Elmer's Day Parade

First graders just love Elmer! We read just about every "Elmer" book there could possibly be, but our favorite was Elmer's Special Day, by David McKee. We were so inspired by all of the beautiful Elmer designs that we drew and painted our own elephants. Then we used cut paper and oil pastels to create circus cars. First graders loved this project. They are displayed in trains around our school and are receiving so many compliments!

SNOW!

Kindergartners just created the cutest snowmen in Art class! After reading books like The Snowy Day, Snowmen at Night, and Snow, students used torn and painted papers to assemble a snowman. They were able to practice following multiple directions, put together lines and shapes to make snowflakes, and use their fine motor skills to cut, tear, and glue. It was a very successful project for us!

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!

Kindergartners and first graders love the book I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! To make our projects, we used watercolor to paint designs all over our traced hands and arms. Then we painted our background with some kind of abstract design or color composition. Finally, we made our paintbrush with cut paper and chalk. The results were very nice!

Swimmy!

I love using books in my classroom and one of my favorite authors is Leo Lionni. This project was inspired by Swimmy, the story of a brave little fish. This was a fun and somewhat messy project to create, but the results were great! We used liquid watercolors to paint our papers and paper doilies. The next day we cut them up to make our beautiful collages. The results were so impressive and the kids really had fun making the coral out of paper doilies!

Tar Beach

I love incorporating literature into my art projects whenever possible. Here is a great and easy project third graders created after reading Tar Beach by Faith Ringold. We used painted paper, pastels, and fabric scraps for the borders. The results were stunning!

A Few of my FAVORITE books!

Many times when I am stuck on an idea or need inspiration, I turn to other art education blogs. All of the amazing blogs I've seen have inspired me to share my own ideas with a blog. Another great tool for teaching art is a book! I love the Usborne drawing and art books. They are truly valuable and full of great material. I suggest them to every art teacher I know! The pages also copy nicely for handouts and can be left for sub plans. Check out the Usborne website!