Explore Fibonacci day with these STEAM activities - Learning about Fibonacci - Storybooks & art projects plus a fun video for kids to learn and enjoy.
Please Note: All images seen below are of my students artwork only. These photos/lessons are not posted in any particular order regarding the flow of my curriculum. Abstract Self-Portrait Paintin…
Add Take Time for Art to your history curriculum this homeschool year. Take Time for Art is a hands-on art program that will enhance your history year.
2-ingredient walking rainbow experiment! Teach color theory and capillary action with this rainbow walking water science experiment.
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
Here are some of the things we did this week for our Fairy Tale/Storybook Character Unit: We talked about what a fairy tale is and what fairy tales sometimes have in them. We talked about the Story Elements in each of the Fairy Tales we read this week. Little Red Riding Hood Here is the chart I used to fill in the Story Elements as we talked about them as a class. While filling this chart out, we made our characters and set up our classroom (setting) so we could act out the story. Little Red Riding Hood Activity: They made a picture of Little Red Riding Hood and then filled in the boxes describing her. Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears We filled this in after reading the story. I had the students make this story character map for Goldilocks. Cinderella We filled this in together as a class. I laminated these Story Element Anchor Charts so I could write on them with an Expo Marker and easily wipe them off! Writing Activity: If I had a Fairy Godmother... The Three Little Pigs I read two versions of The Three Little Pigs and we compared the two stories. I had the students fill out these WANTED posters for the Big Bad Wolf. Jack and the Beanstalk We did a measurement activity. The Frog Prince Graphing Activity: Would you kiss a frog? Fairy Tale Elements Chart: After reading each fairy tale we went through and marked what fairy tale elements the book had. Storybook Character Dress-up Day: To end our unit we had the students dress up as their favorite storybook character. They came to school dressed in their costume with their book and we guessed who they were. Even all the first grade teachers dressed up! Here is just a peek at some of the storybook characters the first grade teachers have dressed us as during the years. The Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Alice in Wonderland All Laura Numeroff book characters! Click HERE to download my Fairy Tale Unit from my TpT store!
So I've posted this anchor chart on Pinterest, and I've already gotten more than 60 repins! Now that it is on my blog, it will actually lead to a source. This one is useful for a discussion of theme. I used this when student teaching, and it was great! I really like having the examples for students to see. I based this anchor chart on one I found on Pinterest, but this one matches my classroom theme! Once again, this is a 16x20 print, and can be printed on photo paper and laminated!
Use a whisk in this children's sermon about Jonah to teach children about repentance and how God is just and merciful.
Explore Fibonacci day with these STEAM activities - Learning about Fibonacci - Storybooks & art projects plus a fun video for kids to learn and enjoy.
A huge free list of sound-loaded books for articulation, sorted by phoneme. Ready to use more books for speech therapy in your sessions? Get the list from Speech Sprouts.
Creat super simple plant cell models using jelly or pizza to show the different organelles found in each type of cell. Use candy to represent each feature.
Easy to make no mess colour theory experiment to explore mixing of primary colours to secondary colours.
1st graders drew imaginary creatures, people and abstract imagery after looking at the art of Joan Miro. Miro has always been one of my favorite artists! We talked about the difference between abstract and realistic artwork where artists get their ideas oil pastel and watercolor resists As the students drew their creatures and designs, they looked at the Roll-A-Miro sheets for additional lines and shape inspiration. Here are two other really nice Miro art project ideas: The Elementary Art Room … Read more... →
Kids will love these garden science and math activities as they track plant growth and are inspired to start a garden this year! Plus great books for preschool and elementary kids about gardening.
We love connecting projects to books, and we're always inspired by the amazing group of bloggers who participate in the Virtual Book Club for Kids (you can also check the club out on Facebook) as the group comes up with some great extension activities each month. This month's author was Leo Lionni. We chose to read and do a project using a book we've really been enjoying lately, A Color of His Own. This is the sweet tale of a little chameleon who is looking for one color to stay all the time, but keeps running into that challenge that chameleons change color. In the end, he winds up finding a friend to always be with so they can at least always be the same color together. I've used this book in the past as a primary teacher. It's a great way to talk about friendship and also about what makes us each unique. My boys have been loving the simple tale and the colorful illustrations this spring. For our activity extension we decided to use cray-pas and watercolors. I love how colorful this art technique can be. I sketched several chameleon outlines onto white drawing paper using permanent marker. (I'm including a printable copy here in case you just want to print one out, or use the printable to trace onto thicker paper.) Afterwards the boys and I each colored in a chameleon using the cray-pas. Big Brother and I thought about ways to create different patterns. Little Brother focused on just coloring his in, using mostly one color. After we were done coloring, we watercolored on top of the cray-pas. The watercolor doesn't stick to the cray-pas, and fills all the white spaces around it. We all had different strategies for painting. When they were done I cut the three chameleons out and we hung them in our play room. I love how they are a set but each one unique. That's part of what can also make this project a great classroom activity, especially for the start of a school year. Or turn it into a fun family project, with each family member creating a chameleon to represent themselves. What Leo Lionni books does your family enjoy? Have you read this one yet? This post may also have been shared at some of these terrific link parties.
