In the Art Room: My Favorite Clay Lessons

Well, y'all, I gotta tell ya. It's been a long, exhausting but super fun and exhilarating week. Which can only mean one thing: Clay Week! I started doing a week of clay for the entire school a coupla years ago and now that we have it all down pat, we ain't never going back. The only thing I plan to change for next year: do two separate clay weeks, one in the fall and one in the spring. The kids love clay so stinkin' much that I want to give them more opportunities to explore! 

I spent this past weekend filming clay demo videos that I've been sharing with each of my classes. I did this for a couple of reasons: 1. it's so hard to demo clay and insure that each child can see. 2. I don't forget any of the details or get distracted by raised hands, talker-outers or whatever randomness that causes me to get off track and 3. the kids pay so much more attention to Television Stephens than Fur Realzies Stephens (which I take offense to but whateves). I've not added these videos to my YouTube channel yet because I'm too tired, y'all! Instead I thought I'd share with you my favorite clay lessons (with links to each lesson!) of all timez.

IN OTHER NEWS (by the way, if you know me even for a second, you know that "in other news" is my fave segue to totes off-topic-town), I've been keeping secrets from y'all. It's time I let the big ole cat outta the bag: I've been working with Quarry Books...and I'm writing a book! That's right! AND it's all about...clay! So...in case you noticed that the DIY's on this here blog have pretty much dried up to nothing that's because my weekends have been spent working on el book-o. I've been keeping it kinda on the down low because I didn't want to get too excited lest Quarry find out what a crazy I am and back outta the deal. But it would appear that they are in it to win it and so am I. I'll keep y'all posted...but I just had to share. 

AND NOW, back to my fave clay projects!

When it comes to Clay Week, I do love to have a theme. This helps with the teaching as I can reference the same visuals. It also helps when we put together the art show as there is a real cohesiveness to it all. The clay display is always in my art room. It looks so nice to see all of these thematic projects together! One of my favorite lessons for an Asian theme were these Painted Indian Elephants inspired by my art teacherin' buddy Debbie Flynt. Each one was so colorful and unique!

Another hit, especially with the kids, were these Chinese Dragons by my third grade students! So much creativity and imagination went into each and every one that this was def a kid fave. 

Pandas are so stinkin' cute. We've taken to watching Animal Planet's Panda Cam in my art room (along with puppy, kitten and otter cam...y'all, it's seriously the best thing ever). My fourth graders had a blast making these Pandas with Personality for our Asian theme. 

Because our art show is in the spring, I settled upon spring with an emphasis on Monet's Waterlilies one year! My fourth graders created these frogs with so much spunk and personality that they really were a true reflection of the young artist! 

Kindergarteners are a freakin' joy to do clay with as they absolutely love every minute of it! While we were working today, I heard so much laughter, happiness and discovery that it just made my day. We created these textured butterfly wallhangings to go along with our spring theme. 

Opening my kiln to these pretties, I remember letting out a squeal! They were so colorful and spring-like and the third grade had a blast making them. 

My favorite projects are the ones where the kids just go bananas with little details and creativity. That's what my second graders did with these cute and fun waterlilies.

One year, our theme was animals because we "sold" our creations back to our parents (for a donation) which we turned over to a no-kill humane society. This was a fun experience for the kids to see the power of being kind and art! My kindergarten and first graders created these sweet Pinch Pot Pets. 

My second graders used two pinch pots to create their own version of Pinch Pot(s) Pets! I love all the variety of ideas in this lesson. 

My fourth graders created these fun cat and dog sculptures. I love to encourage silliness and imagination in their works so that they really explore making a simple idea like a cat or dog their own. Again, this was a hit with kids and parents! 

Second grade created these tigers one year that double as a container. There's a pinch pot on the back of each tiger that was flipped upright to be used as a bowl! Our mascot is the tiger so this was a great tie-in with school pride as well as keeping with our animal-loving theme. 

And now for a batch of randoms. These fish were not tied to a theme but super cute. I love that clay can be a great vehicle in teaching texture. Such was really emphasized in this textured fish lesson for first grade!

Wall hangings can be a fun alternative to sculpture when working with clay. It's often difficult for the young kids like kindergarten town to create standing sculptures. So, with a focus on texture, my wee ones last year created these textured birds! This blog post has a how to video if you are interested.  

This is one of my tried and true favorite lessons that I used to do every year with second grade until I grew tired of it and moved on. I brought it back for an after school group last year and they loved their textured initial wall hanging!

What are some of your fave clay lessons? I am SO EXCITED about our clay theme this year and cannot wait to share it with you...it's gonna be the best one yet!

In the Art Room: Art Scouts, Update!

Hello, art teacherin' friends! Thank you SO MUCH for all the Art Scouts love, y'all. We are beyond thrilled that so many of you have signed on to be a Scout that our Tennessee camp is officially SOLD OUT! Because we wanted to share the Scoutin' love, we decided to open up a second Art Scouts Camp in Laura and Ginger's home state of Ohio! Here's more...

That's right. I'm giving Leo a run for that Oscar with my emotional performance, y'all. 

