Category Archives: Art Explorations
Monet’s Water Lilies
Of all paintings, ones from the Impressionist movement are my favorite. Their softness and serenity make me feel instantly peaceful. We recently looked at several Impressionist paintings and gave special focus to two of my favorites: Monet and Renoir. My … Continue reading
Green Pepper Shamrock Stamping
Getting excited for St. Patrick’s day around here! The kids and I {yeah, me too – I couldn’t stay away from the paints for this cool project} made these very cool shamrocks using green peppers as our stamps. I made … Continue reading
Cityscape Art
As part of our art studies I like to teach the kids about the different kinds of pieces that artists make – still life, portraits, landscapes – you get the idea. One that seems to be often overlooked is the … Continue reading
Thumbprint Autobiography
Pinterest is a new love of mine. Check out this cool art project I just pinned: Source: google.com via Karen on Pinterest It’s a thumprint self-portraint! Brilliant, eh? If you like this project, come check out my homeschooling board on … Continue reading
Muslim Mosaics or Cool Random Art Project…You Pick
We originally did this art project to go along with a study of the way Muslims traditionally made mosaics. Unlike the Christian mosaics which included people and landscapes, Muslim artwork focused on geometry of shapes and patterns. People were not … Continue reading
Planet Ornaments
Every year my kids and I make ornaments. They love making the glass ball ornaments that you swish paint and rubbing alcohol into for a marbled look. This year they got the brilliant plan in their noggins to create the … Continue reading
Art Exploration: Texture
Today we did an exploration on texture, and it all started with a brainstorm. We brainstormed every texture word we could think of: rough, smooth, slimy, scaly, sharp, bumpy, sticky, and on and on and on. We wrote each of … Continue reading
Origami Bats
1. Fold an 8 by 8 inch square of black paper in half on the diagonal.2. Fold down the top 2 inches of the triangle.3. Fold each side flap in along the inside lines you see here, and then back … Continue reading
Illuminations
We’ve spent a good deal of time studying the monks who kept literacy and learning alive during the Middle Ages lately. Looking at some of their original manuscripts is amazing. They aren’t just writing; they are works of art — … Continue reading
Fingerprint Season Trees
I’ve got a lil’ pre-schooler this year who’s always aching to get in on the school action with us. She’ll sit there for hours listening in on what we’re learning about and doing little workbooks, but she REALLY loves it … Continue reading
Chinese Paper Cutting
Almost since they invented paper the Chinese have been making beautiful designs by intricately cutting paper. It takes years and years of practice to make something as beautiful as these, but you can make a simple paper cutting craft. Follow … Continue reading
Roman Mosaics
Every civilization had it’s own art forms and for the Romans it was mosaics. They used stones, pottery and glass to make beautiful designs like this one of the Plato academy: Or this one, a purely geometric design, also known … Continue reading
Marble Painting
This is one of my kids’ favorite art projects. It’s super simple, but changes up the whole normal painting process. First, you tape a piece of paper down into a shallow cardboard box or cake pan. You can use white … Continue reading
Hatching
Hatching is an artistic technique used to create tonal effects by drawing closely spaced parallel lines. A simple landscape drawing is a good place to practice this kind of shading. Tyler, age 10, drew the outline of a house on … Continue reading
"How To Draw" Lessons
I’m no artist. Most of the art lessons I teach my kids involve art appreciation, knowledge of artists and movements, and artistic principles. Sure, we do the projects, but I’m really no master of drawing or watercolor {or anything artsy … Continue reading
Senufo Cloth Paintings
The Senufo people of West Africa’s Ivory Coast are renowned for their cloth paintings. They believe their artwork has special meaning and helps protect them in their daily lives. Design motifs usually include birds, snakes, fish, frogs, crocodiles, and … Continue reading
Impasto Painting
Vincent Van Gogh was not well-known during his lifetime, but today he is one of the most famous painters of all time. He only lived to be 37 years old and only sold one painting during his career. During his … Continue reading
Stained Glass, Sort Of
The art of stained glass goes back to ancient times. The Egyptians and the Romans made objects of colored glass, and it was a trademark of early Christian churches. Over the years it has most often been used as decorative … Continue reading
