The most important thing to keep in mind when planning to meet the needs of students is that they are all unique individuals with unique needs. The diversity in human beings is beautiful. It is worth celebrating. Unfortunately, I don’t think teachers get enough training in teacher prep programs or
Scribble monsters are a favorite in my adapted art class! If you follow me on Instagram you probably know that I am absolutely head over heels in love with teaching adapted art! I love teaching and creating lessons that meet the individual needs of my students in order to provide them with their own authentic, enrichin
When teaching a group of students with special needs it can be challenging to know how to structure your class to meet everyone’s...
Including art therapy in the classroom can help students with self-expression, emotional regulation, and confidence. Here's how to do it.
Since I began my teaching career, I have always worked with students of all different learning styles, and learning speeds. I have worked ...
Most kids with autism have not been exposed to quality art education experiences. Projects may have been adapted for them in ways that were...
Here is an art lesson for autistic students that I taught as an art sub.
There’s a reason children are encouraged to draw and paint at a young age. One of the most important reasons for this is to develop the critical motor skills.
We have been in school for almost a month. (I can't believe it either!) So far, this is the BEST year yet! My kids love art and I love teaching through the arts. I am always on the look-out for amazing art resources to use with my kiddos, but they are hard to come by. This summer, I found an incredible resource that was created by Whimsy Workshop. She does ALL of the work for you! There are background information sheets for each type of art that she includes. There are 3 art projects for each country, and each project has step-by-step directions with pictures! Not only are we learning about cultures from around the world and geography, we are also creating lots of art and learning about different techniques. Here are some of the projects we have completed already this year. Surfers from Australia Boomerrangs Chinese Dragons Chinese Flower Blossom Fans (before we folded them) Koi Fish Pretty amazing, huh?! The techniques that Whimsy Workshop shows, are easy enough for kids of all ages and abilities to be successful! My kids are so proud of their work! Check out her product, Art Around the World.
Since I began my teaching career, I have always worked with students of all different learning styles, and learning speeds. I have worked with students who have a wide range of diagnoses, Autism, LD, Emotional Behavioral, Learning Support, and Multiple Disabilities. I must say that working with my special needs students are among the best experiences of my teaching career. Some of my students are very limited in what they can do, yet, in my classroom its as if the possibilities are endless, they can accomplish anything they put their minds to! My philosophy when it comes to special needs in art education is simply this: it is about the process, not the product. As artist's we all have this picture of what something will look like in our heads before we actually get started. With some of my special needs students, they are there for the experience of making art, not necessairily for what the outcome is. After they go through the process of making the art, working on fine motor skills, they are able to see the product, and they get so excited to see what they were able to create. In my art ed experience, I have never seen a curriculum specifically designed for my special needs students, so I have begun to develop one. It is always a work in progress, constantly being added to, as I am always experiencing students with different needs and abilities. Here are a few of my more successful project outcomes: I tend to break my lesson Ideas into different units, ex: squares, circles, triangles, fall, process, specific colors, etc. First up is circles. We practice the 'round and round' motion that our arm or wrist makes when we are creating a circle. We create lots of different types of circles using lots of different media. This project involves gluing pre-cut circles to a 12x12 piece of paper. Students then use a toilet paper roll and black paint to stamp black circles on the colored pre-cut circles. lastly we use dot markers to add a little something else to our project. For this project we look at Kandinsky's circle painting and we use a 12x18 piece of white paper and divide it into 6 sections. we work on folding skills to divide our paper. We then use three different colors of paint to create concentric circles in each of the 6 spaces. Lastly we cut (depending on the level of ability of the student) and glue them to a larger piece of colored paper. Some of our other circle projects include using different materials to create that 'round and round' morion, like chalk, marker and paint. We learn about oil pastel resist when it comes to watercolor and other water paints. Next up: Squares. We look at the work of Mondrian and glue pre-cut red, yellow, and blue squares and rectangles to a piece of 12x18 paper. We use a piece of cardboard to create vertical and horizontal stamped lines using black tempera paint. Another project we work on is laying painters tape on a piece of 12x18 paper in a grid pattern. Then we use different colors of paint to add color to the remaining spaces. I also use this project as a color mixing project to teach primary and secondary colors. The project with the yellow T's is actually a cube pattern that we use to make a 3D cube when its done. We begin by choosing a colored piece of 12x18 construction paper. I pre-cut the first letter of each students first name. Students trace a pre-made template of a cube onto their paper. Then they tape their letters into each of the 6 spaces created by the template. I place their paper into a copy paper box top, and students choose several different paint colors. We add paint in a few places on their paper and drop in a few marbles. Students pick up their box top and roll the marbles around through the paint. When it dries, we remove the taped down letters. cut out the template, fold it, and tape it together to create the cube. Next up: Triangles. We complete several tape resist paintings practicing laying the tape down in a triangle pattern. We use paint for one and dot markers for the other. We complete an analogous color scheme process painting, and then use our scissor skills to cut it into triangles. We then create a mosaic on black paper. This one is a multi step project. We use tissue paper and modpodge to fill different sized square and rectangle papers. We use a light blue piece of 18x24 piece of construction paper and paint a snowy scene. Students use bundled qtips to make the snow in the sky. Lastly we cut triangles out of the tissue paper squares and rectangles, and add them to the paper. Our Fall projects include print making, stamping, leaf rubbing with crayons, painting, gluing and resists. Our process art is constantly changing and these are usually the most successful. We focus on particular colors and create various projects using a monochromatice scheme. Marble paintings (which we did around valentines day so we used a heart theme) Apple prints, torn paper collages and tissue paper collages. I try to hang up most of their art by their classroom so that they can see it when they go to and from different places in the building, but I also include their work in with the rest of the student body around the building.
