The “paper plate wreath” as an art project has been around for decades. I found these directions in my mom’s teaching files from when she taught second grade thirty years ago (even before the internet and Pinterest!) These easy to follow directions can be posted at a center when kids are done with work as incentive. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Click here to download the PDF: Paper Plate Heart Wreath – written directions for centers
Another gem I found in my mom’s old teaching files were these art center folders. I realize that teachers nowadays don’t have time for an art center every day (or can’t use some of the tools needed for these projects), but they’re interesting ideas that you could use as springboards for projects during art or at home with kids. I only have the photos; I don’t have more detailed directions than what’s in the photo.
(Adult supervision recommended)
(Adult supervision recommended)
(Adult supervision recommended)
I recently found this cool fraction picture book in my mom’s old teaching files. I don’t have directions, but the pictures seem pretty self-explanatory. Using different common fractions cut out on different colored paper, students made a bunch of cool pages. Not bad for integrating math and art!
This page (quick tips on how to cut out each piece) was also in the file:
If you wanted to allow for more creativity, you could have students cut out a bunch of the fraction pieces and let them make whatever they wanted. Then have them label the size of each piece and tell you the total whole pieces they used in their picture.
Looking for something cute to make, that’s challenging enough for upper grade students? Try this craft stick frog! Since you can position the arms and legs in any shape, each one will look different!
You’ll need the fat ones (for the body, arms and legs) and the regular skinny ones (cut up for toes and mouth). Make sure you don’t forget the googly eyes! Add a strong magnet to the back and a clothes pin to the body to make it a paper holder for a fridge or a metal filing cabinet.
I recommend building the frog on some wax paper so the frog doesn’t accidentally get glued to the table! Q-tips can help you dab the glue on too. When the frog is dry, paint it green. All done!
My friend, Rachel, recently helped coordinate this mind-blowing art project at her school:
I. LOVE. THIS. IDEA.
It incorporates so much good stuff into one project! Collaboration, color wheel discussion, self-portrait and drawing principles, and the list goes on. It’s especially cool to see the improvement kids make in drawing as they get older (there were drawings from all grades in the mural). Although it is a fair amount of work to put together, this art project is definitely something that all the kids (and community members) will love to look at. Finally, the kids who participated can feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that they contributed and that as part of a team, they accomplished something they could never do on their own. Great job, Rachel!
Here’s some information about how you can organize this project.
As teachers, we love finding free resources. So naturally, my heart leaped when I found two articles about hundreds of free art books you can download from the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Click here to read the article about the Getty’s books and click here to read about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s books.
The article also contained links to articles about images being put into the public domain for free use. Hooray for open educational resources! Looking for more openly licensed (free to use!) K-12 content? Click here to check out Open Culture’s section on K-12.
How is it March already!? This blows my mind! Anyway, remember the snowflake and Valentine’s Day pattern art projects I posted recently? Well, I made one more of those, but this time, they’re clovers for St. Patrick’s Day! The basic idea is that you fill in each section with solid color or a pattern. Each one will turn out very different, but still pretty cool! Again, you can let your students make their own from scratch by letting them trace different sized clovers on their own paper instead of using the printable below.
Click here for the free printable PDF: Pattern Party- Clover
I recently blogged about a DIY Zentangle (patterns) art project I ran into and loved. So I made my own version using snowflake shapes. It was so fun, that I had to make another one… with hearts for Valentine’s Day!
Click here for the free printable PDF: Pattern Party- Hearts
If you have an older grade class and you’re looking for a more complex project, you could use your school’s die-cut machine to cut our a bunch of card-stock hearts of varying sizes. Then let your students create their own version of the printable I made. Just warn them not to create too many sections or too small of sections. This will help ensure that ti doesn’t take them FOREVER to complete it!
Squarehead Teachers 
