This article describes an art lesson that allows students to set up and collect sphere canvases. Spheres move art away from a rectangular canvas into a dimension that requires new planning and painting. From balls to many other spherical canvases that bounce, roll, float and fly, art experiences are envisioned by students. Even if adults recognize…

Each year, the first-year high-school art students at Surry County High School in Dendron, Virginia, complete a three-dimensional project that attempts to re-create an artifact from the Old Kingdom. In this article, the author describes how the students made canopic jars from recycled 2-liter soda bottles and newspapers for this year's art…

In this article, the author presents a checklist of basic materials for two-dimensional activities that are necessary for an elementary-school art program. She also provides a few tips on how to use them.

In this article, the author discusses the different two- and three-dimensional art forms. She also describes the different media that can be used in these art forms.

In school, the author sat next to Sandor the sculptor--when he was still undiscovered. He could take a pencil and, while seemingly listening in class, completely reshape the pencil by biting it. To detail his best pieces, Sandor would highlight the dents and gnashes with colored pens. Little did Sandor realize that his early efforts would be an…

The best lesson ideas often derive from childhood recollections. When brought to class, play memories and art mementos from the teacher's childhood paint a powerful homage to children's art. A survey of a child's room in the dark, or with lights on, discloses interesting hanging sites, means of attachment and unusual items drafted for hanging, all…

The author teaches techniques to focus students on shape and value, but wanted to challenge advanced art students with an activity that would be difficult yet equally rewarding. In this article, the author describes an art project wherein students made photorealistic self-portraits using newspaper.

Printmaking has always been one of the author's favorite units to teach. The beauty of the subject is that a process exists for every grade level from kindergarten through 12, and in the lower grades, much of what is used can be inexpensive or donated discards. This article describes how fifth-grade students made polyfoam printing.

The textiles of Africa are rich with possibilities for art lessons. With their unique balance of color, pattern, symmetry and repetition, they lend themselves to exciting art lessons with cultural significance. Asante cloth--or Kente cloth, as it is commonly known--is a perfect example. These rich, colorful repeat patterns from Ghana are woven in…

Shrinky Dinks[R] are a plastic-sheet material that shrinks, hardens and thickens when heated in a traditional or toaster oven. The material was a favorite of generations, but many contemporary students and professionals in art have never had the opportunity to play with the unique media. This article discusses Shrinky Dinks and the importance of…

Rick Beck works in cast glass; his large-scale work ranges in scale from 15 inches to around 7 feet tall. His medium--glass--makes the scale of Beck's pieces very impressive. He is probably best-known for his oversized cast glass sculptures of common hardware: nuts, bolts, screws, measuring spoons, saws, eating utensils, eye hooks, wing nuts and…

Presents an art activity in which the students engrave white lines into black by scratching away the surface of a prepared ink facing to make scratchboard drawings. Discusses the different types of scratchboard, explains how students can make scratchboard themselves, and describes the process of drawing on scratchboard in detail. (CMK)

Presents a printmaking project that enables students to work with lines and shapes by having them create tile designs on Scratch-Foam Board. Explains that the shape of the combined four tiles should be a pinwheel while the design on one corner of each tile should connect forming a design within itself. (CMK)

Presents an elementary art activity that successfully teaches the process of slabbing by having students create fishbowl plaques. Explains the process step-by-step beginning with a demonstration to the students along with showing previous examples. Endorses a type of clay that fires white because the glaze colors are much more vibrant. (CMK)

Describes a lesson in which students drew their own self-portraits following three criteria: (1) use mixed media; (2) emphasize expressiveness of facial features; and (3) focus on the eyes. Asserts that students were not allowed to use an opaque projector or copy from photographs. Reports the students had difficulty drawing the planes of their…