Here are fun ideas for summer activities for children with significant multiple disabilities and visual impairment, including sensory trays, art activities, books, music, and toys. Ideas to Engage Students with […]
Identify Skills:Assess what foundational skills kids may have. Many kids may have been overlooked when other children were learning...
*NEW artwork added 3/24/20* Scroll to the end to view! MIXED MEDIA BRIDGES INSPIRED BY CLAUDE MONET! Students learned about the artist Claude Monet and watched a video on his life and artwor…
Since I began my teaching career, I have always worked with students of all different learning styles, and learning speeds. I have worked ...
Art Ideas for Artists with Limited Hand Mobility Even though an individual may have severe limitations in using their hands they...
Let’s talk about creating and using tactile schedules in the classroom. If you have a Teacher of the Visually Impaired that works with you, they may provide you with a kit or schedule pieces from the library of the blind. Here is a link to my local library. Check with your state and see if you […]
Kids can make these easy crafts by themselves. These crafts work great for kids with special needs, preschool, toddler, and even kindergarten and first grade students. Kids can do these by themselves. #kidscrafts
A tutorital on how to make this beautiful pinecone succulent display for your next classroom art project, student business or holiday gift!
5 Ways to Help Students With Special Needs Feel Successful in the Art Room % %
For some students with more significant disabilities finding ways to adapt and include them in an art experience can be discouraging and...
Geometric Robots Elements of Design: Color, Shape Art Lesson completed by students with Autism and special needs A focus on gross and fine motor skills Students had such a great time creating their very own robots, even giving them names afterwards!
Looking for some super cool and unique art projects for kids? Here’s 30 art techniques your kids are sure to go crazy for! You’ll find art activities using all kinds of fun materials like sandpaper, Sharpies, plastic bottle caps and more. Follow our Art for Kids Pinterest board for even more ideas! My kids absolutely …
Since I began my teaching career, I have always worked with students of all different learning styles, and learning speeds. I have worked ...
On this page are teacher ideas for working with students with special needs. Our special needs kids do really well with clay. Depending on their level, some just come in and pound on it. Their aids help them to build projects. Some can't build, but can paint on glazes. For some, just being with regular kids and acting appropriately is the goal, so what they do is secondary to being there.
Here are some great art materials for your special needs child to experiment with. Since you may not be an artist you may not even know...
Do's, Don'ts and Ideas Art is for Everyone Art class for students with special needs can be both extremely challenging and wonderfully rewarding. It’s challenging when you have students that put everything in their mouth, enjoy art class only for the sensory input of the art materials, have fine motor challenges, throw supplies and so
5 Project Techniques to Use in Your Adapted Art Class Differentiation % %
On this page are teacher ideas for working with students with special needs. Our special needs kids do really well with clay. Depending on their level, some just come in and pound on it. Their aids help them to build projects. Some can't build, but can paint on glazes. For some, just being with regular kids and acting appropriately is the goal, so what they do is secondary to being there.
Do you have paint eaters/drinkers/slurpers in your autism classroom? I do. But I have 3 tips to help you paint without fear!
