These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back

Discover the perfect All About Me preschool activity designed for young kids! Get a free printable worksheet that's simple, engaging, and ideal for emergent readers. Download now!

FREE printable Symmetry drawing activity for preschool and kindergarten kids. A fun art and math activity in one! Kids will complete the symmetrical pictures by drawing the other half.

FUN End of the Year Art Projects- It's the end of the year-go out having FUN! I know how it goes at the end of the year-your tired, the kids are tired...EVERYONE is ready for summer break! Go out with a bang with these super fun end of the year art projects!

These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back

Pre-K & Preschool activities for the first days of school. Find more Beginning of School Activities for Pre-K In the beginning of the year, we spend a

Paint, draw, sculpt, and learn about famous artists and their art.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of icebreakers myself, at least the get-to-know-you type. Students may be grouped in a different way from the previous year, and there are always new students to the schoo…

Earlier this year, my co-worker Jayne found the idea to make a collaborative school-wide paper mural based on the artwork of Thank YouX. The idea for a student mural originally came from Jenell Novello and you can see the lesson plan write-up on Artsonia. She also so generously provided the lesson plan and templates on Google docs. Thank You X got his name by accident. In 2009 Andy Warhol’s spray painted portrait was spotted on a city street in L.A.. … Read more... →

Spending the first week of school teaching classroom expectations and procedures is essential for a successful year. Glue is a tricky school supply for many little learners and there definitely needs to be instruction dedicated to teaching learners how to use this tool.Glue BottlesWhen learners are not taught how to use their glue correctly things

Amazing things can happen with just one dot.

Looking for a fun craft for the beginning of the school year? This resource includes: Two pages (spells out THIRD) Example Don't forget to check out the other beginning of the year crafts in my TPT account and to leave a review for points towards your next purchase!

Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.

Welcome to the How-To Guide for First Year Art Teachers where I give you my 10 Steps for Success! Congratulations! You got your own classroom. OH MY GOSH, you have your own classroom. Your mind and stomach start racing, both with extreme excitement and panic because now, it all just got real. You will have a lot of students, a lot of planning, and a lot of classroom to keep organized. Figuring out where to even start is a huge stress and will require a tea (or a beer) and a nap (probably some Netflix too).

This adorable scribble art project is a perfect way to ease into the year and practice early skills while creating fun, bright works of art.

I created this culture jars art lesson for an Art and World Cultures class, and continue to use it in art classes because it is so well received. The word

It is the first week of kindergarten! What do I teach? I get this question all the time! I am so excited to put together this page together for you. I’m sharing our favorite first week of kindergarten read aloud stories and the free coordinating printables I made to go with them. Plus I will s

A NO PREP art/language activity teachers can use any time. All you need is paper!

The perfect list of jokes for 5 year olds (older kids will love them, too)! Includes animal jokes and knock knock jokes for 5 year olds.

" International Dot Day ", a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration, began when teacher Terry Shay introduced his cl...

Teachers, you must send this letter home to parents on the first day of school. It will set the tone with parents for the rest of the year!

Kindergarten Rocks! 5 year olds are the best. I was a kindergarten teacher for many years before I became an art teacher. The kids are so full of wonder and possibility. I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite art activities for 5 year olds. Some are ones I’ve done more recently, […]

Pencil Name Craft For Kids | Fun back to school learning idea. Use a free printable PDF template to cut out & make. Great for preschool, pre k & kindergarten.

This Enclume Decor Link Chain is of lighterweight stock than our Premier chain and balances with our Decor racks. These chains coordinate with Enclume's Signature Hammered Steel finish pot racks. Our "S" hooks hold one end of the chain and the other end of the chain slides over our ceiling hooks. Made of 3/16″ links, each length lowers the rack approximately 1 inch – 12 links per foot. Sold by the foot only.  ● Available in 12" lengths. Can be adjusted to lower the rack in 1" increments ● Dimensions:  12" L   Weight: 1 lb. ● 5 Year Limited Warranty

