Summer Crafts For Campers of All Ages

Are you an art teacher who doubles as a camp counselor? If you’re running a summer art camp, here are some projects that your campers will love.

Fun crafts for elementary campers:

Koinobori – students can build and fly their own kits. Simple materials 

Shrinky Dink Pendants – design in camp. 4-6 at a time can be baked in a toaster oven – or send them home to bake as a family. You can use sharpie on take out containers for a recycled art lesson. Could use other designs as suncatchers.

Kumihumo bracelets

Campers can work on this a little at a time while sitting in the shade. All you need is cardboard and string.

Rock painting

While they can paint whatever they like, sometimes a little added direction is nice. This mandala rock demo just blows me away. This can be done with campers of any age. Several years back I did fish with kindergarten, inspired by the book only one you.

Advanced options for middle school campers:

Gyotaku - If your campers have the opportunity to fish, consider letting your campers print their fish.

Tie Dye - This video demo of 6 different methods for creating amazing designs on t-shirts. For added fun, you could have campers create and use their own natural dyes.

Not included in that video is the quick and easy bleach method. You can use the same folds and patterns. Simply replace the colored dye with bleach. My teen daughter and I did this during quarantine and it's interesting to see how the bleach alters different colored shirts. Your campers could predict what will happen with bleach for a variety of colors.

Magazine bowls – A great way to promote recycling and/or upcycling with your campers

Coiled vessels - Campers can make small containers for holding tiny treasures

Spring Art Lessons Your Students Will Love

The days are slowly getting a bit longer and that can mean only one thing. Spring is just around the corner. Was it just a few weeks ago I was shoveling out from under 35" of snow? While spring in the northeast can be very unpredictable, I'm choosing to believe that warmer days are heading our way. The following lessons are getting me in that spring time state of mind.

First up are these adorable drawing pages for St. Patrick's Day leprechauns that will make any leprechaun craft for kids more adorable! These drawing pages have step-by-step instructions along with lots of choices and a roll & draw game so that each leprechaun will look unique. This set also includes a writing activity for students to describe how to catch a leprechaun and what wishes they would want to be granted by the lucky leprechaun.

One of my favorite things about Expressive Monkey's Resources is that there are always so many ways to use each set. Whether you need to differentiate within one class, or want to teach a topic across a band of grades, you can easily up the level of difficulty by choosing which variation is best for your students.

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This Pysanky Egg lesson has great visual step by step directions from KinderArt. Students of all ages can complete this successfully. I love the way the bold color of the oil pastel pops off the dark paper.

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Next up we have this super fun spring landscape from Look Between the Lines. Teach students about creating depth in art through a spring landscape scene. Color and overlapping to create depth are taught and is perfect for 2nd through 6th grade. I really love that this project can be done from home with limited materials. Such a smart way to go for those of us teaching remotely this year.

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Spring is very windy in many parts of the US. What a great time to teach a lesson on making kites. This koinobori lesson is great for K-3. A simple way to include symmetry into your class. I love to pair this lesson with the book "Pattern Fish" by Trudy Harris. An optional haiku activity provides a fun interdisciplinary closure opportunity.

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What could be cuter than this? Students learn about shapes and patterns to create a cattail and dragonfly scene. This project can be created with a variety of materials and is perfect for 1st through 5th grade. 

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March is women's history month. The Drum Dream Girl is one of my favorite books for elementary students.  While scratch art is the suggested medium, students can be successful with a wide variety of supplies. 

Students will feel empowered by this true story and inspired by the brightly patterned illustrations within its pages. Original post here.

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Spring is the perfect time to incorporate nature themed lessons and to explore the outdoors. Students that are participating from home will relish in the opportunity to get out into the sunshine to gather inspiration from their own yard.

Perfect for late elementary through high school students, students are taught about mono printmaking using gelli plates, leaves, and watercolors to create unique works of art. 

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Even your youngest artists can handle this adorable painted paper stained glass lesson. 

What a fun way for students to practice color mixing, cutting and pasting. Gorgeous results every time. Pair it with your favorite Eric Carle book.

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Are your students eagerly awaiting spring break? This art lesson is inspired by the book "Action Jackson" and "Rabbityness." This two session lesson is always a crowd pleaser K-3.

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Of course spring is always a great time to dust off your favorite art history lessons. Why not introduce Van Gogh's sunny sunflowers and have students create their own vases full of flowers?

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What are your favorite spring time lessons? How are you modifying them for this unusual school year?

February Art Projects Your Students Will Love

If you're looking for a way to bring a little love into your classroom without an overt "Valentine" theme, here are some of my favorite art lessons. In elementary school, chances are students will be slipping all kinds of heart shaped drawings into their work, whether you ask for it or not.

Love bug scratch art project. Original post here.

Notan design conversation hearts. Original post here.

Valen-dine Expressionist heart weavings. Original post here.

Georgia goes 3D. Who doesn't want flowers for Valentine's Day? Original post here. 

Updated clay flower version here.

Pop art Val-Pal's. Original post here. 

Scherenschnitte. Why not extend their love for cutting paper snowflakes into February? Original post here.

While the following lessons were not originally intended to be Valentine themed, I think they would lend themselves really well. 

Paul Klee Messages of Thanks, could become messages of love. Have students use words from songs or poems. Original post here

Illustrated quotes. Again, search for positive, uplifting quotes about love and friendship. Original post here.

What's your favorite go-to lesson for February?