Because of how quickly Scout spots filled in Tennessee, if you are interested in our Ohio camp, might I recommend you act fast. Both camps will be the same, just different scenery. Registering is easy but if you are a visual person like me, you might appreciate this lil step-by-step-to-register process...

We have been having so much fun putting together our badge-earnin' activities for y'all! If you are as excited as we are, you might wanna take a look-see at what our Camp will entail:

So, we hope to see y'all Scouts real soon!

What the Art Teacher Wore #159

 Tuesday Because I Forgot to Snap a Pic on Monday: Sorry, y'all. This here blog post only features the four outta my five day work week. I've slipped into the habit of forgetting to take pictures until the end of the day when 1. I look haggard (and by "haggard" I mean not that far from looking like Merle Haggard) and 2. I've already changed outta my dressy duds into my workout ware. So, long, uninteresting story short, I missed Monday. Aren't you glad I 'splained all that to you? scarf, sweater and top: vintage; skirt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: Anthro

Hello, besties! I hope y'all had a fan-fabulous week and are ready for more! I know I'm not alone when I say that this time of year is BANANAZ. 

(Okay, seriously? I could watch this for the next five hours and not get bored). And I don't like that feeling of everything being bananas. In fact, I dislike bananas ALMOST as much as this guy...

I mean, how do y'all deal with stress? Personally, I know when I'm getting myself in too deep when my eyes start twitching. I'm a naturally lazy person who likes to do things in her own time (read: NEVER) so having things pile up on my To Do list kinda wears me out. To prevent myself from becoming overwhelmed, I like to have certain sayings on a constant loop run thru my head: One Day at a Time; Easy Does It; When Eating an Elephant, Take One Bite at a Time...

Dude! I was kidding! I'm not gonna eat you, I'm a vegetarian. Although I might chase you for those sweet converse!

So, what stress-relieveing tips and tricks do y'all have? I'd be welcome to some. Mostly cuz I'm having the darnest time Sharpie-ing my newly sprouted gray hairs with a twitchy eye. 

Until next time, kids!

 June Cleaver Wednesday: When I recently found this vintage dotted number at Buffalo Exchange, I knew I had to have it. I felt like a cross between Lucille Ball and June Cleaver all day long. Prolly not the wisest thing to wear vintage on a painting, sculpting, and weaving day but when has that ever stopped me before?! brooch, scarf, dress: vintage; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 Artsy Thursday: One of my lil kindergarten students came in with the most amazing outfit: a splatter painted jean jacket with the words ARTIST stitched across the back. Y'all better believe I checked the label on her jacket to see where it was made: Gap Kids. They make an XXL, y'all. If you don't think I ordered one over my lunch break than you just don't know me by now. top: Forever21; art supply skirt: vintage, etsy; belt: Amazon

Fri-YAY, y'all! Knowing that I'd be spending my day prepping for CLAY WEEK, I wore my fave flats: those hawt pink Minnetonkas. I can't wait for the kids to get elbow's deep in clay next week. I'm so excited about their projects, can't wait to share! skirt and shirt: made by me, more here; spool necklace: made by me, more here

In the Art Room: Embroidery with Third Grade

When I was a kid, I spent two weeks of my summer in rural Indiana with my two grandma's. One grandma had a pool, my aunt and cousins and a freezer stocked with enough White Castle burgers to last a lifetime (my record for those wee burgers was 5 in one sitting. You better believe I was proud). The other grandma had no A.C. or no kids to play with and pretty much only hot dogs to eat (she liked to eat them cold {insert dry heaves}). Now all y'all might assume I dug stayin' at Pool Grandma's house better and, well, I'm not gonna lie, you'd be right. However, the one thing that Cold Hot Grandma (Grandma Rosie, that is) and over Pool Grandma (Grandma Marilyn) was that she was super crafty and loved to teach me. One summer, she taught me how to embroider and it was just about the best thing ever. 

With that memory, I thought I'd share embroidery with my third graders. Last year, they created these little embroidered hearts for our mural. This year, with my new third graders, I thought I'd give them the opportunity to really explore embroidery. Here, lemme talk you thru it since I'm super good at jibber-jabberin'.

Now, I'm sharing with y'all their unfinished pieces as many still have embroidery they want to do. I truly am having a hard time stopping them, they love it so! Not gonna lie, some kids have decided to move on. For them, I'm going to offer some puffy paint as an alternative to stitching more designs. Once complete, these bad boys will be framed and embellished with a metal tooled frame. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted. 

Here's the video I shared with the kids. Having a video for something like stitching is great because you can replay it for those that missed the directions the first time. 

Like I said in the video, we used stencils to create our initial design and stitched that the first day. From there, the kids were able to use chalk to add more details to their design like little fish, bubbles and stars as seen above. 

Many kids used hoops but some preferred to just go it without. I wanted them to have the experience and learn how to use the hoops. 

I found the colorful burlap at Joann's. Tapestry needles are the best way to go. You can score a dozen of the metal ones through any of your art supply catalogs.

As you can see, sharks and dolphins were the most popular stitched creatures. Having a ton of choices made it so every child found something of interest. We also had turtles, toucans, crocodiles, tropical fish, lizards, frogs and parrots.