First Week Watercolor Portraits 7 comments Back to School, Bulletin Boards, Self Portraits, Tutorials Every year, my second graders paint a watercolor self-portrait. It is truly my most favorite first week activity of all time. After sharing this picture of this year's portraits on Facebook, a sweet reader asked if I had a blog post about them. Well, it dawned on me that while I have shared my annual self-portraits many times, I've never really shared them exclusively in a post. So, here goes! Every year, I have my students paint a self-portrait during the first week of school (an idea I learned while student teaching many moons ago). I hang these portraits in the room, for the entire year. They really brighten up our space and they are such a joy to look at (this is a picture of my students' portraits from last year). I am not an art teacher and I believe that kids should be encouraged to take risks, so when I task my students with painting their portraits, I pretty much let them "have at it." Don't worry, it isn't a total free for all. I do model the process and I also share examples from years past, like the ones shown below. I just make it very clear that I don't expect their paintings to look like an actual photograph. ;) I always begin by pointing out how much of their body/self they will be painting. I tell them to think about the pictures they see in their yearbooks and how those pictures only show people's heads and shoulders. I explain that they will include only their head and shoulders in their paintings. I then show them examples from previous years (sometimes students move and they get left behind, so I have a few on hand). Once the students understand what it is that they will be including in their portrait, I model the drawing process on the board. I discuss how large the head should be in relation to the paper and show them what this looks like. From there, I show them how I draw a neck and shoulders, hair, and facial features. I apologize that I don't have a photo of this, but essentially, I model and narrate the process, one step at a time. And, then...it's the students' turn. I give each student a piece of white card stock (8x10 inches) to work with. Card stock is brighter and thicker than construction paper, and it just seems to hold the paint better, in my opinion. Then, they start their drawing. Sometimes, I have them draw the outline of their pictures with a black crayon (see below). When I do this, there is NO pencil involved. This helps them to really slow down and visualize before they draw because they know that they can't erase. However, this year, I let them draw with pencil first and then they traced over their pencil lines with a Sharpie. Why did I do that? I have no idea, it was just what I decided to do when I was prepping the materials, but the end result was still fab! Once the students draw the outline of their portrait, they get to paint! Using watercolor is a tricky thing for many second graders. They have a hard time always gauging how much water to use, so a discussion about this (and a little modeling) ahead of time is a good idea. Tip: No matter how much explaining and modeling you do, you'll still have a student or two that uses too much water. Let them use a tissue to blot their paper if you notice this happening. I lay the portraits to dry on the floor, in an out of the way spot. They dry within minutes here in the desert. Once they are dry, I flatten them by stacking heavy teacher manuals on them overnight. I could iron them, but my iron and I do not get along. At all. The next morning, I hang them up and admire the sight before me...all year long. :) At the end of the year, it's always fun to repeat this process. You will be amazed at how much growth your students show. Here are a few examples from last year. Amazing, right? We always get lots of compliments on our portrait display, and the kids are always very proud of them. They love seeing if their parents can guess which one is theirs, and it's fun to see how many parents get it right! At the end of the school year, I send the portraits home as a keepsake. Many parents have commented how much they love them, and they are the perfect size for framing! First week self-portraits are a great way to encourage students to take risks, have fun, and learn to use materials. Beyond that, the students take great pride in their creations and enjoy them just as much as I do, and we have something truly magnificent (that they created!) to look at all year long. :) Share It:

Looking for fun, educational games for art class? Check out these three simple games you can put together in a few minutes.

These printable cutting practice strips are an easy way to help your young learners work on their fine motor and cutting skills. Find more Cutting Practice Packs HERE. *The free download button can be found at the END of this post. Printable Cutting Practice Strips You’ll find horizontal lines, vertical lines, zigzag lines, and ... Read More about Printable Cutting Practice Strips

Inside you'll find an easy step-by-step how to draw a Minecraft Self Portrait & Minecraft Coloring Page. Stop by and grab yours for free.

A fun, processed based Fibonacci art project for kids. Great for S.T.E.A.M. learning at home or at school.

Free printable shapes worksheets for teaching kids the basic shapes. Lots of fun activities to download for FREE!

No David by David Shannon is a classic book to read in kindergarten. Here are free No David activities, videos and book ideas listed all in one place.

These classroom art activities inspired by artist Romero Britto are a great art project to help students join the Happy Art Movement.

Amazing things can happen with just one dot.

Imagination Workout Printable Click the link above to download Attalie’s Imagination Workout free printable art worksheet.

14 years ago I walked into my very first art room, full of so much excitement but also feeling totally overwhelmed wondering where to even begin!?

A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year

Do you teach a Community Helpers Preschool or Kindergarten Unit? You will LOVE this fun set of pretend play learning centers and no prep worksheets.

Tips for Primary Teachers.

Oh my word? Have you ever spent hours at the end of the school year sorting through student work to put into memory books. Have you ever lost your mind trying to figure out who stole the binding machine to put together books while you so desperately need to begin yours. Were you that teacher who took the binding machine? Oh geez, this is stressing me out just hearing about this! If you hate putting memory books together, then I've got the solution for you! All you'll need are file folders with the prongs and a two hole punch. See the entire tutorial over at Easy Teaching Tools! Want your very own editable copy of the memory book cover? Head to Easy Teaching Tools to pick up several color options for FREE!

How often do you join in when your kids are creating? Doodle Names is a drawing project that parents and kids can enjoy working on side-by-side. I find that my girls and I always have interesting conversations while we sit and draw together. Plus, doodling is fun and relaxing! To get started, write your name … Continued