Sun Catcher Craft
Making sun catchers is a completely useless and pointless exercise in Mom doing the craft for the kids. You have to cut out the frame for them, help with the design, grate the colored wax and help them arrange it, use the iron for them, and then help … Continue reading
Penguin Craft
My kids and I read a book on penguins and then made this craft. You need paper, crayons, pens, or paints, glitter, googly eyes, colored construction paper, scissors, pencils, and glue. The glitter and the paints are optional, depending on … Continue reading
Swan Craft
Make a swan from a paper plate and paper. First fold the paper plate in half. Then cut hand prints out of white paper. Staple the hand prints to the back side of the paper plate to make a tail. … Continue reading
Ojo de Dios
Ojo de Dios (oh-ho-day-DEE-ohs) is Spanish for “Eye of God.” When the early Spaniards came to Mexico they encountered the Huichol (wet-chol) people who lived in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. The Sierra Madre mountains are the large mountain … Continue reading
Winter Drawing
Kathy Barbro is an art teacher who blogs at Art Projects For Kids. There are a number of blogs I read pretty sporadically, but I read every one of her posts and am constantly astounded by her fun ideas and … Continue reading
Christmas Art
Look for great art revolving around a Christmas or winter theme. Here are some to start with: A Christmas Party by George Henry Durrie Christmas by Grigory Gagarin Christmas Night: The Blessing of the Oxen by Paul Gauguin Santa by … Continue reading
Grecian Urns
John Keats’ sketch of the Grecian Urn hewrote about in his famous “Ode ona Grecian Urn.” The ancient Greeks are a fascinating people to study because they were so advanced for their time. They had fully functioning cities with far … Continue reading
Fresco Painting
Fresco by Giotto Fresco painting is the technique of painting on to wet plaster. The word fresco means fresh, because the painting is being done on fresh plaster. The paint then literally becomes part of the wall as the plaster … Continue reading
Celebrate Fall!
Celebrate Fall with some fun kid crafts! Try on acorn necklaces for size. You’ll need:acorns and their ‘hats’yarnwhite outfine line sharpie Let the kids each select an acorn and a ‘hat’. Draw on a face using white out and a fine … Continue reading
Murals
Murals are a terrific way to keep track of what you’re learning within a unit study. They are a visual reminder of various topics that you read about, learn of, or do projects on. Sometimes kids just need a change … Continue reading
Pictographs and Petroglyphs
Cave Painting, pictographs, and petroglyphs are the art of many early civilizations. When tackling Art History or Art Appreciation it’s good to start at the beginning and this is it both in terms of time and sophistication. Paintings were done … Continue reading
Monet’s Water Lilies
This week I’ve been inviting a bunch of neighborhood kids over to our place to join in my kids’ art lessons. The kids all pile into the house for painting, pasting, drawing, and all things artsy. Today we learned about … Continue reading
Wordless Wednesday: Rainy Day Drip Art
Click Here to Enter to Win Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America by Eric Jay Dolin. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Google+ Pin this! Tweet about it … Continue reading
Impressionist Movement
Impressionism, begun in the late 1800′s, was a reaction to photography. No longer did people desire portraits, always a big money maker for artists back in the day. No longer was realism a big deal when a photo was the ultimate in … Continue reading
Matisse Cut-Outs
Henri Matisse was a French artist who was a great painter, but as he got older and older he couldn’t paint anymore. He was in a wheelchair and felt really restricted, but he still really wanted to create! He started … Continue reading
Line Sampler
Art for kids is often just thought of as crafts or simple art projects. While those are tons of fun, there is more to art than just that. Even little ones can learn about famous artists, works, and styles. They … Continue reading
Cool Plant Art
I love this idea for plant art. Kathy is an art teacher who posts lots of neat art ideas on her blog. This is one of her latest. It would go perfectly with the plant, garden, and native habitat studies … Continue reading
Rubber Cement Batik
Batik is a technique where paint is blocked out in certain areas. Rubber cement is a perfect tool for demonstrating this technique. Here’s what you’ll need: Water color paints paint brushes water paper rubber cement First, paint a simple shape … Continue reading
