Developing kindergarten lessons can be very challenging, especially at the beginning of the school year when many students are just learning to cut paper and hold crayons. The author's favorite beginning unit of the year is "mice paintings," a practical introduction to drawing, color theory, and painting. This unit also incorporates children's…

From 1899 until his death in 1926, Claude Monet painted a series of watercolor landscapes of his water lily garden and Japanese bridge in Giverny, France. Monet eventually abandoned the banks entirely as subject matter and concentrated solely on the water. These paintings, particularly "The Water Lilies," show a surface in which the shimmering…

This study portrayed a picture of kindergarten through 3rd-grade teachers who teach visual arts, their perceptions of the value of visual arts, their visual arts teaching practices, visual arts experiences provided to young learners in school, and major factors and/or influences that affect their teaching of visual arts. The sample for this study…

"Armadillo Ray," by John Beifuss, is the tale of a young, curious armadillo who wants to know what the moon is. He is joined in his quest by snakes, prairie dogs, sage grouse, and owls. The beauty of the book is its simplicity, illustrations and landscapes, and its potential links to reading, geography, science, and mathematics. In this…

In this article, the author describes how a visit from a flock of chickens provided inspiration for the children's chicken art. The gentle clucking of the hens, the rooster crowing, and the softness of the feathers all provided rich aural, tactile, visual, and emotional experiences. The experience affirms the importance and value of direct…

This study documented the ways in which the spontaneous narratives of a focus group of young children reflected the ways in which these children constructed meaning about their world and their place in it. Participants were six kindergartners who engaged in extended episodes of imaginary, dramatic play and produced complex descriptive narratives…

Ruth Faison Shaw was an art educator who developed a nontraditional educational perspective of teaching and a different vision about children's art. As such, she is considered by some to be the initiator of finger-painting in America (The History of Art Education Timeline 1930-1939, 2002.) Shaw developed the technique of finger-painting and a…