Every teacher needs a few fun, fast, easy, tricks up his/her sleeve. Here are a few easy classroom management tricks I've picked up over the years. Need a Second to Get Ready for the Next

Even young children can get beautiful results from a collage craft. So, here are the top Creative Collage Art Ideas For School to help you get excited about your next project. A collage can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.

FREE End of School coloring page makes a wonderful keepsake recording all your child's school favorites plus a self-portrait on the last school day.

Easy idea for building self confidence and celebrating individuality in children. I love using this as a back to school activity for community building.

Explore pilllpat (agence eureka)'s 59274 photos on Flickr!

Year, Months, Seasons, TimeTHE CALENDARTHE SEASONSTHE MONTHSTIMETIME EXPRESSIONS AND SEASONSSeasons Year, Months, Seasons, Time Tell the time THE CALENDAR 1 year 2 month 3 week 4 day 5 weekend Days of the Week 6 Sunday 7 Monday 8 Tuesday 9 Wednesday 10 Thursday 11 Friday 12 Saturday Months of the Year 13 January 14 February ... Read moreTHE CALENDAR: Year, Months, Seasons, Time

Fun object lesson about putting God first in our lives. Great for children's church, sunday school, and youth group. All you need is a banana!

I can hardly believe that we are almost back to school for another school year. Summers go by way too fast but I'm hopeful for another amazi...

I made every one of these printables for my kids and have chosen to share them with you. Most of them are free, those for sale have a ' *' ...

Feelin' Frida-ish Monday: I have a coupla after school art clubs, in those small groups, we have the most enlightening convos. One girl asked, "We learn about men artists a lot. Aren't there any girl artists?" I had already been thinking about how I'd like to introduce more contemporary artists next year (this guy does it all the time and has me inspired) but now I know that more female artists need to be thrown into the mix. So! What contemporary/female artists do you introduce in your art room? dress: thrift store; necklaces: Forever39, ahem, 21; belt: Anthropologie; tights: Target; boots: Seychelles I don't know what life is like on your end of the world but I'm sure it's crazy-busy. Especially if you are a teacher. End-of-the-school-year projects to wrap up, mountains of artwork to sort for our school-wide art show, let's-get-rid-of-this-stuff spring cleaning, the list grows by the day. So this week, I thought I'd share with you just some of the things we've been working on in the art room. Complete lessons on this here blog to come, but for now, you'll have to savor these sneak-peaks. AND, just so's ya know, Wednesday, April 30th is the LAST CALL FOR THE BEST DRESSED ART TEACHER CONTEST! Yes, I'm shouting at you, that's how excited I am! So many of you awesome art teachers have sent me snaps that left me rolling in laughter (which is a good thing, I swear! Ya'll are the best!). What's the Best Dressed Art Teacher Contest, you ask? Well, here's the details: Nominate yourself or an art teacher buddy! Simply send an email to me at [email protected] with a photo of your best artsy look. High resolution photos preferred, please. Please include a short bio about the art teacher and what inspired the look. Photos and bio will be shared on this blog on April 30th. Open voting on this blog will end on May 5th and the winner will be announced May 7th! The winner will receive a magical prize along with an interview on this blog. So! what are you waiting for? Shoot me an email, you crazy art teacher, you! So if I'm not found Buried Alive under the 400+ clay projects that the kids have created over the last coupla weeks, it'll be a miracle. These clay stars were created a couple months back. Our original intent was to glaze them and "sell" them back to our parents with the proceeds going to charity. However, due to some personal stuff, that had to get placed on the back burner. But now we're back! And I just knew I'd never be able to get 400+ stars glazed and fired along with all those projects. So I lurked the interwebs for a possible solution and saw something about coloring clay projects with crayons...(well, construction paper crayons were recommended but, in the state that my room is currently in, there was no finding mine)... We painted over them with watercolor paint (I asked that the kids pick just one color, por favor) and viola! Colorful and completed in a snap! More details about these stars and how they were created in an upcoming post. Bump-It Up Tuesday: So I had a hair appointment after school on Tuesday (not that you'd ever be able to tell I got my hair cut. I'm such a chicken, I always just get a couple inches taken off. So boring!). Once seated in the hair-cuttin-hot-seat, I proceeded to unravel the following from my 'do: 11 Bobby Pins, 2 Pink Bows and 1 Extra Large Bumpit. My hair dressers reaction, after regaining her thoughts, "Ohmigawd, IS THAT A BUMPIT?!" I live in the South, ya'll! It's Big Hair or Die! shoes, sweater and top: thrift store; skirt and belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing Speaking of clay projects...my 3rd graders created these Chinese-inspired clay dragons. Ya'll, this project was such a hit! I would easily do this again with all grade levels. The creativity was off the chain crazy! I can't wait for them to glaze them so I can share the easy-peasy lesson with you. Some of my 4th grade students created Panda's with Personality (oh boy, ya'll. Do they ever have personality!) while another group created Asian elephants inspired by the painted elephants in India. Many added jewelry, fabric and flowers to their elephants. I have a feeling these are going to be the most colorful elephants ever. So Stinkin' Tired Wednesday: Seriously. The end of the school year is near...and my work load only builds as I'm sure yours does as well. This photo was the only one I managed NOT to be yawning my head off in. dress: vintage, thrifted; tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina After finishing off our clay projects, We Returned to Our Normally Scheduled Program, Already in Progress (said in that officially dorky voice). Which means my 4th graders added either bamboo, cherry blossom trees or pine trees to their large (12" X 18") watercolor painted backgrounds. Lesson to come, promise! What is Wrong with You, Thursday?!: Wow, this outfit was a let down to the folks, both big and small, in my school! The 4th grade decided that they had never seen me in "short shoes" (um, I'm guessing that means flats?!) and my librarian buddy dubbed this a "too normal" of an outfit. Humph! Time to get outta these Short Shoes and step up my Non-Normal game, I guess! top: Target; skirt: vintage, etsy; shoes: gift; headband: made by me; necklace: The Paper Source Meanwhile, in 3rd grade, we excitedly finished these Ming vase inspired still lives. We spent a long time on this project but learned so much...I'll be sharing this lesson later this week. Stay tuned, ya'll! Hittin' the Town, Friday: Almost everyday after school, there's something going on. Whether it's an art club or meeting up with buddies, I'm always running. I had decided that, with art show approaching, I should spend more after school time in my art room...but I just can't! Not with buddies that I need to chat and shop with. Tamara, thank you for snapping this photo at my happy place -- Anthropologie (where I walked out with a not-at-all-necessary $298 dress for $26, eeee!). dress: made by me (go here for the craziest food-processing-foot-cutting story everrr) My 1st grade friends made clay koi fish...and while those dry, they are creating these koinobori (Japanese for Carp Kite) for May 5th which is Children's Day in Japan. I actually picked up these die-cut paper fish years ago through Roylco and never got around to having the kids create them. This time it worked to be the perfect tie-in, as well as a super short project while our clay drys out. I'll share with you more about this project soon. Ah! So much to share with ya's!

