Hello, friends! With Thanksgiving break coming to an end, it’s time to kinda-sorta start thinking about exactly what is gonna go down in the art room for the next (longest) weeks of your art teacherin’ life. Well, have no fear! I’ve got a TON of projects here that will not only get you to the finish line but will also be projects that are appropriate to continue after Winter Break. Yippie!
Before we dive in, I thought I’d share my books with you! I’ve had lots of folks purchase my books for Christmas presents for teachers, art teachers and children…and now is the time to get them, if interested. If purchased soon, we can assume (hope and pray) that they’ll arrive in time for the holidays. You can check out all four of my independently published books here. I have written two other books with a publisher…and those can be found on Amazon. Let me take you on a quick book tour:
Art Teacherin’ 101 is packed with everything-I-wish-I-woulda-known about teaching art. It has all of my tips and tricks for classroom management as well as discovering just who you are as an art teacher so you can be your very best. If you would like to kick off the new year with some new methods to try, this book is for you!
As a teacher, I could never seem to find a book on shapes that wasn’t too baby-ish. All the books seemed to be simply getting children to recognize and name shapes which…most can already do by the time they enter the art room. However, many don’t know the difference between a shape and a form, geometric and organic and how shapes can be used to draw. So…I wrote Alfred the Ape Knows His Shapes and I think you’ll love it!
My new book Find Your Way was written to read to my students as they work. I do this with my second through fourth graders (and on up would work but I only teach thru 4th) and it keeps them focused and working quietly. This book is a choose-your-own-adventure style book where you go on art adventures with 7 different artists! From Vincent van Gogh to Frida Kahlo, Money, da Vinci and more, the reader can decide what adventure to take with up to 32 different endings and over 80 illustrations! Find it here.
Okay! Let’s talk winter lessons! If you are looking for something big that involves all your students then crank up those holiday tunes and let’s make a big ole Winter Mural. Details here.
If you are looking for a project that really gets the kids drawing and focused, these Snow Glow Cities were the trick for me! Added bonus: it was a long project that took us all the way to the holidays! IYKYK. Video tutorial in the post!
Okay, lemme just say this: DO NOT start this project…unless you’ve done weaving (even just paper weaving) with your students first. Otherwise, you will curse my name and probably put a hex on me and my cats. And I don’t want that! BUT you could start by spending a couple of days before break painting and prepping the plate before diving into weaving. I promise it’s not HARD…but it does require patience which…who has that before break? Full lesson with video here.
And if you are interested in more sewing and weaving projects, I do have TONS under the “fibers” playlist on my YouTube channel. I am getting ready to upload a ton of new content there so…I encourage you to subscribe! Also, if you’d like to see more of these type of projects, then check out my book: Stitch and String Lab for Kids.
Now let’s chat about some fast -n- furious art projects that all your students will love. I put together several in this blog post, just for you! This Hot Chocolate Collage was a fun pairing with what we did after winter break…
Another spin on yee ole hot chocolate is this bingo dauber lesson! I created a video to walk your students through the process and you can find it here.
If I may…offer a little advice during this time of year. Your schedule is going to experience so many interruptions that it’s gonna be hard to know what to expect. SO…why not just do the same dang lesson with ALL your student?! Then the supplies can just stay out! ALSO…older students LOVE doing projects that are ‘easy’ every now and then. It builds confidence and they love doing younger kiddo style of artwork. This lesson is penguin perfect for this idea! Video lesson included!
I just uploaded this tutorial last week! It’s easy, low mess and low stress. Details here!
