Monsters Love Colors

I was at Target today and saw this book, Monster Love Colors, on the shelf.  Being that I am an elementary art teacher, I was instantly drawn to it and, of course, had to buy it.  It  reminds me of, Mouse Paint....but with monsters   Who doesn't love cute colorful monsters   The primary colored monsters color secondary monsters.  I  already foresee a cute monster color theory lesson plan in my 1st graders future.  I would definitely recommend this book!

* a quick side note....  This book was $15.99 at Target, but they price match Amazon, so I only paid $10.87 :)

Feeling Inspired...Art and Literacy Bags

This past weekend I went to my art associations annual conference.  I love going, and always come back with great ideas.  One of the classes I attended was on Family Art and Literacy Bags.  It was presented by Mrs. Berry, a Bay City art teacher.  Here blog can be found here.... http://berryart.wordpress.com/.  She has created themed bags with coordinating books and art lesson for each class at her elementary.  I love this idea! I am wondering if any other art teachers have given this a try????  It seems like a lot of work...but totally worth it.

Below are some pictures I took of some of the bags.  They each have a theme and tie in art.  According to Mrs. Berry, she funded this through Donors Choose.  I am wondering if there are grants out there that would work too.

On a side note... Sorry I haven't posted in a long while.  I have been busy with my new little man :)

Whimsical Trees

One of my favorite lessons I did this past school year was whimsical trees inspired by the story Willow.  (I know I saw this on another art education blog, so please let me know if it was you so I can give you credit).

After reading the story we looked at several tree pictures and discussed how we could come up with our own creative trees.  Each student received a piece of 12x36 paper (I think this size really contributed to the overall success of the project).   We began with tempera cakes and then used pre-mixed tempera paint. 

A few students even decided to add a background. 

The kids really seemed to enjoy the process.  I loved how they turned out!