Art is all about the process of exploration. The final results are less important than what a child imagines, experiences, and learns along the way. Packed with a year's worth of art projects kids can create out of everyday objects and recycled materials. From buttons to Bubble Wrap and rocks to socks, the author shows how to plan exciting art…

Five projects in the arts, such as drama and facepainting, provide a day's worth of class activities. Detailed instructions for each project, including materials and procedures, are given. (JL)

Describes an art lab developed as an alternative form of education for inner-city children. (GB)

Approximately 40 arts and crafts activity ideas are compiled for use by teachers of the primary and elementary grades. The materials used in these activities are inexpensive and easily found. The activities are short and not difficult for students at any grade level. Art ideas are included for Halloween, Easter, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, and St.…

The Bicentennial year is a good time to discover and introduce to your students many of the excellent art history books written especially for children. Art history can be a tool to stimulate, clarify, and enrich the curriculum for the elementary schoolchild, especially in the social studies area. (Author)

The article presents ideas for using Van Gogh's painting, "Irises," to teach elementary students about floral still lifes and the use of space, light, and other aspects of composition. It includes a poster of "Irises" along with suggestions and activities for using it to explore the elements of art. (SM)

Discusses the life and paintings of Vincent van Gogh, focusing on "The Road Meanders," and describes how to teach students through the painting (e.g., analyzing colors, discussing feelings it evokes, and writing poems that speak to the people in the painting). A copy of the painting is included. (SM)

In an eight-week project, an award-winning children's book author and illustrator helped third grade students create impressive artwork. Children worked in pairs to create collaborative drawings, and they gained confidence in their artistic abilities over time. The project developed strategies for use by classroom teachers. (SM)

Presents art projects to help elementary educators teach their students about seascapes, providing students with basic techniques for portraying texture and mood in art. After discussing seascapes and lines and showing some examples, teachers can help students create seascapes from construction paper alone or with construction paper and…

It is possible to connect art and language arts using traditional Japanese art. After explaining the Japanese art forms of Haiku poetry and sumi-e painting, the article describes a project in which students write haiku on special paper then illustrate their poems with gung and shey strokes. (SM)

Works of art can be a valuable tool for teaching reading skills, such as visual discrimination, language experience, word recognition, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and other language arts skills. Classroom activities based on art work are described. Sources of art reproductions are noted. (PP)