Our art and craft printables have moved and can now be found HERE>>>
Geometric Art
Amazing things can happen with just one dot.
Hi! This is my first picrew. I hope you like it! For personal and non-commercial use only. Pfp's okay, no need to credit as long as my @ is visible :)
In 2008, I developed a self-portrait art lesson to help students express both their inner and outer selves, combining drawing, collage, and typography. I recently updated the project to include techniques like mixing skin tones, understanding facial proportions, and depicting diverse hair textures. This refreshed lesson not only enhances students' artistic skills but also encourages self-expression and identity exploration; find the full lesson plan on my website or TpT store.
Looking for fun Color Worksheets for preschool? You've found them and a bunch of fun, hands-on, play-based learning centers as well. Recognition, sorting and more.
LIVED IN BED - RECOLOR ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚ I feel like I can rarely find bed recolors that I like and in this style, so I made some! recolor of @awingedllama bedding with 20 swatches :) download (mesh included)
Looking for fun All About Me Activities for kids? Check out these 16 Hands-On All About me Learning Activities and Crafts for Preschool or Kindergarten.
The Fall Preschool Unit is packed full of hands on math & literacy activities as well as no prep worksheets for easy lesson planning.
Sweater Tees have always been popular and are in current modern winter fashion too! Yet get a neat and properly fit sweater is not easy. The tank top is designed to be an easy summer knit, and is the perfect simple project for warmer weather. The deep V neck is flattering to wear without being too revealing, […]
Name posters are an easy art project for the first day of school and also double as classroom decor!
This free printable All about Me worksheet is a fun activity for preschool and kindergarten kids. PDF template available in color and B&W
Our art and craft printables have moved and can now be found HERE>>>
Get creative with your crochet skills with these 36 free bookmark patterns. Perfect for book lovers and crafters alike!
My students had so much fun constructing giant papier mache heads. I posted earlier this year about the construction process for this project, but I wanted to follow up with this post on the final …
Free Crocheted Poppy Pattern with video tutorials (left and right handed). Help us reach our goal of 10,000 poppies to create community art projects of Remembrance to honor our Veterans. #poppyproject
How to make Dinosaur Feet from Cardboard or with this free Dinosaur Feet Printable. Make these Dinosaur feet as simple or difficult as you like.
These Katsushika Hokusai Art Projects for Kids are perfect to help us learn about the amazing Japanese artist who made great waves a thing!
Free printable shapes worksheets for teaching kids the basic shapes. Lots of fun activities to download for FREE!
Kids and adults alike will love these quick and easy leaf rubbings using a classic technique called crayon and watercolor resist.
These handprint lilies are so beautiful and surprisingly easy to make! They'd make such a thoughtful handmade gift idea for Mother's Day if you make a small bouquet and tie them together with a ribbon. Or you could make a bouquet of handprint Easter lilies if you use white paper. Can Easter lilies be pink? I think they're just white? Either way, they're adorable for spring and they're a wonderful low mess craft to make with the kids! I had such an awesome helper when I made these paper handprint lilies! My spunky 5 year old loves crafts, and she
earning how to draw a mummy head is really easy and fun. We'll show you how to draw, outline, and color your drawings with markers.
Free printable Halloween kindergarten worksheets for teaching basic math concepts this October! Counting, numbers, making patterns, and more!
Inspired by my previous post, I have created a series of 6 doodle sheets that are free to download. I have produced them at A5 size (though they could be made smaller or larger if you choose) and they can either be printed off and used as they come, or trimmed and laminated to make re-usable doodle sheets, as illustrated here. If laminated, they should be used with special dry-wipe pens to allow them to be wiped clean. I also punched a hole in the corner of each sheet and tied them together using a keyring so that I could carry them about more easily. You are free to use these however you choose (except commercially of course!) However if you do wish to use them, please consider making a small donation to help support my personal blog. You can do this by clicking on the button below, or by using the Ko-Fi widget in the sidebar. To get your doodle sheets just click on the each image to open up the full size image, then right click to download a copy. Garden-Doodle Masterpiece Doodle View Doodle Knight Doodle Undersea Doodle Space Doodle
Looking for Amigurumi Dog Crochet Patterns? There are lots of cute puppy patterns to try. There are amigurumi tips too for beginners.
Double Pinwheel & Peeping Cats Quilt Blocks. Free Pattern and Tutorial
The must-haves of the past vanished without a trace.
There are so many ways to approach self-portraits with children: observation, inspired by a particular artist, symbols of interests and activities, the list goes on. This time, I wanted to create an engaging, multi media
Free Jellyfish art tutorial for kids and adults! This stunning jelly can be recreated with a few watercolors and a bit of clear glue. This mixed media art project creates lots of interesting textures and designs that are sure to delight your students.
Upcycled t shirts are a great way to recycle your old clothing into something fabulous! Here are some great ideas and tips!
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:
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
Need some fun Fall art project ideas that are beautiful and keep the kids busy? Our creative collection of amazing leaf art projects for kids is for all ages and makes a beautiful gift or keepsake.
Make this beautiful blanket in only 7 hours! Beginner-friendly patter and video tutorial. Made with Bernat Blanket yarn.
Simple and fun Halloween papercraft in 3D. Free printable papercraft template to download for an awesome STEAM project for kids.
