How can the spirits of critically ill children be raised? Alexis Weisel (co-president of the Monarch High School National Art Honor Society, 2010-2011) had this question in mind when she initiated and developed the Wings for Angels Project after hearing about the Believe in Tomorrow (BIT) organization through her art teacher, Ellen McMillan. The…

Simply put, a portrait party happens whenever two artists draw each other. In the classroom, portrait parties are a fun and versatile art game. They can be used to introduce students to a wide variety of artists and art skills. With practice, they are adjustable to any class period, and are appropriate for all ages. All one needs to start a…

In the first section of this article, teacher Sarah Cress discusses the over-powering reality among younger generations who have been born into the social networking domain--little difference is seen between real-world identity and online identity. She suggests it is therefore crucial that more consideration be placed when taking into account how…

Children's art work has often been the subject of study by researchers seeking to gain insight into the role of art making in children's learning and development. However, rarely are children's own explanations of their art making used to inform these studies. Children's perceptions of their own art making are important for research and practice…

Targeting students in grades K-8, Art in Action's program consists of 12 age-appropriate lessons per year led by parent and teacher volunteers. The curriculum is based on historically significant artists and their works of art. Through semi-structured discussions, students examine a variety of masterpieces, learning about the artist as well as…

There is a lot of creative energy between students and their art materials. In this lesson, the author discusses materials an artist may use to create a work of art--paint, a paintbrush, a palette, crayons, markers, pastels, and so on. Each student sketched a picture of themselves holding some tools that can be used in art. The objectives of this…

"Gateway to the Future" pairs a painting of a gateway constructed from children's building blocks with an ink drawing of a personal symbol on a collaged background. The main objective of this lesson is to create a metaphoric artwork about moving from the present through a symbolic portal to the future. So, space--foreground, middle ground, and…

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…

A powerful thing happens when one object is placed next to another: A relationship is suggested and a visual dialogue of sorts is created. Sculptors and architects are especially sensitive to the fact that harmonious relationships between elements can sometimes be more interesting than the elements themselves. Two-dimensional visual interaction…

In this article, the author describes an art project--a school-wide sticky-note show. The show was inspired by Giant Robot's annual Post-It Show in Los Angeles. The gallery invites hundreds of artists to doodle, draw, paint, and collage onto sticky notes. The individual sticky notes can be silly, ambitious, conceptual, or beautiful, but the…

Integrating art with literature and science enhances students' learning and retention. Whenever possible, the introduction of the author's art lessons include a relevant artist, such as Claude Monet. In this article, kindergartners paint a pond and learn how to make water lilies using colored tissue-paper squares. (Contains 4 resources.)

In this article, the author describes how her students constructed a three-dimensional sculpture of a dragon using plaster wrap and other materials. The dragons were formed from modest means--using only a toilet-paper tube, newsprint, tape and wire.

Kids love to build robots, letting their imaginations run wild with thoughts of what they might look like and what they could be programmed to do. Yet when students use cereal boxes and found objects to make robots, often the projects look too similar and tend to fall apart. This alternative allows students to "build" robots in a different way,…

In this article, the author describes a creative way to demystify contemporary art for students. TASK is artist Oliver Herring's creation, where participants actively interpret instructions found on little pieces of paper--what he calls "tasks." An art classroom has all the key ingredients for a TASK event: (1) people; (2) materials; (3) space;…

This article describes a garden that grows more than vegetables. The grounds of McKinley Elementary School in San Diego, California, was a neglected area for years, until recently when an organic garden was planted to revive and brighten the dreary area behind the school's bungalow classrooms. Each grade now has its own wood-bordered plot where a…