5 Easy Drawing Ideas Around May, I start to see social media posts from teachers looking for lesson ideas on how to wrap up the school year. Teachers need some low-prep and engaging one-day lesson ideas to use with classes that you’ll only see 1 or 2 times before school is out. Drawing is perfect for this because it is not messy, quick to prep, and you can start packing up all your paints and brushes while students are working! These lessons require minimal setup and can be adjusted to fit your students’ needs and skill levels. 1) Blind Contour Drawing Blind contour drawing is a great drawing ..read more

The Element of Chance Let me be the first to introduce you to the 8th element of art behind color, line, shape, value, texture, form, and space: the element of chance. The elements of art are the pieces and parts used to create compositions and works of art. The principles of design, such as pattern, unity, harmony, and balance, describe the arrangement. To expand a little, I’d like you to think of this process of arranging the elements as an element of art. The element of chance finds a way to take the direct hand and conscious thoughts of the artist out of the equation. We can see what happe ..read more

Welcome to Starter Templates Sites. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! The post Hello world! appeared first on Expressive Monkey ..read more

Many kids dread art because they think it is going to be too difficult or something they won’t be good at. The trick is to find activities that make them feel more confident and less anxious about their artistic abilities.  You can encourage even the most reluctant artists with these drawing games for your art class. Whether you’re in art class or at home with your kids, these drawing games are the perfect way to build confidence, encourage creativity and improve motor skills while having fun! Read on for more information and awesome ideas! 1) Slow Pictionary You can start by using regu ..read more

Let’s take a practical look at how to differentiate instruction while teaching a drawing lesson based on 4 different mindsets you will probably find in your art classroom. We all strive to create confident drawers and art makers through our instruction, but let’s be honest. Our students have a wide range of mindsets about art and drawing, especially at the beginning of the year. So how you get started with that first drawing lesson can make or break the confidence your students have throughout the remainder of the class. I’m going to divide art students into 4 groups and talk about 4 differen ..read more

What makes Roll & Draw activities so good at building confidence in a drawing beginner? And by the way, we are not just talking about kids here! Roll & Draw pages are a fun activity for beginning drawers of any age! Make it Fun! The gaming element of a Roll & Draw page is probably the first thing to get your students’ attention. Something about the mystery of what the final drawing will look like hooks them right away. During the Roll & Draw activity, students will roll a die (or dice) to determine the design of each part of the drawing. For example, the number they roll migh ..read more

Doodle Drawing The more I doodle, the more I’m loving the idea of using doodle drawing to teach drawing. You are never too old to learn to doodle! It’s great for the brain and can be a relaxing hobby. Here are some of the benefits Reluctant Drawers Doodling, by definition, is a low-pressure form of drawing. We don’t expect doodles to look perfect, and sometimes the quirky-looking doodles are the best! So students can go into the lesson with a little less apprehension. Learning Opportunities With that said, you can also introduce students to some drawing strategies using doodles, such as ov ..read more

Wayne Thiebaud Cakes I just couldn’t ignore Wayne Thiebaud’s use of color when making my lesson on How to Draw Wayne Thiebaud Cakes. Usually, I focus on the lines and shape and make adding color optional. But with Wayne Thiebaud, his work is about color, and about the texture of the paint. So I’ve made color an integral part of the drawing pages and lesson. To make teaching this lesson easier, you can use this blog page to have students look at the work of Wayne Thiebaud. Talk about his art, and see a demonstration on how to draw a cake and add color. Wayne Thiebaud didn’t just paint cakes, he ..read more

How to use I Statements for Kids Teaching and modeling “I” statements for kids is critical to creating a safe learning environment. I statements help students learn how to frame their thoughts and ideas.  The goal is to focus solely on what kids are feeling and not what someone else may or may not be feeling, thinking, or doing. In addition, clear communication helps to build strong connections to develop among students and between adults and students.   What are I Statements? I statements are used to let someone know that you feel strongly about something without putting them on de ..read more

What are Sketch Notes? Sketch notes are visual notes where lines, symbols, icons, frames, bullets, and other visual elements can organize and structure the page.   Why use Sketch Notes?   Sketch notes keep students actively involved with the information you are giving them because they must use both oral listening and visual reasoning to create the sketch note page. They help students relate facts to the main idea because they visualize information near a larger heading or picture. And they also help students remember the information better because they are processing it u ..read more