In the Art Room: My Favorite Chalk Pastels Projects and Techniques!

Hey, friends! We are currently up to our elbows in chalk projects in my art room and it got me thinking...I should share my Top 12 Chalk Pastel Projects with y'all AND my tips and tricks. I steered clear of chalk for the longest time because of the mess; the lack of understanding how to set the stuff and because the chalk I had on hand for my kids was, well, crap. So I'm gonna debunk all of this chalk nonsense and hopefully help you get excited to bring this beautiful and vibrant medium into your art room. In this post, I'll share my fave projects but if you want even more details, check out this podcast episode:

Sandra Silberzweig Inspired Abstract Portraits I don't often repeat lessons, but this one is a hit year after year. Follow the link to a video that you can share in your art room. 

 Symmetrical Butterfly Project with Second Grade This lesson includes a video! It was a fun project that I did with my second graders and each one was a beauty. 

Claire West Inspired Landscapes with Chalk and Liquid Starch If you've never used liquid starch with chalk before, oh boy, y'all are in for a treat! This hack is magical and I cannot wait for you to give it a go. More details in this blog post. 

Faux Stained Glass Project We did this a few years back and the results were so striking! You can find more details here. 

 Sandra Silberzweig Inspired Fish! I love Sandra Silberzweig and her work as do my students. Anytime I can share her with the kids, you better believe I'm gonna. This project did just that. Video included!

 Crayon Chalk Collaborative Working together, my students created these large pieces that were so fab. You can see all the details here. 

 Fourth Grade Fauve Portraits This project uses the chalk and liquid starch trick and the results are so vibrant. More details here. 

 Desert Landscapes with Third Grade Stencils and chalk go so well together. More details on this fun lesson here. 

 Floating Chalk Prints! Behold! This is the coolest thing you can do with chalk. Don't believe me? Check this link! 

 James Russo Inspired Animals with Chalk and Oil Pastel We're the tigers at my school so this project was just perfect. More here. 

 Glennray Tutor Inspired Marble Project This one was fun and had the kids so excited to work in the third dimension! 

Annual Ceiling Tile Legacy Project! This is a massive undertaking I do every year with second-grade students. They create chalked ceiling tiles that are then placed in the ceiling permanently. How fun is that? More here. 

In the Art Room: Heather Galler-Inspired Hot Chocolate Paintings, Part 1

Hey, y'all! I started a new lesson with my first graders this week. They are really enjoying it and I thought your students might as well. So I quickly created a lesson video for you, if you are interested. In my art class, we learned more about the artist Heather Galler and looked at her work, her love of pattern, color and bold line designs. Afterward, we spent our first thirty-minute art class sketching together in our sketchbooks in preparation for the following day's painting. 

The next day, we sat on the floor (see last photo) and, using an ink-filled bingo dauber, we drew these masterpieces together. No pencils first, we just dove right in. My students were excited by the results and I can't wait to see how they go about adding color with oil pastels and watercolor paint. 

Here is a quick lesson video I created for you and your students if you are interested!

And here's me hanging out with a class of first grade masterpieces. I didn't intend to match their work but when one of them pointed it out to me, I had to laugh. I do love me some black and white! 

My Favorite Lovey-Dovey Lessons (Just in Time for Valentine's!)

Welcome back! It's been a minute (okay, several) since I last blogged and while I missed you all dearly, you guys: I needed a break! In all truth and honesty...a couple things have been going around here on the homefront that have kept me away. First of all, I'm just not feeling it this year. There, I have said it. I've actually said it quite a bit here. And I know this is normal, a season in the art teacherin' life, it's still frustrating. I'm not hopping out of bed with excitement about the day ahead. Sure I can fake it but...I know that it's not my normal, you know? I do think a large project I'm working on has been a contributing factor. I've worked on big projects while teaching before ('member this book?) But this new thing it's, well, bigger and unlike anything I've tried. So other things are starting to slide. Blogging and being completely present and excited in the art room. 

BUT Y'ALL DIDN'T COME HERE FOR ALL THIS, did you? Sorry, not sorry. We all need to overshare sometimes and you just happened to be a good listener. Thank you

Now, let's talk about projects that are perfect for this time of year: Valentines Day-ish lessons! Be sure and click on all the following links as MANY of them have videos for you to share in your art room with your students. Here we go:

Romero Britto-Inspired First Grade Hearts this lesson was a huge hit with my students and involved line and pattern review as well as some fun color exploration with tissue paper and paint sticks!

