Spend quality time with kids getting creative during this pandemic crisis! Experiment and explore your inner artist with children.
What are pre writing shapes and how and when should you be “teaching “ your toddler? Toddler from drawing scribbles to actually writing? Pre writing shapes...
Taking a nod from Craft the Rainbow, we're showing a spin on our paper weavings, which are perfect for stay at home projects!
This moon craft is great for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, or older kids. It's a great art extension during a space theme in the classroom.
Vision activities for every need! These fun ideas develop visual perception, visual motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and more.
A clever classroom trick to help children learning to write inside lines
Having quiet bags can make church or any place you need your child to be quiet a lot easier. Here's my 5 tips to making it work.
Bust summer boredom at home, school, or camp with Squirt Gun Painting, an amazing art experience for kids of all ages.
feature art Emotion Sensation Wheel: A new kind of feeling wheel. A therapist-designed resource designed to help make connections between our brains and bodies. Unlike a traditional feelings wheel (first published in 1982 by Gloria
6 great exercises to do with your kids, or just playing around? I'll let you be the judge! Great at-home activities to help you and your kids be more active!
Multiplication can be challenging for kids to learn and for teachers to teach! Here are a few tips to make teaching multiplication easier.
When your child is overstimulated by a situation, use these sensory activities to calm them down and give their bodies a chance to feel relaxed.
I was introduced to this lesson by Claire Kirk & Katie Flowers. Both amazing artists and art educators I have had the honor of knowing and working with over the years. From observational drawin…
In this town by the water, everyone likes to stay busy (well, almost everyone). But some things are different between day and night. Can you spot them? Here are...
Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.
Grab these free printables HERE.
Joan Miro was an artist who didn't subscribe to any artistic label. Learn more about this incredibly talented artist with these Joan Miro Projects for Kids.
Discover what happens to an egg when you soak it in vinegar in this amazing bouncy egg experiment. The eggshell dissolves and the raw, naked egg can bounce!
I'm Violeta. My job and hobby is to crochet toys. I crochet toys every day and am always looking for new ideas.
Healthy banana blueberry muffins without refined sugar. A toddler and kid-friendly healthy blueberry muffin recipe good for snacks and breakfast for kids!
Last week, I posted about line drawings that my kindergarten students made with oil pastels and watercolor paints. To finish these off, my students glued paper strip lines (folded to make zig zags, curled and pleated) to the bottom of the page. The students reinforced their learning of types of lines and were introduced to paper manipulation techniques. Then, we rolled and stapled them at the top and bottom to create a hanging windsock. A little bit of double stick … Read more... →
Homemade Tostadas with Baked Tostada Shells take minutes to make and are so much better for you than frying. Just add your favorite toppings!
Deschooling definition: planned period of adjustment a child needs when transitioning from public school to homeschool. Understanding how long it takes and why the deschool process has major, necessary benefits in helping a child decompress and successfully prepare for switching to home school and formal school work. Get tips for de-schooling, learn how to start homeschooling with deschooling, the difference between deschooling vs. unschooling and more!
Three ways to get your kids off the couch this summer.
This Picasso inspired art project is a wonderful introduction to Cubism for the kids. This is great for an individual or a collaborative project.
Making rock candy is a really fun activity for kids that doubles as a great lesson in science .
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:
4th Grade- Enlarged Flower Drawings inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe! Students learned about the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and viewed examples of her flower paintings. We talked about the scale (s…
The best crafts keep kids occupied while helping them develop fine motor skills. Check out our 8 terrific (and cheap) tissue paper crafts that do just that!
What makes successful homeschoolers? It all starts with habits and discovering what is best for you and your kids. These habits are...
If you’re looking for a kid-friendly Florida vacation destination with beaches, outdoor recreation, history, and culture, Pensacola is a perfect spot. We would have happily stayed for an entire week!
Handwriting practice can be fun! Great handwriting activities for kids.
Matching colors is so much fun with this free matching color activity for preschoolers. While my daughter is quite a pro at matching colors, she is still learning to name the colors consistently. Using color matching and color sorting activities for preschoolers allows me to see her progress easily and find out what colors she is still struggling with (like purple and orange). Get the Free Color Matching Fishbowl Printable for Preschoolers to help your students or children learn to identify and name all of the colors!
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Vestibular input activities can provide some of the best stimulation for active sensory seeking kids which can keep their sensory needs met for hours.
