Let us help you teach like a ninja!
We love to teach students new simple techniques for painting with watercolour. We created this Christmas art project that only uses two colours as a way to practice a technique where students remove paint from their page. This watercolour candy cane painting teaches students techniques like adding light and shadows.
[Read more…] about Sweet and Simple Two-Colour Watercolour Candy Cane Paintings
If you’re like us (and most teachers), you likely have lots of bits and pieces left over from previous projects. We often have to buy a class set of things and always have one or two left over. The good news is that we have some projects that can use some of that up and still create awesome Christmas tree projects for your art class. Have your students gift them to their families. Come check out these Christmas tree projects.
[Read more…] about Five Easy Christmas Tree Projects for Leftover Bits and Pieces
Does your school ask you to create Christmas art to decorate the halls or gymnasium during the concert season? Over the years we’ve taught at schools with all-out Christmas concerts and others that were more secular in nature. However, the artwork requests have typically been the same. Some years we create Christmas art while others are just winter. Come learn a few of the fastest Christmas art projects you can get knocked out in just a few hours from start to finish.
[Read more…] about Save Time With These Christmas Art Projects
Phew! You made it! Christmas is over, but remember how crazy and busy it was? We always get prepared one year in advance. Are we crazy? No, just thrifty. There are lots of benefits to planning out a year ahead. It means you can find lots of deals after Christmas that you can use for the classroom.
While some of these items are used for Christmas in the classroom, most can and should be used all year round.
[Read more…] about 10 Ways to Save Money in Your Classroom After Christmas
Whether you hate to teach art, love to teach art, or you’re somewhere in between, you’ve probably been in a position where you are obligated to provide artwork for a Christmas concert, winter concert or another winter event.
While December can be a very busy time, we do love the holidays. Our students are a mix of backgrounds, but the majority celebrate Christmas. In our classroom and school, we celebrate every holiday. We’re so inclusive that we literally celebrate every holiday. All students are welcome to participate as much as they like (or not at all). And while we call it a Christmas concert, it’s not always Christmas-themed.
[Read more…] about How to Make Christmas Art Projects to Give
December can be a great month. It can also be exhausting. Your schedule gets tossed aside for concert rehearsals, bad weather and overstimulation of the little darlings in your care. How do you teach when your whole schedule needs to be tossed? This is our guide to calm the chaos.
There are three whole weeks of learning that are supposed to happen in December, but it can be VERY challenging to fit it all in. Here is what we do to mitigate the chaos.
While December is the month with the most disruptions for us, these ideas can work any time of year.
[Read more…] about How to Calm the Chaos in December
There are so many amazing books that use Christmas as a theme that you could read one a day and probably not run out in your lifetime. Christmas picture books make great gifts and they can be read all year round.
Now, we recognize that not all of your students will be celebrating Christmas (and we have lots of book lists for other holidays and celebrations-see the bottom), but for your students that do, we’ve collected a list of our favourite pictures books, graphic novels and novels that bring on the Christmas spirit.
[Read more…] about Christmas Books We Love
Have you ever seen something in a store and thought, “I can make that for way less money?” Maybe. Or, have you ever thought, “Wouldn’t it just be easier for me to buy it instead of making it?” That’s how we’ve usually felt looking for wooden ornaments for Christmas.
We accidentally made these little Christmas ornaments and they turned out so cute that we knew we had to write about them so others could make their own. This project started completely by accident, but sometimes, the happiest of accidents turn out to be blessings in disguise. So, this is our path to making some wooden ornaments from recycled game pieces, but you can take a few shortcuts with our lesson below.
[Read more…] about How to Create Wooden Ornaments for Christmas
Here is a great activity your students can do that is both environmentally friendly and makes a wonderful Christmas gift. If you plan on using this as a Christmas gift from your students to their families, you’re going to want to start collecting the materials a few months in advance so that you have enough pieces.
[Read more…] about How to Make Christmas Wreaths With Recycled Materials
Here’s a little task you can give to your students to make an environmentally friendly Christmas tree ornament. Using recycled paper products is good for the environment, especially if parents keep the ornaments that are created for generations. It’s especially great if you have lots of extra paper lying around. Rescue it from the recycling bin and use it to make the holidays a little brighter.
This is a great task to put into your makerspace for the month of December, but you can make these any time of year if your paper isn’t seasonal.
[Read more…] about How to Create Recycled Paper Ornaments
Do you have a bunch of wine corks lying around? Don’t worry; we’re not judging. Well, they can make great ornaments with a little paint and detail. Recycling materials to make Christmas ornaments is a great way to use materials destined for the landfill in a way that won’t just become a piece of garbage because the family will treasure the ornament for years. We created these little recycled cork ornaments that families love.
These recycled cork ornaments make great Christmas gifts for your students’ families. Wrap them up with some tissue paper and make a card that students can take home with them before the break.
[Read more…] about How to Make Recycled Cork Ornaments for Christmas
Are you looking for a quick and not-too-messy project for any age? Well, look no further than fingerprint art.
Using a little paint, construction paper and markers, your students can transform their fingerprints into different art projects with lots of engagement and very little time or clean up.
Even though this post focuses on using fingerprint art for Christmas, there are lots of ways you can use this type of art.
[Read more…] about How to Create Fingerprint Art Projects
