This article develops an emergentist theory of children's agency. To make this claim, it first identifies the following two predicaments that scholars have faced in children's agency research: (1) social ambiguity in distinguishing children's learning from adults' guidance; and (2) causal uncertainty between children's cognitive development and…

This article describes a chemistry/art activity that originated in an National Science Foundation--funded two-week STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) academy for grade 4-6 girls. The authors recommend using this investigation in conjunction with other activities focusing on chemical change as a step toward fulfilling the…

Sepia tones range from pale neutral cream, tan, and amber all the way to deep chocolate brown; some even have dark green undertones. Sepia tones are used primarily by photographers. Photographers opt to print their photos in sepia because of the warmer, almost old-fashioned look it has. Art is considered "anthropomorphic" when an object or an…

Every year, the author's eighth-graders do some projects on color mixing and color schemes. In this article, the author gives a twist to the basic color wheel. Using rough-draft paper the same size as the paper they would eventually work on, students were to figure out a way to divide it into six spaces. They were not limited to basic rectangles,…

A traditional understanding in art is that, in order to draw the human figure, the artist must first understand its structure and inner workings. This project was first developed for middle-school art students in an attempt to help them better understand figure drawing. In subsequent years, it has been amended and adapted to integrate with other…

Inspired by a beautiful bookmark one of the author's students made for him as a gift, he began a lesson exploring the vibrant bark paintings popular all over Mexico. The majority of his students have Mexican ancestry, so exploring the arts of Mexico is always popular and well received. Amate paintings can also be a great way to introduce the…

Popular culture is a relatively new area of study in the artroom, and combining it with the demands of a rigorous curriculum requires some thought. Combining threads from several sources was the key to an exciting exploration of pattern inspired by a newspaper headline. In 2006, a landmark case was settled in Austria, which repatriated five famous…

Many painters use lines to express powerful emotions. Both Vincent van Gogh and Jean-Michel Basquiat had difficult lives filled with hardship, and died at a young age. They both used art to deal with their emotions. It seems like the stronger the feelings were in them, the faster the strokes were put down in their work. In this article,…

Romero Britto is a wonderful artist for young students to study when learning the building blocks of art and design. Colorful, linear, and full of bold patterns, Britto's work blends a contemporary cubist style and pop art commercial appeal. Themes of this contemporary artist's work include animals, flowers, still life, and people in joyful…

The author's art program includes students from kindergarten through eighth grade. In pondering the "nearly impossible," he wondered how the entire student population could work together on one art project that could be exhibited at the same time. He wanted each of his 700 students to create an original artwork that would display individual and…

A great start for the semester, this pinwheel project provides a good dose of art history, and a variety of media and techniques. It also teaches students how to clean up and store things properly. Five artists are introduced, each with a different art medium and technique. In this activity, students are expected to: (1) study works by five famous…

There's something irresistible about squeezing out lines and shapes with a bottle of glue. It's fun, yes. But, even better: it's tactile. The glue dries slightly raised on the surface, lending itself to several exciting treatments. In this article, the author describes some activities that confirm how a simple art material like glue can be…

The author is blessed with having the water pipes for the school system in her office. In this article, the author describes how the breaking of the pipes had led to a very worthwhile art experience for her students. They practiced contour and shaded drawing techniques, reviewed patterns and color theory, and used their reasoning skills--all while…

Color wheels are a traditional project for many teachers. The author has used them in art appreciation classes for many years, but one problem she found when her pre-service art education students created colored wheels was that they were boring: simple circles, with pie-shaped pieces, which students either painted or colored in. This article…

The technique of what people today call "collage" is not new. In Victorian times, elaborate art was created from bristly horsehair as a type of collage. The modern collage dates to the early 1900s when Picasso pasted newspaper on a drawing. In 1919 Karl Schwitters, a German artist, developed collage into an art form that was as important as…