 Heart Prints with Kindergarten was such a fun way to share printmaking with kindergarten in a way where each student was successful! 

Foil Relief Heart from Kindergarten Printing Plate this was a fun way to do a cool project with our leftover printing plates. Kindergarten then painted the background in a rainbow review.

Robert Indiana Love Prints by First and Second Grade my kids love printmaking. We explored making a ton of prints on styrofoam plates before adding the paper letters on top.

Chris Uphues-Inspired Project for All Grades You'll definitely want to check this lesson out, it's perfect for a sub, comes with a video and free handouts!

James Goldcrown Hearts for All Another easy lesson and a quick one too...and one that introduces a contemporary artist. Win-win-WIN!

First Grade Woven Hearts with Stitched Edge We just finished up weaving in my art room and we just might be doing this next. 

This Our School Has Heart mural is a blog post with so many ideas! One for each grade level, be sure and check it out!

Valentine Animals for All my kids loved this project and I'm sure yours will too. All the videos and details here!

A Contemporary Artist Review! This one was one I did with my older students and it was a blast. We learned about four contemporary artists who use hearts in their work. Video included!

But wait, there's more! So many more Valentine's lesson ideas here. Hope you enjoy!

DIY: Paintbrush Gnomes! Or Santas! Or Bearded Dudes! Your choice!

Last weekend was our annual art teacherin' Christmas party where we do a little drinking, dining, ornament swapping and crafting. Exactly two days before I was to host the event, I had no idea what we were gonna make. Nothing like procrastination to get the wheels turning, right?

 I have exactly a million old crusty paintbrushes that I just cannot bear throwing away. So, with those in mind, I decided to have our craft be Paintbrush Gnomes! Or Santas...or bearded dudes resembling my husband. Whatever you wanna call them, it doesn't really matter. I mean, look at this epic cuteness. And, good news, they are so super simple to make. Here, let me show you how:

One thing I failed to mention in the clip is that I created the faces, popped them into the toaster oven, painted and then put them back in to speed up the paint drying process. Probably not something I would recommend unless you got that heat down on to a low 200 and you keep a close eye out. Nobody wants their kitchen smelling like burnt gnome hair.

 Here's a little peak at the brushes created at my craft night before they went into the oven. So cute!

 And here's how they looked when they came out! Also what I didn't share in the clip is that the yarn was added by just yarn bombing the part above the ferrel and attaching with hot glue. 

 I love how silly and fun each one came out, don't you?

 And so you can make them all year round, call 'em Paintbrush Gnomes! I want to make them into the new Quiet Critter for my art room. Noiseless Gnomie, if you will. 

So if you need a fun craft for winter break, here you go! Have fun, y'all!

In the Art Room: Weaving with First Grade

Teaching weaving was one of those things I dreaded my first year teaching. I got a C on a weaving project in college because I was certain that my professor would never notice that I'd missed a warp string, causing a large runner to snake it's way through my weaving. So when I saw weaving in my curriculum, I was not thrilled. 

It also didn't help that I had a first grade boy shout, "I'm NOT WEAVING. It's FOR GIRLS."

Here's the funny part: days later, he was the best weaver in class and years later, I wrote a book on fiber arts for kids. Go figure! 

Last week, my first graders and I spent a couple of art classes learning about abstract art. We enjoyed listening to Peter and the Wolf while using our oil pastels to create a line for each character in the symphony. The following day, we listened to the whole record while using watercolor paint to create. You can see a similar lesson here. And if you'd like to see the lesson I taught for abstract painting last year, here you go:

After our day of painting, we turned our paintings into looms for weaving. Here is how we did just that:

 If you would prefer to see more of a blog post on this, visit this! Also, this video might show more about paper weaving:

Or this!

When introducing weaving, this giant paper loom comes in so handy! I made it years ago from laminated bulletin board paper. 

And in just 30 minutes, my students had completed their weavings! It was a record!

 I love them with their abstract paintings. Now...dreaming of ideas of where we take these next. 

I've done a variety of weaving lessons with paper weavings from owls to hearts. Be sure and click on those links for more ideas!