Top 12 Art Lessons on SHAPE!

For your older students, like 3rd and 4th grade, this lesson is a great way to not only review line and shape but also...color! This lesson is one that I do every year as a fundraiser. The results are always absolute show stoppers. HOWEVER...I no longer make black glue that I mention in this lesson. You can, of course, but it's a total pain! So...be sure and check out this hack on that here as well as my tips and tricks for using chalk in the art room.

Looking for a fun and colorful painting project to teach students about geometric and organic shapes? This one is so fun and the results are so happy! You can check out the full lesson (with video!) here.

No bingo daubers? No problem! Check out how we did this lesson with kindergarten before I had bingo daubers!

This Paul Klee/Mary Blair-inspired shape lesson was apart of a rotating stations that I did with my students. For my first thru fourth grade, my students rotated from station to station making a variety of shape-inspired art. These castles were one of the stations. The following art class, we added color and designs to these castles. You can check them out here!

Looking to dive into a little printing? This lesson is one I do with my kindergarten students but kids of all ages have enjoyed it! All you need are some foam stickers and a large foam shape for the background. I found these hearts at the dollar store but I've also used foam stars too! You can check out this lesson here.

Here is a little look at the printing plates created with stars in the background. This was apart of my shape making stations! Details on that here. 

I also did a variation of this lesson with my older students as they learned about shape and radial symmetry! You can check out the lesson and video here. 

After students are finished printing with their plates, the plates can be turned into some super cool metal art! You can check out that process here. 

If you are interested in doing elements of art stations in your  art room, I made a video to walk you and your students through the process. You can find it here. 

During 2020, I did a series of videos on robots...that all feature the element of art of SHAPE. This first one is all about drawing robots and using shapes. You can find that video here. 

Did I mention that there are several TOTALLY FREE downloads? Yep! Check them out here!

Collage is the perfect way to introduce students to shape! You can find the video lesson for this robot collage project here.

I always love doing collagraphs with my students. Start hoarding those cereal and snack boxes as that cardboard is thin and easy to cut. These can be created by doing crayon rubbings as I did here or you could use brayers and printing ink. Find the video lesson here. 

You could also take it in a totally different direction by covering the collagraph with foil and doing marker prints! This type of printing is always one the kids love! Details here.

Looking for a fun LINE and SHAPE review that also ties in with this spooky time of the year? I have a lesson for you then! You can find the full lesson video and lesson details here. 

Looking for a fun shape sculpture lesson? This is a fun way to not only use up some scrap paper but also...it's a nice follow up to my line sculpture project! You can find this lesson video here. 

AND...if you are looking for the perfect book to share with your students as they explore shape...have I got it for you! Check it out here, friends, and have a great week!

15 of My Favorite Lessons for Dot Day!

If you are like me, then you often struggle with those initial first couple of art lessons. I find a theme always helps me get the wheels turning. And The Dot, a wonderful picture book by Peter H. Reynolds, is always a great place to start. 

I've used this book so many times in my art room that I actually had to buy a second copy as I wore the first one out! I read it ever year to all grades on one of those very first days of art. Speaking of, I shared a little of my first day in a blog post a while back...and realized I had not done a follow up post! I'll be working on that this week. 

For now, I thought I'd share my very favorite Dot Day lessons...all 15 of em! Many of these have videos that you are welcome to use in your art room as well as free downloads. As I share, I'll let you know the level of difficulty and time each of these requires. Okay, let's dive in!

Let's Create Round Things!

Let's kick things off with an EASY one (and a lesson that comes with a free drawing sheet and video!) For this one, you'll probably want to purchase the Prang Mixed Media Circles so that you aren't left cutting tons of circles yourself.

After reading The Dot, have students brainstorm and draw as many 'things that are round' that they can think of. Try sliding this free download into a sheet protector so students can draw on it with a dry erase...and save some paper!

Dots on a Dot!

Here's a fun and easy one that can also be done on the round paper: Dots on a Dot! I love to have a stash of colorful dot sticks in my art room because they come in so stinkin' handy this time of year! For my kindergarters, we usually just use one dot in the middle and paint around it with watercolor or tempera cakes. For my older students, I like to allow them to place a couple of dots and paint. They always look so colorful and fun! Lesson plan here!

Kindergarten Dots!

Here's the second lesson I do every year with kindergarten. You can see the little dot right in the middle. I have a video of myself teaching this lesson, including introducing painting to my youngest artists, here!

Dot Day School-Wide Collaborative!

If you have ALL of your students do that same kindergarten lesson, once the painting is dry, try having students cut it into fourths and piece it back together on a sheet of construction paper. THEN...put 'em all together! It truly looks amazing. You can see the lesson details and a look at the collaboration of my entire school here. 