Here is a great Dr. Seuss Day art project for your little ones. Inspired by my favorite "One Fish Two Fish", this lesson is perfect for any lower elementary
You can teach anything with children's picture books: Science. History. Writing. Math. Cooking. And Art. Especially art. Because picture books are an artform. I'll be writing a Five Day Series this week about connecting children's literature to art. Monday through Thursday I will be sharing four art project ideas inspired by children's picture books. On Friday I have …
Hey, y'all! I just had to share with you a project that we are about half way through: A big ole self-portrait mural inspired by the artist and author Todd Parr! It's a school-wide effort but currently only my kindergarten through 2nd grade students are finished. Once my 3rd and 4th grade kiddos complete their self-portraits, I'll add them to the mural and be sure to share the finished product with y'all. This unit of study has not only involved creating a colorful self-portrait but also color theory and collage. But I'm getting ahead of myself! Let's talk about the inspo: It's Okay to be Different. Do y'all have this book? It's a super short and colorful read that's perfect for the art room. What better place to emphasize our differences and celebrate them than art class, right?! It's a happy read with a great underlining meaning that the kids really love. And I really love the crazy and colorful result! To walk you through the entire process, lemme tell you how we started. With kindergarten and first grade, that meant this color-mixing lesson and a reading of the book Mouse Paint. Kindergarten created these in one class: read the book, did some drawing together and boom! Mixed up some secondaries. I created a more thorough blog post here. A video of the steps is below. My first and second graders earned a party for their awesomeness and we used our color mixing skills to ice our cookies! If you'd like to know more about this, you can watch this short clippie: Once we'd become paint mixing masters, we created these painted papers! The papers had been pre-folded by yours truly, first in half and then a 4" fold across the bottom. This created two squares and two rectangles on the paper. The kids were instructed to use their knowledge to paint three shapes in the secondary colors and in the last shape, they could paint any color they liked. I loved the colorful result! I need this as some wallpaper, stat! Now, in this NEW video, I'll walk you through our collage portrait making process. I throw a TON of ideas at the kids and let them pick and choose and, of course, come up with their own! I feel like the more ideas you give them, the more confident they will feel that they can make any of their wild and crazy ideas come true. Because I see my younger students for 30 minutes, they spent two days collaging and on their final day they outlined in black paint. In the video, I am using brush painting supplies to help the students keep their "paintbrush ballerina" on her tippy toes. Each portrait was different and, of course, that was okay! Y'all better believe I love that crayon hair clip. I wonder where she got that idea...?! What's cuter than a side pony? Nothing, y'all. Absolutely nothing. For my kindergarten and first grade kiddos, I took a different route. After cluing down the head and ears, these kids created their facial features in black paint. I love the variety that they add to the self portrait mural. Cool glasses, bruh. Love how this kindergartener created his spiked hair and glasses, so cute! And there you have it! I can't wait to see what my third and fourth graders come up with to add to the mural. After this mural, we are on to creating realistic selfies as well. What are some of your fave self portrait lessons? If you need some ideas, I shared some here...but I'd love to hear some more! Lemme know below, y'all!
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean! book and craft for preschoolers. Make a homemade book with photos of each squid.
This simple preschool activity brings to life P.D. Eastman’s book, The Best Nest, in a fun hands-on nest-building experience that your child will love!
Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.
Freelance illustrator in Los Angeles, CA. Creative digital art and character designs. Portfolio includes children's, editorial, and bible illustration.
There is something whimsical and magical about losing yourself in a children’s book and joining the world and imagination of your mini me. One of my favorite times of the day is story time with my daughter and waiting to see what books she chooses. For a brief part of my day, I can get
I just love this book. The art is fantastic as well! One of the first things my kindergarteners do when they walk by my room is to po...