Winter Book Round Up

One of the things I miss most about leaving the elementary level (besides their cute faces) would be children's books. I really love a well illustrated story. So this week, I'm sharing my favorite winter themed books.

Polar Bear Night. (Or Polar Bear Morning) by Stephen Savage

You can't go wrong with either book. Last year I paired it with a fun printmaking lesson. You can read see the original post here.

Who Will See their Shadow This Year by Jerry Pallotta

This is great for groundhog's day connection, teaching shadows in art AND it covers a ton of weather illustrations. I like to pair this with my snowman shadow lesson because in Pennsylvania, it' snows through March. That lesson has been reinvented a few times, most recently with a Starry Night twist.  The first time I used the book, we did some skinny sculptures. Original post here.

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

 is an amazing book to connect your slightly older artists with the science and math of snowflake design. 3rd-5th have enjoyed this lesson with projects like my notan snowflake and the snowy winter scene with marker prints.

No Two Alike by Keith Baker

This is a fun book for students to observe differences. Let them make two birds with different details. Or two snowflakes cut from the same sized paper. Endless possibilities for your smallest aritsts.

Supertruck by Stephen Savage

I know, this is turning into a Stephen Savage fan page! But seriously. This book is great for boys, teaching basic shapes, perspective, shadows, and cityscape. So many ideas. Last year we did paper collages inspired by the book.

The Mitten by Jan Brett

This is a fun lesson to teach students about textures and patterns. If you're able to project the book in the room there are some fun hidden images on the pages. We've done scratch art and clay mittens inspired by this book.

Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman

This book pairs well with this lesson that I left for a sub. It worked really well K-5 by tweaking the instructions slightly for the different age groups. You can find that lesson here.

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner

This is fun and inspiring for a variety of projects. I've done printmaking and landscapes with a variety of grades. One of our favorite things to warm up, is a game of "snowman charades." More info on that here.

Winter Art Lesson Round Up

What a crazy year it's been. As we head into November it's time to plan those fun, seasonal lessons. While our teaching spaces may look a lot different this year, our students still deserve engaging, educational lessons that can be done in class, off a cart or in their home. The following ten lessons check those boxes and more!

SNOWFLAKE ACTIVITY

What makes snowflakes unique? How do snow crystals get their design? Students will learn the science and math behind a snowflake. Then students will use Expressive Monkey's fun drawing pages to design their own snowflake.

SNEEZY THE SNOWMAN

Combine literature and art in this seasonal snowman project by Look.Between.The.Lines. Sneezy the Snowman is used as a jumping-off point for this drawing and clay project. In addition to learning drawing and clay techniques, students learn about personalizing their artwork by adding unique details to their snowmen. These make perfect gifts for the holiday season.

BASQUIAT BEAR

In this lesson from Ms. Artastic, students use paint and oil pastels to create a winter artwork featuring a polar bear inspired by the style of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. This is a great way to learn about a contemporary artist, explore mixed media art, and create winter themed art at the same time. This resource is complete with a visual and text step-by-step, a rubric for marking, a lesson plan, a finished example, and a step-by-step drawing handout.

PERSPECTIVE PACKAGES

Capture your students' attention with this fresh take on perspective. This project is easily scaled up or down by requiring patterns on the wrapping paper and texture on the wall or floor. Lesson includes step by step directions for creating boxes in two point perspective and is suitable for 4th-7th grades. The example shown here is from a fourth grade student.

SNOWY LANDSCAPE

Teach elementary or middle school artists about creating depth in landscapes with this mixed media project. Perfect for a winter lesson, students create snowy landscapes that focus on drawing trees and creating depth through placement, size, and overlapping. This visual art lesson is a 2-3 day project and is designed for 2nd-7th grade. Guided drawing handouts and printable posters included.

A SNOWY VIEW

Teaching students at home? Chances are they can do this seasonal printmaking lesson with just one marker and a styrofoam plate. The "add a snowflake" method makes each print unique and the combined effect is dazzling. A symmetry skill builder is included and ready to load to your digital classroom.

WINTER MUG

This art lesson from Glitter Meets Glue is perfect for elementary teachers wanting to learn how to paint on a budget with markers (yes, markers!). Step-by-step picture directions are given for how to transfer the template to drawing paper and fill it in with designs. Choose between patterns on a fun roll a dice game.

PAPER POINTSETTIA

Looking for a new winter-themed art lesson for your classroom? Art With Mrs. Nguyen has a lesson for creating paper poinsettia sculptures. Great fine motor practice for your students, in class or at home.

PENGUIN MOSAIC COLLABORATION 

Teach kids about collaboration and symmetry while creating a beautiful mosaic. A Space to Create has designed this simple lesson. Just print a template, have students color and compile to make a colorful wintertime mosaic. Perfect quick art activity for any classroom.

LINE ORNAMENT

Have you been tasked to create a quick seasonal "gift" with your art class? This is a great way to accommodate that request, while checking the elements of line, shape, positive and negative space off your to-do list. Teaching students remotely? If they have access to plastic take out containers and a sharpie, they can do this lesson from home.  Includes handouts to print or post on the element of line and two symmetrical drawing activities for early finishers.

It's never too early to plan. Having the next two months mapped out in advance will make it easier to focus on your own family and self-care this holiday season. If you are the go-to person for making holiday gifts with your students in your art class, having ideas that align to your curriculum before the requests start coming your way will provide a relief from that added stress. Some of us are not seeing our students on the regular basis we are used to, and it might take a little longer to get items completed. Hopefully this list inspires you and your students this winter.