This activity features artwork by "Grandma Moses" in which children will learn the picture plane in terms of foreground, middle ground, and background. The teacher also introduces the children to Eric Carle's colorful collaged images in his books. Using the two artists' methods, children experimented and invented new techniques and colors. As the…

The focus of "Endangered Species: Real Life in Two Dimensions" is to create awareness about a critical environmental issue. There is a special urgency to this project because large numbers of animal species are currently endangered or on the brink of extinction. In addition to being enlightened about this important topic through research, students…

Nature is all around, and can be the inspiration for some excellent creations in the classroom. How can a teacher bring these rich natural elements into the art class? As the author was exploring a hiking trail, he came across a large piece of bark from an old oak tree. A strong wind began to blow through the trees, the leaves began to rustle and…

The Day of the Dead project is absolutely one of the author's favorite lessons. It's easy enough for almost any grade level--the author does it with her second-graders--yet can be detailed enough to keep eighth-graders interested. It uses a limited number of easy-to-acquire supplies, which is great for tight budgets. It can also be easily broken…

The author discovered artist Eleanor McCain's work on "Dear Ada," an art blog he follows. McCain makes brightly colored art quilts using various rectangles and squares. She creates visual "pop" by using these shapes in a variety of sizes and bright colors. There is an interesting spatial "push and pull" that happens when looking at her quilts.…

Teaching the author's fifth-grade students a lesson on clothing design was a great way to show them how art and design are part of their everyday lives. It also allowed the students to express their personalities. Clotheslines served as an effective basis for their work. She and her class began by discussing how clothes can tell them about a…

Artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) created wonderful environments inside boxes using mostly found objects. They were often Surrealistic in nature. Some boxes were designed with glass fronts, and others were meant to be interactive with the viewer, wherein the objects could be handled. With Joseph Cornell in mind, the author introduces an art…

In this article, the author discusses how she combines science lesson with a hands-on art project. She used the wonderfully creative suns shown on the Sunday edition of "The CBS Morning Show" to give the students fodder for thought. She describes how to create an assemblage. An assemblage is like a collage, but it moves past the two-dimensional…

In this article, the author discusses an art project that allows students to use clocks in creating functional artwork and replicating famous works of art. This project is a huge hit with students, parents and staff. After completing this project, students enjoyed duplicating famous artworks in a circular format, and loved turning their art into…

The term "Scribble Stage" highlights how first efforts appear in student independent work. Age does not correlate with "scribble" work as does experience; upper grade students and even adults will often approach new materials and techniques in an experimental manner as a means to become familiar with them. Everyone is a beginner at the things they…

A humid summer haze covers the River Seine and the grassy bank where young men and boys go swimming on Sunday. Everything seems so quiet, still, and very hot. They wear hats to protect them from the hot sun. The artist Georges Seurat used warm tones to give viewers the feeling of the hot sun. Seurat was trying to catch the dazzle of hot sunlight…

Artists often paint the different seasonal activities people engage in and the way the world looks as changes take place. The weather for each of the four seasons is different. Farmers plant crops and gardens in the spring and harvest their crops in the fall, just like "The Harvesters" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. To begin, children will observe…

The author personally started making narrative collaged necklaces about 10 years ago, after being inspired by an artist friend. She would take mini images from magazines and collage them together onto laminate tile samples from a hardware store. She then adds colorful brads and stickers, and then paint and oil pastel over them, finally sealing…

Students have completed their two-dimensional drawings, paintings, prints or collages, and there they are--in a neat stack on a shelf. They deserve to be shown to the students, fellow teachers, visiting parents and administrators. They need to be matted or mounted, and placed on exhibit in a corridor, hallway or special bulletin board. By matting…

Art students have different learning styles. Some are visual learners who need to see the information. Some are auditory learners who need to hear the information. Others are tactile/kinesthetic learners who need to move, do, or touch in order to learn. Looking over her curriculum and lesson plans, the author realized almost every art lesson…