 It made me so happy when kids wanted to learn another stitch. I have a giant embroidery sampler in my room that I made years ago that have satin, running, flower and star stitches that serve as inspiration. 

 Love those flower stitches!

Love this toucan with the satin stitched beak.

"Look! My lizard is a Love Lizard!" This was after we all agreed it looked as though it'd fallen in love. 

Not gonna lie, this has been a long project...but one that the kids have enjoyed. I hope they have happy memories of stitching one day as I did with my Grandma Rosie. If not, then they can go eat a cold hot dog (juuuuuuust kidding)! What are some of y'all's fave embroidery projects for kids? For more fiber arts art class fun, go here! 

In the Art Room: Exciting News!

Tennessee Art Scouts is SOLD OUT!

Ohio Art Scouts still available, go here to register!

Exciting news, all y'all art teacherin' types! Me and fellow art teacherin' troop leaders Laura Lohmann, Ginger Pacer and Jennifer Alvarado are calling YOU to join Art Scouts! Listen here and learn more...

Are you as excited as we are?! Just imagine: two days packed with enough clay projects, painting lessons, printmaking activities and sewing -n- weaving fun to set your art curriculum for the entire school year. All projects will be geared toward those who teach kindergarten through eighth grade art. Our theme for this two day adventure will be nature which will tie perfectly in with science, social studies and math (that's right, y'all. We're gonna get all kinds of STEAM-y!).

So, how do you sign up? Simply contact me and let me know you are interested (and if you have any questions) at cassieart75@gmail.com. Unfortunately, we can only host 50 of y'all  scouts, so lemme know as soon as you can. Now let's chat about those art teacherin' badges you'll earn...

When I was a kid, summers were my time to explore all things fiber-artsy. At church camps, I learned to weave; at my grandma's house, I learned to embroider and at vacation bible school, I stitched the ugliest pillow that I was so stinkin' proud of. Kids simply love fiber arts but it's often a lost art in the art room. Let's bring it back by introducing our young artists to the math, science and social studies behind weaving, stitching, embroidery and more! If you're new to sharing this art with your students, have no fear. With this intense two day camp, you'll definitely earn your fiber artsyin' badge as well as the confidence to share with your students. 

Truth or Dare Time...TRUTH: I once completely melted down a kiln. I remember it like it was yesterday: having never taken a ceramics class in college, it was just expected that I'd know how to operate this super expensive piece of machinery. After a coworker quickly showed me how to turn it on, I left for the day...only to return to find that all the pieces in the kiln had melted. It looked like a kiln full of melted marshmallows! I had never had a panic attack until that day (I immediately lost sight in one eye...and then my lunch). My incident cost the school a pretty penny and made me realize how little we actually know about what it is we are supposed to be experts on.

All THAT to say, twenty art teacherin' years later, me and my troop leaders know plenty-a-thang about teaching all things clay! We'll walk you thru some awesome clay projects that scaffold on student learning. No kiln? No problem! These projects will be centered around both kiln-fired and air-dry clays. Not to mention some unique alternatives to glazing. And, I promise, the only marshmallows you'll see will be the kind you can eat!

Okay, not sure if you know this or not, but Laura Lohmann is thee painting guru in our troop. I have been a huge fan and follower of her blog for years. It wasn't until meeting and getting to know her last summer at a week long arts camp that I discovered what an amazing art educator she is! You'll learn all of her incredible painted paper tips and tricks that can be applied to your art teacherin' lesson plans.

Don't let the image fool you: we're gonna take printmaking beyond the brayer, y'all. Get ready to discover unique and unusual methods of printmaking (marker prints! gelatin printing! collagraphs! foam carving!) and learn how to manage the mess without losing your mind. Printmaking is a magical experience that all of your students will love. 

Now, let's meet those troop leaders!

Laura Lohmann of Painted Paper in the Art Room is an awesome art teacherin' super star. I was a huge fan of hers before even meeting her because her projects always left me shaking my head and waving clenched fists at the sky thinking, "How are her kids creating such magnificent masterpieces?!" Well, y'all are gonna get a front row, badge-earning seat to find out just how she does it. You'll be amazed at how ingenious and easy her teaching technique is!

If you just pop on over to Ginger Pacer's blog Paintbrush Rocket and watch some of the bird's-eye view videos of her kids creating, you'll be sold on what an art teacherin' super star she is. I am always amazed at the creative projects Ginger dreams up from huge murals painted to sweet woven pouches, she covers it all! Not to mention, her mama was an art teacher so she comes from good art teacherin' stock, y'all!

Art teacher and instagram'er Jennifer Alvarado is one of the most warm and happy people I know and it shows in everything she teaches. I am always in awe of the bright and colorful pieces her students create that cover the walls of her school. Jennifer is one of those people who has a genuine love for both her "kiddos" and their art education. You'll be inspired by her energy and enthusiasm...I know I always am!

So! Do you have what it takes to be an Art Scout? Are you ready to earn your art teacherin' badges? Trust me, it's going to be a wild, crazy and amazing two days of creating of mess and memory making. If you're up for the challenge, just shoot me an email to reserve your spot! 

See you real soon, Scouts!