Share the Sweetness151 151SharesFor today’s Literacy Lesson after lunch, we worked on reading comprehension. I built my lesson around the Kane Miller book, I’m a Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian & Ann James. You can snag your own peppy book HERE. They have also just released I’m a Hungry Dinosaur! I can’t wait to get that one! Throughout the… Read More A Toddler Reading Comprehension Lesson | I’m A Dirty Dinosaur
Discover the exciting world beneath your feet with our interactive layers of the earth preschool craft. Dive in and make learning fun!
Self portraits are a really fun project to do with kids... especially when your are referencing the spectacularly stylish Frida Kahlo for inspiration. She was her own best subject, as she suffered from health problems that often kept her confined to her home. Each self portrait she create
Science isn't drab! No need to stick to boring STEM activities when you can learn just as well with these colorful STEAM Art Projects!
This is seriously my favorite art activity ever! The kids love it and the best thing about it is that you only need 3 things!
Based on these puppets from Amazon. But I made a few changes (plague of tigers?), and utilized my store of paper bags and construction pap...
Here is a quick, one day project that the kids just loved. We have just finished our pinterest-inspired tints and shades ice cream cones and we have been talking all about artist Wayne Thiebaud. Today we showed the children how to draw cylinders, stack them, and decorate them to make fanciful cakes. We provided some pictures of beautifully decorated cakes from a local bakery. The kids LOVED this project! This would be an excellent project to leave for a substitute.
As Spring Break approaches, I find that my fifth graders are in need of some reminders as to what it means to be kind to each other. In general, they are sweet kids, but at times the words they use and actions they take, particularly on the playground, aren't the kindest. Our read aloud for the month is Wonder by RJ Palacio so the theme of kindness fit right into our room. It just so happens that a new book, We're All Wonders by RJ Palacio, a picture book intended for younger readers to access the story, came out this week as well. So the timing was perfect. (the two links above are my affiliate links and will take you to Amazon to buy the books.) I began by asking the students what kindness is. We brainstormed a list of ideas and created an anchor chart. Then I read the picture book to the students. Because we had just finished Wonder, they were so excited to read this new version. When we finished, I asked the kids to think of all the ways, in both the picture book and the novel, that people were not very kind to Auggie (the main character). The kids were able to fill our entire circle map in no time. It was easy to recall how people would scream in his face, recoiling at the way he looked. They remembered the names Auggie was called and the no-touching game that was played. The instantly told me about all the awful things that happened to him. I then asked the kids to brainstorm ways that, if they were in the novel with Auggie, they could be kinder to him. Again, they had no problem thinking of ways they could be kind to Auggie. Next, I asked the students to think about their own real life. I asked them to reflect upon how they personally treat others and how they personally could make better choices when speaking to others. Here is where things got a little challenging. You see, when students are talking about fictional characters, or reading news stories about OTHER kids they don't know being treated unfairly or unkindly, they know exactly what they would do if they were there. Because they aren't there. They know they never will be there. But when confronted with their own lives, and real possibilities for what they would have to do to step in or change situations, it is a bit harder for them. So I asked them to brainstorm 15 different ways they PERSONALLY could show kindness to our classmates. (I drew a lot of inspiration for this next part from Study All Knight's FREE Kindness unit, which you can grab here.) The students then used tempra paint and painted 15 (or so) rainbow sunshine rays. They also drew their own Wonder-Inspired portrait. (I have previously done this before, but had them focus on precepts and writing....if you would like to do that, click here. It is one of my fav lessons too!) The students then glued their Wonder portraits into the middle of the rays, used Sharpie to outline and write the 15 ways they could show real kindness in their lives (one way per ray) and were done. They came out amazing. (See the picture at the top of the post!) What is better though, is that the past two days, my students are actively trying to be kinder to each other. They are watching their words. I have seen people purposefully go up to those who tend to wander during group time and invite them into the group. I have seen students smile at others just a bit more. It truly has been a Wonder. Right now, for a limited time, Amazon has the book available for $3.99!!! Snag up to 4 copies at that price. Use my affiliate link here to get your copy ASAP before they are all gone!! SaveSave
Give your children something to do with their hands during devotions with these Jesus Storybook Bible printable pages! Kids will have fun drawing the Bible story and copying a verse for each of the 44 chapters of this best-selling children's Bible.