Painting with Pointillism
This well-known work of art by French painter Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859-1891) is one you’ve probably seen before, but did you know that it was painted with a special technique called pointillism? A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte … Continue reading
Wax Resist Art
Artists often use “tricks” to make their work look unique or take on unusual properties. Let kids try out this cool wax resist technique. It incorporates art skills that even young children have, but creates a really unique look. Materials: … Continue reading
Take an Architectural Tour
One of the best places to find beautiful architectural details is in your government buildings! Recently we took a tour of our Washington State Capitol building. If you know what to look for, you’ll be able to spot many architectural … Continue reading
Photography Intro For Kids
Early photography was bulky, cumbersome, difficult, and expensive. People who invested in it and became good at it made money doing it. They opened photo studios in many towns and did portraits. Most photography was done indoors becasue of the … Continue reading
Patriotic Music For America
Patriotism, a love of country, is an important feeling to nurture in your children. If we love our country we will work to make it a better place. We will acknowledge the mistakes and national sins of the past and … Continue reading
Spiral String Art
Create beautiful spiral string art by cutting out any simple shape that has points. You can use a snowflake, a flower, or a sun pattern. Click here for the printable sun pattern I used. Cut out the pattern on thick … Continue reading
Stained Glass–Functional Art
Have you ever been inside an old church or cathedral? Chances are, you’ve seen beautiful works of art–in the windows! Stained glass is made through a careful process of adding metallic salts to color glass. Pieces of the colored glass … Continue reading
Picasso’s One Color Paintings
Pablo Picasso was one of the most famous painters of the 1900′s. He is most famous for his cubism, but before he painted in that style he went through his “blue period.” He focused on painting images that were lonely … Continue reading
Drip Paintings
In our art studies we’ve been looking at Paul Jackson Pollock’s work. He was an American painter who believed very strictly in abstract expressionist art. He believed art was about movement and more about the creating of it than the … Continue reading
Art Appreciation
You can use inexpensive art postcards to teach art appreciation, like these from Dover Publishers. Art appreciation is more than just looking at art. To appreciate art, you need to understand what you are looking at, but the first step … Continue reading
Art . . . El Greco Style
Domenikos Theotokopoulos was an artist known as El Greco. He was born on the Greek island of Crete, but settled down as an artist and architect in Spain, where he adopted the nickname El Greco (or “the Greek”). Here is … Continue reading
Leaf Prints
This is a simple fall art project, but one kids absolutely love. You’ll need to gather a few things: assorted leaves tempera paints and brushes paper water bowl magazine pictures or artwork that displays warm and cool color effects (sunsets, … Continue reading
Painting Rocks
This project is purely for fun. Find some rocks. Let the kids paint them! That’s it. They can keep their rocks on their bedroom shelf or use it as a door stop. Or put them out in the garden as … Continue reading
Aquarium Art
You need: White drawing paper (slightly smaller than the construction paper) Plastic wrap 1/2″ x 12″ strip of black construction paper Two 1/2″ by 10″ strips of black construction paper Blue tempera paint and brushes Construction paper Water Tape Crayons … Continue reading
Michelangelo’s Ceiling
This simple art lesson teaches about Michelangelo, one of the greatest Renaissance painters. He was a trained fresco painter, sculptor, poet, engineer, and architect. He was an archetypal Renaissance man, highly educated and versatile. His painting of the Sistine Chapel … Continue reading
Teaching Art
When I teach the arts I have a few goals in mind: 1. Expose kids to great art and music, learning about the artists and musicians along the way. 2. Teach them the principles real artists use (line, shape, unity, … Continue reading
Munch’s "The Scream"
In this art project kids get to reproduce their own version of Edvard Munch’s famous painting, “The Scream.” The best place to start is by looking at his painting and talking about what kids see. They may notice the orange … Continue reading
