Room: Snow Globe Cities!

When I posted this photo on my Instagram a while back it got a whole lot of love. I promised I'd share this lesson with you all and here I am! My fourth graders are ALMOST done with these, hoping to do the last step within the next couple of art classes. I'll be sure to share the end results. Until then, I've created a lesson video for you and your kids! I'll walk you thru the lesson break down and supplies in this blog post. 

I hope you and your students enjoy! 

Supplies:

* Watercolor paint. In the video, and in my room, the kids used Pelikan brand watercolor paint. I'll be sharing more about watercolor in a blog post tomorrow so stay tuned if you have quesions.

* Cardboard pizza rounds. I get mine from a restaurant supply place called GFS or Gordon Food Service. Amazon used to sell them. I usually can get 100 for under $20.

* Paper. I always order 80-90 lbs paper and we use that for EVERYTHING.

* Glitter (ugh!) or fake snow. I found some super cheap after Christmas!

Day 1: I see my fourth graders for an hour. On the first day, we were able to create our practice sketches and paint our final circles.

Day 2: What I didn't show in the video was how we added a little sparkle to our circles. At the start of art, the big circles were passed back. The kids "painted" them with ModPodge mixed with glitter. Once those were done, we chatted on the floor about how to paint these papers for their cities. 

Day 3: Cities! We really talked about how to make a building look 3-D and the kids rocked it. Many of them drew in pencil first...but that was just suggested, not required. 

Up next...cut these out, add or our cities and start on our snow! I'm excited, I cannot wait to see these complete! I'll be sure to pop back by and share more as we finish. 

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In the Art Room: Penguins with First Grade

 Need a fun lesson for your first graders tomorrow? I think I might have something for you: these adorable penguins! This lesson teaches so stinkin' much: warm colors, brush control, using watercolors, painting spirals, a review of lines and shapes and much more. The kids loved creating these. 

I made  a video just for you to share with your students to walk them through this lesson. Here I'll break it down for you day by day.

 If this image looks familiar, that's because my kindergarten did a slightly similar lesson. You can check that out here. 

I see both my kindergarten and my first graders for 30 minutes twice a week. So here's how we spent Day 1 and 2: Painting spirals! Midway through day 2, most kids were finished painting their 12" X 18" papers with spirals. Once complete, the kids placed their work on the drying rack and worked on the following...

 With my shorter art classes, we don't have sketchbooks. Instead, we sketch on dry erase boards. This cuts down on paper waste...and, added bonus, kids LOVE drawing on dry erase boards. I got mine at the Dollar Tree. I created a step by step penguin so my students could practice independently while their classmates finished their paintings. This is something new I've been doing this year and I love it. Not a moment of instructional/practice/work time wasted...and no wasted paper either!

 Day 3: guided penguin drawing. These guys are huge, measuring in at 12" X 18". We used bingo daubers and drew on the floor. Yes, crazy...but it is the method that I found works best for me and my students. I had each place a messy mat under their penguin so we wouldn't get ink on the floor. Of course we did! It mopped up.

 Day 4: The following art class, we added the chalk to create form and painted. Some classes moved quickly enough that we were also able to cut them out!

 If you are looking for a fun winter collaborative project, that could be it! Skip the background painting and just create these. Add them to a backdrop and, ta da! Instant winter mural!

We hung these up with the kindergarten snowman for a fun and frosty display. Have fun, y'all!

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