Download the Free Sheep Outline PDF and use the outlines to make all kinds of fun crafts. Need an easy sheep Craft? Then Keep reading.. Pick a sheep outline and make a super simple craft. There’s so many things you can do with it like: cutting out shapes for your bulletin board, fingerprint painting, marble painting, […]

Being ADHD means that I have different strengths and weaknesses from other kids. It means that while I may be able to run faster or jump higher than my

Fall Fabric Scrap Collage. Process art for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarten, or elementary kids. Bright and colorful, great way to make REAL art with children and use up some fabric scraps while you're at it!

This lesson was inspired by wonderful art teacher Susan Tiedemann from South Brunswick, NJ. Take a look her 2nd graders working on their poppies! First graders really were able to understand the concepts of background, middle ground, and foreground along with how to use size to make things look farther away and close up. We started this lesson by working on the Smartboard. I used Notebook software to create a green field and poppies in a variety of sizes - tiny, small, medium, and large. Each student got to come up and pick a poppy and move it to a spot on the field that made sense to them. We worked as a group to decide if the poppy was put in an appropriate place. The students love interacting with the Smartboard. After working on the Smartboard students painted green lines for our field on a 18x24 paper. The large size and big brushes excited them! We let these dry until next class. Next class we reviewed background, middle ground, and foreground along with how size makes things look near and far. They worked on painting small, medium, and large poppies in their field. Once the poppies were painted they were able to dab tiny white and yellow flowers using a qtip. To finish off our paintings students added some lines in the center of the flowers and some more green field lines using oil pastels. See more of our field of poppies on Artsonia - Roosevelt & Washington

A neighborhood map is great way for your students to represent their experiences! Maps help children make meaning of their world as they draw representations of the special places and things that are important in their everyday lives. Each of these simple street maps have their own story behind them but unfortunately, all I had time

Running a fast-paced Sunday School takes more than a willing heart. Preparation and organization are keys to keeping your class in order. Organization Teacher Tips How to Organize a Sunday School Closet

The easiest tutorial for how to make a fabric bookmark with fabric scraps. Great beginner sewing project that uses up fabric leftovers.

