Monsters Don't Like Broccoli Multimedia by 1st Graders

There are activities that I'm sure carry over to all kids in all art classes throughout the entire world. One of those things is that first graders go absolutely NUTS for oil pastel resist with watercolor. I'm absolutely certain of it.To a first grader pastel resist is some form of magic. That's pretty cool to me. 

This project is based on the book Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli  by Barbara Jean Hicks. Obviously we all know that monsters don't eat broccoli. It's a well-documented fact.

For this project, my students created a oil pastel resist city background and a monster on a separate piece of construction paper. We added some cool textures/patterns with some simple printmaking with caps and pieces of cardboard. The last step was for students to pick out which food they like the least and make it with construction paper. It was pretty interesting and funny to see what first graders don't like to eat. 

Check out the lesson plan here!

2nd Grade Henna Hands

I wrote this lesson about a year ago and this is the second time I've used it with my second grade students. It's a relatively quick project and it allows students to explore art from India. My school has a large Indian population, so this is an extremely popular project. 

Check out the lesson here!

Thomas Elementary Logo Design Contest

This is a post strictly for my Thomas Elementary students. The rest of you can feel free to read it, too. I just can't promise that it will be as life-altering as my posts usually are. As part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Thomas, we will be redesigning our tiger logo.  

The Thomas Elementary logo design contest is on like Donkey Kong. The contest is open to all Thomas students in PK-5th grade. Students can work in groups, turn in multiple designs, or choose not to participate at all. 

Helpful Hints for Logo Designers:

• The logo must represent the Thomas Tigers.
• The logo should look very different than our current logo.
• Please do not include words.
• Research current sports/school logos for inspiration.
• Your logo should be entirely original.
• Simple logos are usually stronger than those that are complicated.
• Contest entries are due to your classroom teacher or Mr. Stoller by April 1st. 

If you need an additional copy of the entry form, click here to print a new one.

What are your favorite projects?

Everyone has favorite projects. Sometimes they are tried and true lessons that students love and look forward to working on each year. Others are fresh and new; maybe you have only taught them once or twice. I'm devoting this post to my favorite projects. I'm hoping that some of you will tell me about yours as well. 

My idea is for people who read this blog to post a link to their favorite lessons in the comment section for this post. The link could go to another blog, Pinterest post, or other outside site. I will then put the info, pictures, and maybe even lesson plans into this original blog post and fill it up with all kinds of awesome. Let's see how this goes. 

I'll start with a few of my own favorite projects. This first one is something that I did for the first time last year with my 5th graders. PLUSH MONSTERS!!

This project is one that I have been doing since student teaching. Clay Castles are incredibly popular at my school. I have students from first grade up asking when they get to make them. Of course kids always love to work with clay, so having an exciting lesson built around it is just a bonus. If I would ever stop doing this project, the villagers would probably revolt!

Finally, this is a project that I have adapted a little from a colleague in my district. It combines my love of science with sweet art skills to end up with a super cool project. It also ties in closely with third grade science curriculum. Your principal will love this lesson as well. It is all about using simple machines to create a Rube Goldberg style machine inside the head to complete a task that ordinarily happens in the head. Simple Machine Brains are great fun.

 Now it is time to comment with links to your favorite lessons. I can't wait to see all of the interesting and innovative projects that all of you are working on. 

Rina over at K-6 Art wins the prize for the first favorite lesson comment! Virtual high five! Her favorite project post is Oil Pastel and Baby Oil 'Paintings.' She is using a super cool technique using baby oil to allow the pastels to blend more like paint. Check out her blog for more information!

Amber from Schooling at Home Happenings uses blogs to find quality art projects for her students. She likes this project that is based on the work of Henri Rousseau. Amber really likes that the project reinforces information about climate zones, weather, and animals. The cool thing about this blog is that she has a wide range of ages working on the same project. It is really interesting to see how the project is adapted to different age groups.