Dot Day Stations!

Probably my all-time fave dot day lesson was this one where my students got to explore a variety of media from walk to marker prints to tempera paint and even spin art! While it was mighty messy with a lot of clean up, it was a blast! You can check out all the details here. 

To make things a little easier, I created short videos to show my students how to create at each station. If you'd like to use those videos or check them out, visit here! 

Printed Dots!

If you need a fast and fun activity, this is it! All you need are pizza pans from The Dollar Tree and some tempera paint. Allow the kids to paint on the pan and then pull a print by pressing paper onto the wet surface. You can find a videos and lesson details here. 

Paper Sculpture Dots!

I took my FAVORITE kindergarten lesson and just made the paper round...and viola! We had ourselves some dots! These are so fun springing from the hallway walls. You can find the lesson for this here. 

Cardboard Painted Dots!

A lesson that I LOVED and did over and again for years was this first grade painted dot lesson. We used cardboard pizza rounds (I found mine at Gordon Food Services) and tempera paint. We began the lesson with the black lines created with either bingo daubers or a paintbrush and India ink. Complete lesson here!

I loved hanging these with paper clips in the ceiling...they always lasted until the Fire Marshall came to visit. 

Coffee Filter Dots!

Of course, making a coffee filter dot is the good ole standby that never fails to look beautiful! However...I do have a word of advice: ALWAYS add the water and allow these to dry on Styrofoam plates. This way, they will retain the color...otherwise, the color will leave the circle and stain the surface below. Details here!

Also! Did you know you can buy those GIANT coffee filters? They are HUGE and would make epically fun dots!

Dot Day Sub Plans!

Need some sub plans OR...just need something simple because you are covering rules and routines with no time for the messy stuff just yet? Try this FREE download! 

Dot Day Weaving!

Feeling adventurous?! Why not try some circle loom weaving for Dot Day? It's actually the painting portion that you could stop at and skip the weaving...these painted plates always look so fabulous and the kids love making them. We use Chinet plates and tempera paint for the best results. You'll be amazed how pretty these turn out! Check the lesson here. 

Sparkly Dot Relief!

My third graders created these one year. They built their dots with Styrofoam plates before covering them in foil and coloring with sharpies. They were so simmery and sparkly in the halls. Details here!

Stitched Dots!

Okay, I only recommend this for small groups or kids who are in fourth grade and up! Once we got the hang of these, it was AMAZING fun and the kids loved it. But, just like learning anything new, there was a learning curve we all had to get over. I did create a video that helped a lot! You can check it out here. 

First Grade Flowery Dots!

Yes, first grade! This big mural hung outside the art room for months, it was just too pretty to take down. You can check out how we made it here. 

Okay...I actually have EVEN MORE Dot Day lessons but I'll leave you to check them out here. 

AND...did you know that I have an email list? I share lots of freebies and lessons there too. To join, just visit here...it will take you to my store with my books but a pop up will allow you to sign up for email. 

My Top Ten Tips for Tempera Painting with Young Artists!

Hey there, friends! I hope this here blog post finds you enjoying your summer vacation if you are stateside! I know the last thing you probably wanna think about is TEMPERA PAINT...but I always find it much more relaxing to thing about art, organization, lessons and the like when I'm on a break. So I created a big ole video just for you with my very favorite tips and tricks. 

Be sure and subscribe as I have more videos coming your way! 

But before we do...if you would like to peruse some tempera painting lessons, I did put together a blog post of my 20 favorite painting projects here. Not all of these are tempera paint but many are and will, hopefully, get the creative art teacherin' wheels turnin'. Just click here!

Tip #1: Limit those color palettes!

I like to distribute paint with a couple of customized paint trays. For example, on the first day I paint with kindergarten, they all receive a tray of warm color paint. On the next, it may be cool color. This helps keep our paint trays from getting completely demolished by students who are new to learning my painting routines. This method also allows students to learn the warm/cool colors as well as the notion of analogous colors. 

As far as paint goes, I'm using Prang's Tempera Paint. You can find it here. 

Tip #2: Ice cube trays for distributing paint!

My favorite way to distribute paint is...ice cube trays! I've been doing this since my first year teaching way back in 1998. Back then, we didn't have fancy ice cube trays like these. I had to do the stack-and-sack method of stacking my trays and putting them in plastic garbage bags overnight. Thankfully, we have these neat trays that do an excellent job of keeping paint from drying out.

You can find these lidded ice cube trays, my personal favorite, here.

Tip #3: Water Containers that Don't Tip!

Nothing sucks the life out of a good ole painting party like a water cup spill. You can find dog dishes like mine at the Dollar Tree. I also found them for a heftier price tag here.

