Favorite Clay Lessons for Kindergarten!

I just uploaded a new clay video to my YouTube channel for my kindergarten students that I thought I'd share with you all. I also thought I'd pile all of my favorite kindergarten clay projects right here in one blog post in case you are interested! I'll be adding a lot of clay videos to my YouTube channel this week so you may want to subscribe! 

If you are new to working with clay and kids or feeling like you need a crash course, you may want to start with a couple of videos I created just for you! Here's one on how I set up for clay:

Here's a video all about glaze! 

Okay, now that that's outta the way, let's talk about sharing our love for clay with out students! 

Let's start with the video I created and shared with all of my students before embarking on our clay adventure!

This video made a world of a difference! Suddenly my students understood clay and the process of creating with clay so much more. After this video, all of my classes spent the rest of their 30 minute art class creating and exploring with clay. The following day, my kindergarten viewed this video:

Then we created our clay plaques! This year, we made ours using heart-shaped cookie cutters but really any could be used. In the past, we have glazed these or painted them with acrylics. Not sure how we will finish them off but we will definitely be using wire and beads to create a fun hanger!

Here are some of my other favorite kindergarten clay lessons!

Clay turtles! If you'd like to see the kids in action creating these, check this out:

Need a lesson that is ALWAYS a hit and each kiddo is successful? Try this Texture Taco lesson on for size! Roll the clip:

You might have noticed that I have a thing for texture and clay! Kindergarten created these texture butterflies and we had a blast. In fact, I just might have to do this one again this year! All the lesson details here. 

These clay fish are also a kid fave! And check out that alternative to glazing. You can find out how these were created right here. 

These kindergarten clay birds always turn out so cute. Here's a video!

Kindergarten has also had a blast making clay pups and clay cats! Really, we just love creating in clay so much in kindergarten (and all classes!). I can't wait to share with you what else we are making out of clay. 

WHAT?! NO KILN?!

No problem, I got you! Check out my book with 52 clay projects that don't require a kiln! 

Art Teacherin' 101: New Seat Spots and Dance Party Color Wheels!

I've been in school since August and since that time, my room has changed more than it ever has over the course of my 21 years teaching! First I was told I'd be on a cart...then that I would have to have my students hear instructions from their tables (which I hate as I find it's just too distracting for them) and THEN I was told that I could have my students sit on the floor as long as they are spread apart and all wearing their masks. We never take off our masks in art so this was like a gift sent from heaven. I'm lucky in that my room is very big...but it did mean that I totally had to revamp my instructional area, even getting my T.V. and document camera moved, to accommodate all of these changes. At the start of the new school year, my instructional area looked like this:

To keep on top of contact tracing, all of my students in every class have a number order. They line up this way, sit next to the same friends this way, grab supplies this way...you get the idea. I numbered my line up spots both in the hallway and in my room as well as our instructional area (seen here) and tables and chairs! It has helped tremendously. BUT...these floor spots were simply numbered paper circles taped to the floor. Their life didn't outlast the determination that is small humans picking at things. So this weekend, I thought I'd trade them out for dry erase cirles! I ordered some, they arrived with lightening speed and today I was blessed with a ...

SNOW DAY! I didn't find out about it until I arrived at school to find the parking lot deserted. No worries! It gave me plenty of time to create my dream floor! I created a video to walk you through it, if you are interested.

Oh, y'all! I'm so excited!

If I could dry erase the art room from floor to ceiling I would...oh, wait. I think I pretty much have! 

Like I said, not sure how this is gonna work, if it is gonna work. BUT I am forever switching the script to find something that just might. It keeps me and my students on my toes. Here's a pic of my toes for emphasis. Also, pleas ignore my pale and hairy legs!

If anything, at least it's colorful! I'm hoping the kids are as excited as I am when they see it tomorrow. In the meantime, I will ALWAYS be checking for a snow day from now on!

What is Clay? An Introduction to Clay and Ceramics for Elementary Age Children

Every year, I give the same spiel to my classes about clay and ceramics: what clay is made from, how it is fired, what glaze is, the difference between hand built versus wheel thrown and more. It's exhausting! So this year, I put it into a video, added some visuals and used it today. It worked great, even my kindergarten understood what I was yammering about. It's a little long and it's definitely not perfect but...you are more than welcome to use it in your art teacherin' world. Here you go:

Stay tuned for a lot of clay videos coming your way! 

DIY Earrings: Embroidered Color Wheel Earrings for the Beginner!

I just stitched up another pair of embroidered earrings, y'all! This time the theme was color wheel. I used a different stitch in each of the triangles and shared the process in this video! I hope you'll stitch along with me:

This has been a lot of fun for me...while I love embroidery, I don't love long projects. These are short and simple. Not only that but these earrings are so lightweight! In the past, I've made earrings of other things and they've always weighted a ton. These I don't even think about once I have them on! 

More plans for more earrings are in the works! I'll keep creating the videos...if anything, it might introduce you to some new stitches! Have fun!

21 Art Lessons with the Theme of Love!

Who's ready to kick off this new year with a whole lotta love, color and bright, fun lessons? BUT who's also not done any real thinkin' about said lessons?! If you said ME to both of those questions than I gotta tell ya, YOU AND ME BOTH. Luckily, I've done a whole lotta love lessons over the years and put all 21 of 'em right here in this blog post. If you follow the links to these, you'll find videos for most and lesson details for ll of them. Have fun creating!

Learn how to draw each of these cuties in these how to draw videos, found here! 

Kindergarten tried their hand at printing with this project and had such a blast! 

These relief hearts by kindergarten were a hit and definitely a lesson I hope to repeat soon! 

Of course, you can't celebrate all things love and Valentines-y without sharing the work of Chris Uphues with your students! We've done a couple lessons inspired by him. This one is a collage and printing project. 

This lesson has always been a hit on my blog with other art teachers and my students. In fact, I created this lesson as a sub plan so it's been a hit with my subs too! You can find all the details and video here.

My students created this HUGE collaborative mural inspired buy Britto. Lesson video here!

First grade created these huge Britto-inspired hearts with bingo daubers, bleeding tissue paper and paint sticks. Lesson details here. 

Ready to tackle printmaking with your students? Here's a lesson I've done a couple of years now with my second graders: Robert Indiana-inspired LOVE prints! 

I created these hearts with wings with foil, Celluclay and plaster strips! They are super simple to make. More here. 

Inspired by those hearts, I created a lesson for my second graders to make these! 

A couple of years ago, I did a professional development with the faculty and staff at my school. We created these My Heart Has Wings sculptures. Details here. 

Here was a fun lesson where we were able to use our messy mats as apart of our masterpiece! Not only that but this project provided two heart-tastic pieces for the price of one. These...

And these!

If you are looking to have your students create a large collaborative piece, you can see what each grade level worked on to make this piece here. 

Looking for a quick lesson that introduces students to three contemporary artists who used love and hearts as their theme? Check out this blog post with a video lesson! 

James Rizzi is always a fun artist to share with your students. We loved creating these love birds!

Here's another lesson we do just about every year in first grade: these woven and stitched hearts! All the lesson details can be found here. I created a variation of this lesson recently where students weave together strips of paper in their skin tones. You can find it here. 

These candy hearts were created by my fourth graders and we used plaster strips to create them. It was so fun to see these all come together and display them in a large candy heart box! Lesson details here. 

Early finishers of the candy hearts lesson moved onto this project when they were finished! 

Wow, did the third graders have a blast with this one! We made plaster chocolates that looked good enough to eat! All the lesson details here. 

Need a quick lesson with a contemporary artist inspiration? Try this JGoldcrown lesson on for size!