This week we are working on an abstract art project using names. Students have the option of using their first, last, or nick names, or those for someone else. Here are some examples of how the pro…
Dive into 50 engaging 6th-grade art projects to inspire creativity and teach vital art skills in middle school students.
Neurographic Art has been a hit the past couple of years in middle school art rooms across the country! This mindful, intentional mark-making drawing method provides students with lots of freedom, …
We found the best middle school art projects online! Whether you are an art teacher teaching middle school students or have kids in middle school that you
Neurographic Art has been a hit the past couple of years in middle school art rooms across the country! This mindful, intentional mark-making drawing method provides students with lots of freedom, …
Inside every kid lies the heart of an artist.
Well this is another great pinterest finds and also a spin on one point perspective. We did the drawing in pencil. Then outline in sharpie. It keep my 5th graders guessing what it was going to be until we painted all blue. Some of the figured it out. Then we draw sea life and colored that in with color pencil and glued them on. It was something different then the city. Well like I said I found this on pinterest, but here is the link from where it really came from. http://www.onceuponanartroom.com/ Thanks so much Chani for the great project
Fifth Grade students studied gesture drawings and the sculptures of George Segal. Students then created their own gesture sculptures showing...
Hey, friends! I'm coming to you today with my very favorite fiber arts projects! Teaching fiber arts is one of my very favorite things to teach, along with clay. This summer and fall, I put in HOURS creating THIS BOOK which will be due out this coming summer: You can preorder yourself a copy here if you are interested! But if you just can't wait, I thought I'd share some of my very favorite fibers projects right here today. Be sure and follow the links to the lessons as nearly all of them have how-to videos that are perfect for you and your students. Let's start with sewing! 1. These GIANT pizza pillows were such a hit last year with my students that I knew I had to do it again. Because I was wrapping my fibers book this past fall, I decided to kick off the school year with fibers. Usually, I'm all about fiber projects in the spring. This is how we displayed the pillows at last year's art show! This year, we also made both emoji and donut pillows (size: HUGE) but for details on those, you'll have to scoop up my book. 2. If you are looking for a beginner sewing project on a smaller scale, you might wanna try these stitched monsters on for size. My kids used Smart Fab fabric for the bodies but felt would work just fine. If you are curious what types of needles and thread I recommend, be sure and check out this blog post as well as the others where I break it down for you. 3. I learned embroidery from my grandma when I was in elementary school and I LOVED it. It felt so good to learn something so "adult" in my mind: creating a picture with needle and thread. I love sharing this experience with my students now too. You can read all about this Our School Has Heart fiber art's experience right here. This year, I decided to live dangerously and introduce embroidery to my second graders at the start of the school year...when they are still first graders, really. It was a bumpy start but they got it and loved it. This lesson can be found in my book but I did create this video a while back to help you troubleshoot stitching with kids: Actually, the above video was created for AOE during one of their online conferences! This is a couple years old but does walk you thru a lot of important details of all things fiber arts and kids. And here is my troubleshooting embroidery with kiddos video. I hope you find them helpful! 4. For even MORE details on sewing and embroidery, along with a book I strongly recommend, visit here! 5. Needle felting with kiddos is not something I do very often...but I do enjoy doing it! If you attempt needle felting with children, I'd make certain it's with a group of kids that understand the dangers of the needle felting tool and are responsible enough to handle it. As y'all know, I LOVE needle felting and have put in countless hours stabbing stuff. If you are interested in learning more about needle felting, start here. 6. One of the most popular lessons on this blog has been my string art lesson. This is based on a project I did in 5th grade and LOVED. My students have loved it just as much. I've created videos to walk you and your kids through this lesson so be sure and check out this blog post AND this blog post! 7. Paper weaving is a must when you introduce weaving to your students. But what to do with the paper weaving when finished? Last year, we made these woven owls and the kids loved them! Both this blog post and the one mentioned above have A TON of videos on teaching first graders (and up!) how to make a paper loom and weave. 8. Circle Loom Weaving has always been a huge hit! I normally do with my second graders in the spring but this year, I did it with third grade in the fall. I can't tell you how many videos I have on this! Be sure and check this blog post out if you have any questions about getting started. 