Art teachers know that budget limitations are one of the obstacles that affect creativity in art class. However, teachers can now pour creative juices into their curriculum by using aluminum cans to give their high-school students a project that conceptualizes their sense of environment. This project allows students the freedom to experiment with…

Packing materials such as polystyrene take thousands of years to decompose, whereas packing peanuts made from cornstarch, which some companies are now using, can serve the same purpose, but dissolve in water. The author illustrates this point to her class one rainy day using the sculptures students made from polystyrene and with the cornstarch…

Marbling paper is a favorite in many elementary classrooms. The marbling project described in this article, using a sunset and silhouette concept, is foolproof, inexpensive, and engaging. After looking at images of incredible sunsets for inspiration, each student uses marbling paper, black construction paper, three colors of chalk, and a tub of…

Middle School students present unique challenges to visual arts teachers, who wonder how they can touch the academic, emotional, and social lives of students entering their early teen years. If lessons are to rate high with them, they must not only appeal academically to their inquisitiveness, but also to their social an emotional development as…

Since the introduction of the reality show "Project Runway" on Bravo, four seasons ago, high school corridors have been buzzing with aspiring fashion designers. Many of these student designers have "ferocious" fashion ideas as well as artistic talent and a gifted eye for design. Yet, in reality, fashion design is a non-entity in the art…

Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party," an important icon of 1970s feminist art and a milestone in twentieth century art, consists of an enormous ceremonial banquet arranged on a triangular table with a total of thirty-nine place settings, each commemorating an important woman from history. Inspired by this piece of art, the author devised a lesson for…

Glass slumping is one of those projects that gives students a feeling of success and accomplishment. Glass slumping looks difficult to produce, and it often leaves others wondering how it is created. Slumping glass can provide dramatic results. Slumping refers to glass that, when heated, softens and conforms to the shape of a mold. Elementary…

In this article, the author describes a watercolor art lesson on Audubon birds. She also discusses how science, technology, writing skills, and the elements and principles of art can be incorporated into the lesson.

Graphic art can be a tough subject approach with seventh- and eighth-graders, but by mixing a little language arts into the studio lesson, they can have fun with the art of words in a whole new way. In this article, the author describes how students created a graphic design using a word. The purpose of the graphic art is to educate--to teach an…

Blue collar doesn't have to mean drab and dull. At least, not to Troy, New York, historian Mike Esposito, who is a member of a neighborhood revitalization movement seeking to celebrate the people and events that brought diversity, prosperity, and vitality to this upstate New York community more than 100 years ago. Esposito and others invited…

As the holidays approached this year, the author was looking for something new and different from poinsettias, Christmas trees and snowy landscapes for third-graders. This is a special class who is up for new ideas and art adventures. They had not yet used the changeable markers, which are great fun for pattern and design work. This article…

When the glass artist Dale Chihuly exhibited his work at the Missouri Botanical Garden, the author took a class of fourth-grade students to view the artist's extraordinary sculptures. Just as the author predicted, the students were in awe of Chihuly's organic three-dimensional sculptures. Before taking the field trip to the Missouri Botanical…

This lesson begins with a discussion on prehistoric times and how most life forms have either become extinct or have evolved into something people see in the environment today. Most of the conversation revolves around dinosaurs or animals on the endangered species list, such as the panda or polar bear. The author directed the conversation to…

Mural painting provides an excellent opportunity for students to participate in a collaborative project. To many teachers, class mural projects seem intimidating because of organizational and logistical challenges. Many of these challenges can be mitigated, however, if there is plenty of discussion beforehand to organize ideas, get input from…

Challenging one's brain is the beginning of making great art. Tangrams are a great way to keep students thinking about their latest art project long after leaving the classroom. A tangram is a Chinese puzzle. The earliest known reference to tangrams appears in a Chinese book dated 1813, but the puzzles existed long before that date. The puzzle…