Dogs, Color Wheels, and a fun jewelry idea!!

 I hope all of the moms out there had a Happy Mother's Day!!! This little guy was my very special Mother's Day gift from my family! His name is Chico because he's very small. He's an "otter" colored Netherland Dwarf and will be making a visit to the art room soon I'm sure!

Ok this is a super fun EASY project that my friend did that is so cool!! 

1. glue 25 pieces of colored construction paper together

2. let dry over night

3. sand the front and the back until all the layers are visible

4. squeeze the silver clip to poke a hole and secure onto the top. 

5. paint with clear nail polish

They look really really cool finished! 

My fourth graders have been learning to use proportion and measuring to create these fabulous dog paintings original lesson HERE

We call this wet on wet watercolor background technique "Galaxy"

 1st-3rd grade is creating these "Creative Color Wheels" We are learning primary vs Secondary colors and mixing our own green, purple, and orange. Then students turn them into something creative like ice cream, Emojis, fish, lady bugs, eyeballs, etc!

Valentine's Day Trees

First, paint the hand and stamp it in the middle

Then paint the tree trunk with a paint brush (not your arm)

Then use finger tips to make the heart leaves

Then add details with paper scraps, and oil pastels

Mixing Colors with MLK!

If you read my last post, you will see the trial version of this lesson that I did with my girls…

Today I tried the color mixing project with first grade…






I can’t say that they didn’t have fun!!

…but my carpet will tell you that its good to put down a tarp before you paint a mural!!!

I let them come up with things for me to write about Martin Luther King Jr.
I was amazed at how much they remembered from our discussion.
They were intrigued by the subject.

I thought the cake comment was funny. I think it had to do with it being his birthday!!

Kindergarten and second grade did a draw along for them to take home and remember our lesson.


These are the kindergarten MLK’s

And this is second grade!!
They had to write three things they learned on the back.

Martin Luther King Jr. Rainbow

I thought of this lesson for our kindergarteners since we will be doing color mixing soon. I did it with my girls today on Martin Luther King’s birthday…what a perfect day to learn about “COLOR”

First we read the book, Martin by his sister Christine King Ferris

I asked my three year old…

“ What would Martin Luther King tell your class if he came to visit??”

“He would tell them no fighting, and no NO being mean because that makes us cry!!”

“He would tell us to share, and to love our sisters,

like how I love mine,

and to share.”

She also told me that Martin’s favorite color was pink, and that he probably loved to make art with his friends!!

I have a dream that one day… one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today we mixed colors by holding hands…

We started by making red and yellow hand prints, then they held hands…

and mixed it up…….WOW ORANGE!!

Then blue and yellow…

They couldn’t believe when they made GREEN!!

Then red (I added a bit of pink) and blue….

PURPLE!!!!!

It was SO AMAZING they just kept staring at their hands!!

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr.!!

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Guess what! This blog was recently nominated by some of its followers for The Art of Education’s Award for Top Art Blogs of the Year! If you enjoy the blog, you can go to this LINK TO VOTE for Smart Class!! Make sure you check out the other links to other FABULOUS art blogs!!!