What  I love about them is that no only do they not tip but they also have a spot for my sponges. The sponge is where my students dry their brushes, further removing drippy water from their brush. What I don't love about these is that the water reservoir is shallow and I have to change out the water between classes. So...it's a trade off. If you don't use the sponges or want a deeper water cup, I also love these:

They legit don't spill!

AND they come in a rainbow assortment which is fun if you color code your tables. I also love the wavy rim for resting paintbrushes.

If you are looking for a way to have students really scrub their brush while cleaning it, you could get some of these Paint Pucks to suction into the bottom of the watercup. OR...you could also use your glue gun and put dots of glue at the bottom of the glue cup and that would do the same thing!

Tip #4: A sponge to further clean the brush!

Or, as we call it, Dirty Ole Sponge Bob. If you teach students my trick of drawing an X on the sponge, it will help them remember to wipe their paintbrush AND keep the tip nice and pointy. You can find sponges at the Dollar Tree or you can also find them here. 

Tip #5: Contain the mess with TRAYS!

Okay, so these trays are a little expensive BUT they are super thick and sturdy which means they will be able to handle the weight of the painting supplies placed on them. However, I have purchased trays from Dollar Tree on their site and was able to purchase an entire box. The only thing is that if they don't have this available in store, you will have to pay for shipping. It's cheaper if you have them shipped to the store and pick up there. The Dollar Tree trays are much thinner and not as sturdy. But I loved them for having my young students create their artwork on. Not only did it help to capture and contain the mess but it also made it so much easier for them to carry their work to the drying rack.

Tip #6: Distribute paint without the mess!

FIFO bottles are a great way to get paint to your students without lugging a gallon of paint around the room. I also love them because you can customize and mix your own colors! You can find them here and learn more about them in the video if you aren't familiar. 

Tip #7: Texture combs are a must with tempera paint!

Thick tempera paint is made for texture! And while I used to love to pick up bags of texture making supplies at the dollar store what I found is that I spent so much time at the sink CLEANING. I eventually stopped using them and switched to the ole stand by: the texture comb. They are easy for kids to use without their hands getting too messy and, even better, they are much easier for ME to clean! I love 'em and they are constantly being used in my art room. Find them here. 

Tip #8: Cover those tables with Messy Mats!

We don't have time to wash the paint from our tables! I mean, we might have time but do we really wanna spend our time that way? For me, I had classes back to back with no time for cleaning so Messy Mats saved the day with keeping our tables covered and clean. You can color code them with this railboard found here. 

I also just like the ole standby of tagboard! You can buy a pack of 100 and it will last you for a couple years (maybe longer!) here. 

Tip #9: Clean those hands and tables with these!

I like to keep a bin of soapy water and a couple of these towels on each table. The kids know that they are ONLY to use these towels during clean up...otherwise you may have friends washing their hands throughout the lesson. I show them how to wring the water from the towel before using it on their hands and table. I swap these out with clean towels and water while the students work so each class has a fresh bin of water. These towels wash up great in the washing machine! 

Tip #10: Only buy the paint colors you need...and you don't need 'em all!

Share with your students how to mix paint so you don't have to buy them all! The colors you WILL want to order are: red, magenta, yellow, blue, turquoise (or cyan), white, black and brown. I usually order my paint by the gallon so we don't run out. You can find the paint I buy as well as anything I may have forgotten here.

As for paintbrushes, when I first began teaching, I used what I had in my art room: those coarse, long-handled bristle brushes. They usually wiped more paint OFF the paper than they did put it on! Now I only have students use soft hair brushes like these. 

And of course you need a copy of The Paintbrush Ballerina to share with your students how to use and care for their paintbrush! You can get a copy here. I also created some painting practice sheets that you might find handy as you introduce your students to painting!

These totally free downloads will have your students handling their paintbrush correctly in no time. Whether they are working with watercolor, tempra or tempra cakes, these sheets will save those paintbrushes! Find them free here. 

I created a video to share with you how I would use these sheets in my art room...I put them in a sheet protector so that students can practice painting with just water! More details here. 

I also created some fancy frames and even a certificate for your artists! Those freebies are here. 

Personally...you could tell me how to paint with children all day long but until I see how someone teaches it, I just don't get it. So! I thought I'd share a series of teaching tempera painting videos here. For lesson details, check out this blog post. 

Here's another example of me sharing a beginning of the school year paining lesson with students. Lesson details in this blog post!

Here's a video of my sharing my painting set up in my art room.

I hope this big ole blog post helps you feel more comfortable busting out the tempera paint in your art room. NOW...it's summer so go put those pjs back on, grab a snack and take a nap!