This project is based on the book  “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” which I bought when I was travelling through the Czech Republic years ago.  “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” is a heartbreaking and beautiful collection of works of art and poetry by Jewish children who lived in the concentration camp Terezin, outside of Prague. Between the years 1942-1944, about 15,000 children under the age of 15 were incarcerated at various times. Of these, more than 90 percent perished during the Holocaust; fewer than 100 survived. In these poems and pictures drawn by the young inm ..read more

Yet another observational drawing project I teach once in a while- I have a huge collection of seashells that I've collected from around the world from various beaches over the years. I love them- they're like little perfect sculptures made by nature.  These were all drawn by Grade 4-6 students. We use 4B pencils and kneadable erasers. I turn off all the lights in the classroom and they use the window light for natural shadows.  For an extra challenge, some students did colored versions using coloured pencils: this is one of my shells I collected on a beach ..read more

If you're looking for a fast project, here's a keeper- only markers and they always come out really fun! Students looked at the work by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. They described the types of lines, colours and shapes used in his works. They chose an animal, drew a simple outline of it. Using a ruler, they broke it up into vertical and horizonal lines. They traced everything in Sharpie and then coloured using the three primary colours, plus black.  Some finished Grade 4,5 results:   ..read more

Grade 4 - 6 students looked at the work of contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kasuma. She is often called the 'Princess of Polka Dots" due to her trademark use of dots! She is known for her extensive use of polka dots and for her infinity installations. She works in various mediums including painting, sculpture, performance art, and installations in a variety of styles, including Pop art and Minimalism. Kusama begins to paint as a child, at about the time she experiences hallucinations also of fields of dots. The hallucinations and the theme of dots would continue to appear in her art thro ..read more

Observational drawing is one of my favoruite drawing techniques to teach. I find students improve their drawing skills so much faster when they learn how to draw from direct observation. It forces them to slow down and really take their time. This is a class I ran for Grade 4,5 and 6 students. I introduced them to basic drawing tools (4B pencil, blender, kneadable erasers). I showed them how to light their objects (we just sit by a window and turn off all the lights in the classroom). Looking at the shadows and the cast shadow. We place the objects on a sheet of white paper so you can s ..read more

I was smart this year and started my Mother's Day art project weeks ahead of time. During the spring, many of our students go on field trips, there's spring break, kids leave early to go on extended vacations, etc. So a few missed classes, kids absent from classes etc. Projects take much longer to complete this time of year! Grade 4- 6 students completed these watercolour flower garden paintings for Mother's Day  a couple of weeks ago. In Canada, Mother's Day is May 14th. I found the inspiration for this lesson on the fabulous website Art Projects for Kids HERE. Students started by dr ..read more

Here are some charming Spring themed paper crafts made by our after school care students. This group is Kindergarten and Grade 1 students, I believe. Their teachers always hang up their work and make beautiful displays that really enhance the hallways. The flower craft below is made with colored photocopy paper, cupcake liners and little sticky jewels.     ..read more

Although this is an art blog, I posted a lesson back in 2017 (see it HERE) that was taught by an amazing Science teacher (and friend!) at my school. I posted about it because it is such a creative project full of detail and artistic elements. Little did I know it would become one of my top viewed posts (over 85,000 views).  This is a lesson I look forward to every year. Grade 6 Science students construct large scale forest tower habitats out of boxes. Many of these are over 4 feet tall! They are essentially stacked boxes (some are made from empty photocopy paper boxes which students c ..read more

Grade 7-9 students made these detailed treasure maps. I saw this lesson on a Canadian arts & crafts TV show, "Art Zooka", early one morning when I was home sick from work!   Here is the lesson plan: http://www.cbc.ca/artzooka/media/makes/Episode12Makes1.pdf First they sketched a plan. They had to include a compass rose, a pirate ship, a Jolly Roger flag, a path and 'X' for the treasure and a scroll with some sort of title. Many kids thought up a theme for their map. They had to also think of unusual names for all the features on the island. Then they drew a good copy on thin w ..read more

Grade 4-6 students created intricate cut paper wycinanki (pronounced Vee-chee-non-kee) incorporating an Easter or Spring theme. Wycinanki is a traditional paper-cutting craft from Poland, but it is also practised all over Eastern Europe. It dates from the mid-19th century where it was first made by shepherds who used their huge shearing scissors (as it was the only tools they had available) to create intricate patterns out of leather for decoration. A somewhat similar craft, scherenschnitte, is practised in Germany and Switzerland.  Students simply folded a piece of photocopy paper ..read more