9. Have you ever tried CD or Embroidery Hoop weaving? So fun and easy! Last year, my second graders tackled CD weaving instead of plate weaving. It was a great way to upcycle those stacks of CD's I'd been accumulating. This type of weaving takes less time than plate weaving as you don't have to spend two art classes painting the plates. They also look super pretty in the window when light hits the CD. Video and lesson details here! 10. Whenever I get stumped for a lesson, I just think back to the things I enjoyed creating as a kid. I remember the summer I spent at a vacation bible school learning straw weaving. So fun! My kids love this one too. Details and video here! 11. Want a lesson that packs a huge punch? Tree weaving teaches landscape painting, weaving and so much more! This lesson of mine has been another huge hit on my blog. I have many videos to walk you and your kids through this fun technique. You can find it here. 12. I have yet to meet a kid who didn't love making Ojos de Dios. Why not try expanding on that love by making BIG God's eyes?! We did that here! 13. Pouch Weaving used to be one of my all time favorite things to teach. Because it is complex, I created an entire series of weaving videos for you and your students, including how to create that cool cord. You can find the beginning of the series here. 14. Got yarn? Then you and your kiddos can yarn bomb! What a great activity for your early finishers too. 15. Shibori! I love shibori dying and so do my students. I created a video that explains EVERY one of these folding techniques and you can see it here. So, truth be told: I've been blogging for seven years and teaching for twenty. I KNOW I've left some great lesson links and videos off this list accidentally. So, you are wanting more, give my name and whatever type of fiber project you are interested in a google search...or search in the bar on the side of this blog. Because there are just so many fun fibers lessons out there. AND stay tuned for my book where there are even more!
These close-up oil pastel drawings were inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe and the way she focuses on the details of an object. 8th grader...
This is a very cool resist effect which I thought was suitable for Halloween art. If you don't celebrate Halloween in your school and/or country, pumpkins or leaves would be a nice Autumn theme alternative. This project is a take on 'tempera batik', but instead of a layer of thick tempera paint, this is a simpler version using oil pastels. I will warn you- this *can* be a tricky process and results vary according to different materials, brands, etc. I suggest to try it out yourself first to perfect the technique before you teach it to a class. You can also see my tempera batik lesson here. Here's what you need: oil pastels basic chalk (yellow, whatever you have) black acrylic paint or India ink or black liquid watercolours heavy white paper (I used smooth cardstock) Start by drawing your Halloween (or pumpkin) image with pencil. Outline all pencil lines with a thick line of chalk. I included a border as well. The chalk lines will end up black in the end. Now colour in the image with a thick layer of oil pastels. You don't need to fill in all the white paper, but you do need to layer on the oil pastels really thick. You can also try this will wax crayons, but I felt the results weren't as bright. But it does work. Once you're finished colouring, you can wipe off some of the chalk with a slightly damp sponge. Now paint over a layer of watered down black acrylic paint or India ink over the entire image. *Important* Drying time seems to be the touchy part of this process. I used acrylic paint and let it sit just 5 minutes before I washed it off. India ink might be different. Test it first yourself. Now take it to the sink and gently sprinkle it with some warm water to soften the paint. In the class, I stand by the sink and wash each student's one at a time (I know...). It seems to work out fine as most students work at different paces, so there's never really a mad rush for the sink. It's just so easy to get this part wrong: turn the water on too hard and your paper rips, wipe too hard and the paper rips, wipe too little, etc. Ok- so let it soak a bit, then gently run a small trickle of warm water over the paper- gently 'scrub' off the paint with your fingertips. You will find that it will come off quite easily from the oil pastels part. Don't rub all of it off- leave some bits sticking here and there for the resist effect. Don't go answering the phone or something at this stage- once, I was washing these after school, and I was actually letting one soak in the sink full of water (I think I used India ink that time and it's harder to get off) and a teacher came in to talk to me, and I completely forgot about the art. The next day I came in to find a clump of dissolved paper mush in the sink. I managed to salvage a piece about 2 inches wide. I mounted it and returned it to the student with an "A+" written on the back. The student, thankfully,wasn't upset as he was super easy-going (and wasn't even close to being an 'A' student so he was actually happy!) We had a good laugh about it as a class and I told them it was a lesson for me in paying attention to the task at hand. Anyway, so once you've taken off the amount of paint that you like, let it drip dry a bit and then place it in the drying rack or a stack of newspapers to dry. The paper's wet and fragile at this stage, so be careful. Once dry, if you find too much black paint has come off in certain areas (it happens), you can always go back in with a thin brush and touch it up with more black paint. Like I said, it can be an unpredicatble process, but it's an interesting process. Here's some previous Grade 6 results: This one was made with wax crayons.