The Dallas Museum of Art has a wonderful Monet Painting in a beautiful gold frame which inspired me to create this lesson for our Big Art Day which is fast approaching in Texas schools. For our Big Art day this year I have a Theme....Circle Art! Themes are the way to go when organizing events. I love this new lesson that was inspired by one of my favorite artists, and two favorite bloggers: Painted Paper and Cassie Stephen's who also use themes. I ordered the 10 inch cardboard circle rounds for this lesson, the same size Cassie used in her Dot Day Art. School Specialty has various sizes. The kids loved painting on this canvas instead of paper. We read about Monet's garden and look at prints of his masterpieces. I even show them some of my pictures that I took when I visited his garden in France. On day one, we painted the pond and the water lily pond on a 10 inch cardboard circle on the white side with Prang tempera paint. We also made some Painted Paper for the water lilies Have you check out the Monet lesson over at Painted Paper? On Day two we read another sweet Monet book that emphasized his love of nature and the reflection of light. We also added a shiny frame with Metallic Playcolor sticks similar to the beautiful DMA Painting. Lovely!! The children created the water lily's from the green paper using oil pastels. No tracers here! The flowers from painted scrap paper with tissue centers. Some had a really hard time with the cutting, but we did it! I know Monet would be so proud of their work! I can't wait to hang them up for our Big Art Day Open House next month! Now on display!
Providing a successful inclusive art experience is about assessing, simplifying, and adapting to each child’s abilities. This can be...
Art therapy has so many amazing benefits for autistic children (and adults!). Check out the benefits and some ways to incorporate this into your daily life! #autismawareness #autismparenting
This article will give you helpful tips and tricks on teaching music for special education classes in your elementary school.
Adapting art lessons for kids with disabilities can be difficult in day to day busy classrooms. It can be challenging and...
Are you looking to gain more confidence in teaching adapted art? I'm here to help! Check out this blog to learn how to create a valuable, enriching and powerful adapted art program!
So way back when I first started teaching (cough cough, 15 years ago back in 2008, there was no Pinterest, no Instagram and very few blogs to gather lesson ideas. We all know the early years of teaching is rough, but when you have very limited access to other art teachers to share ideas with, and have to create everyth
Three Ways Creating Abstract Art Can Help your Special Needs ChildSometimes people think that if their child can’t draw or create...
If you're a kid with behavioral, mental, or physical disabilities, sometimes craft time can be a hard time, but we're here to turn that around. This list of 45+ Crafts for Kids with Special Needs is the ideal guide to making craft time fun for kids of all ages and developmental levels. Whether you're two or twenty, a beginner or expert, this collection has the perfect project for you to work on your skills and is aimed at children who may need help in the areas of development and behavior. These easy crafts for kids take little to no time to put together, cutting down on boredom. These wonderful crafts for kids with special needs are sorted by skill set so that you can skip directly to the skill you're working on. You're guaranteed to keep them entertained for hours as these projects aren't only educational but also a blast. Whether you want to work on your fine motor skills by making your next masterpiece with paint or putting on a theater show with marker cap puppets or engage your senses with scented playdough or sticky sticks, there is no shortage of activities. If you love what you're reading, let us know by subscribing to our newsletter: Crafty Kid Creations Get started by following along with our How to Make Playdough video below, a fantastic sensory activity for kids with special needs.
Including art therapy in the classroom can help students with self-expression, emotional regulation, and confidence. Here's how to do it.
Do's, Don'ts and Ideas Art is for Everyone Art class for students with special needs can be both extremely challenging and wonderfully rewarding. It’s challenging when you have students that put everything in their mouth, enjoy art class only for the sensory input of the art materials, have fine motor challenges, throw supplies and so
Scribble monsters are a favorite in my adapted art class! If you follow me on Instagram you probably know that I am absolutely head over heels in love with teaching adapted art! I love teaching and creating lessons that meet the individual needs of my students in order to provide them with their own authentic, enrichin
Do's, Don'ts and Ideas Art is for Everyone Art class for students with special needs can be both extremely challenging and wonderfully rewarding. It’s challenging when you have students that put everything in their mouth, enjoy art class only for the sensory input of the art materials, have fine motor challenges, throw supplies and so
Scribble monsters are a favorite in my adapted art class! If you follow me on Instagram you probably know that I am absolutely head over heels in love with teaching adapted art! I love teaching and creating lessons that meet the individual needs of my students in order to provide them with their own authentic, enrichin
Find a way to introduce a sensory element.Some kids get excited to use tactile, sensory items. They may like working with their...
If you are teaching a group of students with disabilities the challenge is to provide a quality art experience adapted to each individuals...