With budget cuts this year came some rearranging of elementary art teachers in our district to cover all 12 elementary schools. Along with my "home" school I returned to an old favorite and added a new to me school. The new school had a simple art room with really good art tables. When I walked into it this summer I saw a very white blank slate. Look - a chalkboard! Oh goodie - how old school. Here are the after shots - My Mona Wall Above each table is an artist with their work. I refer to the tables as the color or artist. My Data Center - more things will be added like the art room mission statement A close-up of my behavior incentives & Smart Goal This shelving unit was just screaming for lots of art stuff! The sign in the middle says: The "EARTH" without "ART" is just "EH" Word Wall, drying rack, and I'm Done...Now what? This will be a spot for students to find things to do if they finish early. I hung felt up for word wall. The words are laminated and have velcro on back making it easy to put up and down. Added a bit of color and art element posters to front of room.

Inside you'll find an easy step-by-step Van Gogh for Kids project. Learn How to Draw a Wheat Field Tutorial. Download yours for free.

Children collect small things from their homes to make a collage inside a recycled cereal box.

Kids of all ages will love making this self portrait Andy Warhol art created with markers. It is an art lesson for children that is inexpensive and easy to do.

Super easy paper bird finger puppets. These can be made from recycled paper. A simple origami project for kids. Great doodle art project too!

We are standing on the bridge of our own paintings! Claude Monet and the Impressionists are my very favorite and I really enjoy sharing that love with my students. This project is a special one. We end up having two works of art when we are finished! After learning a bit about Monet's life we use acrylic paint to create a painting inspired by one of his Japanese Bridge paintings. Except for part of the water, students use qtips to give the painting that quick Impressionistic feel. I encourage the students to remember to paint like an Impressionist - worry about the impression of the trees, bushes, water, and flowers instead of painting details (the qtips really help with this). This took a couple class periods. During one of them, I set up a "green screen" (big piece of bulletin paper - next year I'm going to invest in green fabric!) and had the students pose as if they were on the bridge of their painting. This helped me remove the background using Keynote's Alpha tool. From there I combined the student image with a digital image of their painting. Then students touched up the bridge with paint to make it look as if they were behind the front railings of their bridge. In one of my buildings, we wrapped up this fun project by creating a tissue paper water lilly to put up with our paintings. Draw out a lilly pad on a green paper Use 8 layers of tissue & accordion fold Attach a pipe cleaner & spread out layers of flower Poke into lilly pad & twist in back It put a smile on my face listening to the reaction of the other students as they came down the hall to lunch or to the Art Room. "Oh Cool!" One 5th grader said, "Those are great - are we going to do them?" I told him - sorry that's one of my 3rd grade lessons. He responded with "That's not fair! We didn't have you for 3rd grade!" --Made my day and the aches from going up and down the ladder putting the display up so worth it!

For our very first art project of the 2012/13 school year, we learned about VINCENT VAN GOGH. He was a dutch artist who lived long ago and painted many pictures which now hang in museums all over the world. Some of his favorite subjects were sunflowers and night skies like the one above titled The Starry Night. (please excuse the glare in this photo) Our challenge was to work as a group to re-create this famous painting as a large mural. All of the kindergarten classes worked on this project during our art time. We used small strips of colored paper to repressent Van Gogh's brush strokes. Glue was applied to the back of each strip using our "handy dandy tool" (aka pointer finger). Each strip was then placed on the mural in a spot where each particular color was needed. We had to pay close attention to the direction of his brush strokes. We found that some were horizontal, vertical, diagonal and wavy. This is a close up of our finished mural. And this photo will give you an idea of just how large our mural is! It is currently hanging in the Kindergarten wing. We love it and hope you will stop by to see it for yourself! 

Give Mom this Q-tip Flower Art Mother's Day Card as a lovely surprise! Easy to make and completely unique - perfect for kids of all ages!

Kids art doesn't require expensive complicated supplies! Create spontaneous simple shape stamp collages from scrap paper and recycled bits.

Fonts play a big role in creating classroom worksheets, activities and many teachers love making their own! Here are 42 free fonts that were created by teachers and will help make your classroom activities bright, whimsical and add just the right touch.

Free Fall Activity Printbale for Preschoolers and Toddlers! Scrap Paper activities are great for fine motor skills and crea...

" Loving your blog. I'm wondering if you or your followers have any nice Confirmation Art Ideas. M" Okay, first of all this is well out of...

Now that afternoon naps are becoming fewer and shorter for Ben, I’ve had to find ways to keep him busy so I can frantically try and get stuff done while destructo-baby is asleep. Yesterday we cut out a big cardboard B, and he glued all the fabric scraps and buttons to it. He sat by...Read More

Only the best springtime DIY projects for Mom.

Support your child's positive behavior and accomplishments with this printable weekly reward chart.

I love being able to highlight some of our other teacher's work and ideas. We are blessed, at our congregation, to have very creative, ...

Teaching children basic character skills is vital to rebuilding our society. We as parents must step up and put an end the decline in manners sweeping the country. Children walking around using foul language, teens with pants so low you