This year my school adopted a new schedule. Now, instead of seeing my classes daily for 47 minutes, each day we drop one period. In addition, each class has one weekly “long block” that is 68 minut…
Inside every kid lies the heart of an artist.
This year my school adopted a new schedule. Now, instead of seeing my classes daily for 47 minutes, each day we drop one period. In addition, each class has one weekly “long block” that is 68 minut…
After a decade of teaching high school art, I've recently moved to teaching middle school art. It's a blast and there is truly NEVER a dull moment. Through some trial and error, I've learned that some projects are more engaging than others. Below are some of my favorite middle school art projects that have yielded
My 8th graders art talents vary from amazing to down right pitiful. As a middle school art teacher, I do not grade on talent, I grade on ...
You are going to love this list of fun art projects for kids! Art is a wonderful creative outlet for kids of all ages. These easy art ideas for kids a
Neurographic Art has been a hit the past couple of years in middle school art rooms across the country! This mindful, intentional mark-making drawing method provides students with lots of freedom, …
After a decade of teaching high school art, I've recently moved to teaching middle school art. It's a blast and there is truly NEVER a dull moment. Through some trial and error, I've learned that some projects are more engaging than others. Below are some of my favorite middle school art projects that have yielded
elementary art lessons classroom management
I am very interested in cross-curricular lesson planning by bringing other subjects into the art room. During the first quarter, I chose to focus on working math vocabulary and concepts into our art projects. For the six graders' first project, we talked about radial symmetries. I chose to connect this math concept to art history by showing works from the 1960's Op Art movement. Much of the art, but not all, produced during this period utilized radial symmetry. I've noticed that students are usually very intrigued by this type of art. Work like M.C. Escher, the Magic Eye series and even Martin Handford of "Where's Waldo" fame come to mind. Click images to enlarge.
This project produced “out of this world” results! (OK, Bad pun, I know!) We began this lesson with 3 days of Galaxy Painting using watercolors. The techniques I taught the kids were loosely titled…
In their study of compositional balance 7th graders looked at the Japanese art of notan- "No" means light and "Tan" means dark. Notan is th...
After a decade of teaching high school art, I've recently moved to teaching middle school art. It's a blast and there is truly NEVER a dull moment. Through some trial and error, I've learned that some projects are more engaging than others. Below are some of my favorite middle school art projects that have yielded
Index Card a Day Project - mixed media, sketchbook drawings, art journal project - patterns and drawings created on index cards, one a day for 61 days! Challenge hosted by Daisy Yellow Art
My 6th Graders LOVED making these. So much, that they've been telling me about making them at home too! :) Here are a few links with instructions I've gathered. I varied my methods just a bit. I taught students to fold from the corner of each magazine page to get longer "rods" or strips, and instead of using glue, we used scotch tape to tape the rods together. Finally we used glossy acrylic polymer to varnish and hold them in shape. Some students altered the shape of their bowl into ovals or squares by bending them withtheir hands while they were flat coils. Other students chose certain color schemes. Here they are drying upside down by my vent... http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/magazine_bowls http://www.indiepublic.com/library/topics/946391:Topic:59641 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC47sJRHQF0
Jen Stark, Construction Paper, Art Education, Art Education Blog, Kim and Karen 2 Soul Sisters Art Education Blog, 8th grade, middle school art,
