Open House Ideas for the Art Teacher

Open house is a great time to make or solidify connections with your school community. If you're in a school that doesn't have a formal program or tour you may be wondering what to do in your room. Here are my top 6 ideas to maximize this event for you.

1. WISH LIST

Classroom teachers are not shy about putting together lists of everything they need for their students to be successful in their room. You don't need to be shy either. Maybe you truly love dumpster diving, but if not, I suggest hanging up a tear-tab style poster on your bulletin board or door. 

2. ARTSONIA/FUNDRAISER SIGN UP 

If you participate in Artsonia you are going to need parent permission for any new students. If you aren't using artsonia this post walks you through the many benefits I have found using this program in my school and how to get started. 

If you participate in any of the single project fundraisers or "art show" style fundraisers you will probably want to seek the help of your PTA or individual parents. Open house is a great time to capture their attention and enthusiasm. So grab a clipboard and start a volunteer sign up sheet. 

It's also great to have your artsonia site up on the projector with looping slides of student work. Another great place to do this is in your auditorium or gymnasium. It reinforces the value of art, and is a great reminder for parents who may not have signed up in previous years.

3. ART GALLERY APPLICATIONS

Parents of even the youngest students are often looking for opportunities for their children to engage in activities beyond the school day. One of the best things I did for my school was to start a student-led art gallery. Students met a few times beyond the school day (conveniently times when I already had to be in the building but was not actively participating in meetings) to help with mounting artwork, hanging displays in the hallway, photographing art for our online art gallery and leading tours as docents for the art show. Have plenty of applications on hand for this event while parents and students are in your room increases the chances of filling those positions. This resource contains all the forms needed to start your own.

Not sure you're ready for an art gallery? You could also have a sign up sheet for parent volunteers to cut paper, mount artworks on paper or hang displays in the hallway.

4. COMMUNAL COLORING

Our open house takes place the week before school starts. So my hallways are typically empty. I like to roll out some bulletin board paper and invite students to color (a little or a lot) while their parents are completing some of the above mentioned activities. You can write an inspiring quote, or outline some art supplies, whatever would go over well with your populations. Now you have art ready to hang up for the first day of school until students finish some projects to hang in the hallways. The bonus? Since these don't belong to any one student, roll them up and now you have decor ready to go for NEXT YEAR'S open house. 

Another option would be ready to go coloring pages of single objects like art supplies that students can color and then staple to the bulletin board. You could have prepared bunting pieces that spell out your school name, or welcome back.

5. BUILD YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

If you want parents to like, follow, subscribe to your art blog, instagram, etc this is the time to grab their attention. I set up a "selfie-station" and asked parents to post their favorite picture from the night and to tag the art social media account. Then make sure to like each post and you will find most parents follow you back. This is the place where you announce your art shows, art contests, request for donations and more. But it all starts by building your audience.

6. HANDOUTS

I firmly believe in teaching parents how to have productive conversations with their kids about art. This handout is a great way for parents to open the line of communication. I try to model these questions in front of parents as students are participating in free draw or coloring in the banners.

If you have a formal program or must present to groups of parents, I would suggest this drag / drop  Meet the teacher format. 

End of year approaching

When your instagram feed is full of successful art shows you know the end of year is approaching. The long weekend was a good time for me to connect with my end of year checklist. Our show is a little later than most it seems, so I'm just submitting my photocopy order for invites now.

It's also a great time to start editing my end of year note to parents. I like to have students bring a shopping bag from home to make sure their masterpieces make it home safely. I urge them to "fold" the art like a taco (not a true fold that leaves a crease down the middle) and slide it into the bag.

If they do that with me in class, I feel like it has a better chance to make it home in good condition. For my Kindergarten especially, I think it's a great idea to send a note home explaining the projects.

If you're looking for an easy way to handle end of year communication, many of these forms are part of my end of year set offered here.

Standardize Testing Art Gallery

Our school starts their standardized testing next week. As a surprise, I hung some new art after school with motivational exhibit names.



1st grade wishes you smooth sailing on the test

4th grade knows the test is a piece of cake

Kindergarten friends remind us to "Just keep swimming"

Here's the original post on how I started a student led art gallery.

How to Get Donations For Your Art Class

The past few years I had to question why I was spending so much money on my classrooms and watching students walk in with armfuls of tissues, sanitizer and wipes for their classroom. Finally dawned on me that those teachers get things...because they ASK for things. I decided to try it out for back to school night. I made a little poster and put it in the corner without mentioning it or making a big deal and you know what. Parents went over there, tore down a slip and then asked me exactly what brand and how many I wanted. LIGHTBULB moment! If you could use more...anything I have just the poster for you. Check it out.

Artist of the week

Do you have an artist of the week or other acknowledgement system? My first year at elementary the principal asked if I had awards for the end of year assembly and I said that I didn't. Well that June I felt like I missed the boat as we rolled into the 2nd day and 3rd hour of awards. Wow. Elementary. They get awards for EVERYTHING, amiright? So the following year I decided to award one student in each class an artist of the week award....(which could also be known as the "I published your stuff to artsonia this week award") They've been loving it. Some years I post their artwork in our hallway to coincide with their week which is a lot of work to rotate weekly and make sure you get each kid once, but they do genuinely appreciate it and so do their parents. It's also a great way to make sure their parents are aware of artsonia. By sending home this slip with each kid on their day, I can usually get a few more parents to allow them to participate.

Now that first projects are completed I'm ready to start our artist of the week program again and decided to up the ante with these homemade, tie-dye aprons that they can choose to wear on their day. Hoping by making this more special I can erase some of the guilt I feel when they tell me it's their birthday (clearly expecting a sticker or trinket) and I give them a high-five.

Full STEAM Ahead

This year our school is combining our annual science fair with "Math & Literacy Night" to create a new event called "STEAM Night." Students can bring in traditional science projects or artworks and teachers will host stations integrating different elements of the curriculum. Since this is the first year art has been included I am very excited to participate. I thought that pendulum painting would be a fun idea to demonstrate for the kids.

To get started you need to make a pendulum.

I recycled an empty contact solution container because I wanted to be able to quickly and easily stop the flow. I cut off the bottom and reinforced that area with duct tape. Next I drilled three equidistant holes about .5" from the bottom of the bottle. If using a plastic water bottle, a hole puncher will work. 

Next loop about 1 yard of string or twine through each hole. Connect the three lengths at the top. I used a tripod we had at home, but you could also place a broom handle across two chairs. 

Tempera paint that has been thinned two parts to one part water is added tot he container with the hold plugged. Place paper under the tripod, remove the plug and let it go.

Art Show Season

It's that crazy time of year. Would love to hear your best tips on art show preparation, display and advertising.

Advocacy

My principal sharded the arts-infused education leadership packet from Crayola with me and it is full of so much goodness I want to explode!

If you can get your hands on one I highly recommend photocopying the following items for parents at open house:

Page 13 "What is Creativity?"

Page 22 "What is Critical Thinking?"

The entire 80 page book and DVD are just delicious. Get your hands on one. And also...hire me, Crayola?