potatoes, paper, Speedball water soluble printmaking ink, brayer, surface to roll in on (plexi-glass, plastic plate)

1. cut potatoes into desired shapes (an adult should do this)
2. roll ink onto plexi-glass
3. did potato in ink like a stamp
4. stamp away!

Here are three examples of this art lesson.  The first is just potatoes, with lots of different colors available to the children.  I cut the potatoes into stars, circles, triangles, rectangles, and stripes.  I encouraged them to layer their stamping with a lighter colored circle (i.e. yellow) under a darker/brighter shape.

The second incorporates a children’s book, When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano.  (cutest book about the seasons ever!)  For this one, I added store-bought stamps for the flowers (you could carve them with potato though!).

And the third variation uses a combination of potatoes and Speedball’s Speedy-Cut blocks.  The children drew their stamp shapes with sharpie, and I carved around them.  This would be an awesome project for older kids who could carve safely.  For the moon and stars print, the shooting star is made with the help of two stripes carved from a potato plus one round potato!

scratch foam (can buy at art store/online, or use styrofoam trays/plates- here, I cut round paper plates into squares because of a shipping mistake- created a lot of trash but I was in a pinch!), speedball water soluble printing ink, brayers, plexi-glass or another smooth plastic surface to roll ink on (messy-mat, plastic cutting board/placemat), smooth papers to print on, wooden stylus (or dull pencil is fine too)

1. with pencil and paper, practice the drawing/design that will become the print
2. with the wooden stylus, make the drawing again on the styrofoam (make sure students know that any mark they make/scratch/poke on accident will show up in their prints)
3. roll out desired ink color onto plexi-glass with the brayer
4. add ink to the plate (make sure it is coated well or the print will be splotchy)- in the photo above, I had placed a piece of construction paper on the table to catch the extra ink as kids rolled
5. place the paper on top of the inked styrofoam, and press hard with a clean brayer to print the ink onto the paper (you can also do this by flipping the styrofoam over onto the paper, adding a cover sheet to keep the final piece clean, and rolling the brayer over the cover sheet- that might help with centering the print on the paper, but it also may be tricky for younger children to pick up the inked styrofoam at the edges without smudging the ink…)
6. peel the styrofoam and paper apart and voila! a relief print!
7. the ink is super easy to wash, so you can rinse brayers, plates (the styrofoam), and plexi for fresh colors!

 

One thing I tried for the first time last school year was using sketchbooks for down time in my classroom.  I’ve used them in the museum setting during camps, but I had never incorporated them into my year-round classroom, and I really enjoyed how they turned out!  They function as a record of the child’s use of art materials throughout an entire school year, and they also feel special and maybe create a sense of excitement about exploring with a variety of drawing media.  Last year I ordered spiral bound notebooks (about 6×8 inches and a little over 100 pages).  My favorite thing about them was the blank cover, so the children could decorate the front. If I can find the exact book (hopefully I will because I need to order more next week!) I will link it here.

I had hoped they would be able to use the pages chronologically so that in May their families could see how their mark-making changed throughout the year.  Some of them did not quite understand that front of book/back of book concept of print yet, so this year I might number the first 20 pages and invite them to make bookmarks to help with that. Other than that, the sketchbooks were a hit and they kept the 2D choice-based work from ending up lost with no names or crumpled in the bottom of backpacks!  Here is a list of items I let the kids choose freely from (they are set up on low shelves the children can reach).  They use their sketchbooks when they finish the art history-inspired projects that we create throughout the year- each child finishes working at different paces with different projects, so their sketchbook is always an option.  Placing them somewhere the children can get and put away on their own is also key!

1. Pencils, erasers, handheld sharpeners
2. Colored pencils (include metallics and neons! and sharpen them every so often even though, yes, the children could do it on their own but you know what it’s a Montessori school and they get plenty of practical life practice in their classrooms and I want them to be art-making not sharpening during their ONE hour of art each week!)
3. Crayons (keep the edges peeled)
4. Markers – NOT dried out!!! you can soak the felt in water for a minute and they usually have another month or more of life.  I like to get a variety of thicknesses, and metallic markers are a hit as well.
5. Oil pastels (also peeled neatly)
6. Tempera paint sticks
7. Dark black drawing media such as a sharpie or a china marker
8. Collage/stickers (just make sure if you use glue to ask the child to leave the book open and let it dry)

My last tip is to make a list with the children of a variety of ideas that they could be inspired by.  Think rainbows, toys, mermaids, lions, friends, the school, etc.  You can sit with the children and draw in front of them, paying attention to what they are doing and offering technical help with something like opening a marker, or conceptual help/conversation if they aren’t inspired to continue drawing and are scribbling a heart on every page.  If there is a medium that no one ever picks, use it in front of them and I guarantee it will be taken from you shortly (and of course you will say yes!).  My favorite things to say in art conversations with kids are “I wonder… That reminds me of… I see… or Tell me about…”

Happy sketchbooking!!

 

 

For seven years I’ve been helping the schools where I’ve taught with their annual auction fundraisers.  At my school in Nashville, we have an auction each spring and the highlight is the eight classes’ collaborative art pieces that are sold via live auction (very exciting).  Here are some of my favorite pieces from over the years, with a few steps for how to recreate them.  I think the best projects have an elegant color palette or composition, but show the mark of the child (i.e. they did more than just finger prints- however that’s pretty much unavoidable with infant – two year olds).  Another characteristic I love is when they incorporate elements from the Montessori curriculum.  ** Many of these were not my idea!  Some come from Pinterest or my colleagues’ brilliant imaginations- I just help the kids create them.

PRO TIP: Have the auction pieces professionally framed!  Download my framing guide here!

Made by 3-6 year olds.  You can make up a composition or use any painting from history as a reference!  This is especially fun if the children have been learning about the artist.  Inspired by Matisse’s Still Life, Flowers and Fruit

1. Lightly (very lightly) sketch the large shapes on a colored piece of pastel paper
2. Working with one child at a time, show them the example and ask which part they’d like to do (until close to the end when only a few areas are left)
3. Help them select the appropriate chalk pastel color, and remind them what part/how they will add color to the group drawing

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This one was made by 2 year olds!  Our school had just made a beautiful vegetable garden, so we had some veggie themed pieces at the auction.

1. Give children plenty of time to cut the mosaic pieces (in the Montessori classroom the teacher added paint chip cutting work to the art shelf about two weeks before we needed to glue these)
2. Have children paint the background of a canvas panel (or four) and let it dry, then lightly draw the shape of the veggies so you’ll know what color to glue where
3. Working with one or two children and a very small brush, let them paint a small section of mod podge (about the size of a quarter) and add a mosaic piece (or a few if there is still glue showing), then paint mod podge on top
4. Once it is mostly finished, the teacher can cut some specific pieces to fill in the last empty cracks

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Made by 3-6 year olds.  This one doesn’t necessarily have the “mark” of the child, but they sure made all of it and loved every minute.  It was one of my all time favorite processes because I brought the loom and yarn into the classroom each time we worked on it and kids would gather around and try to pet the soft yarn.  When I cut extra pieces off for trash they would ‘steal’ them and sneak them into their backpacks.  It was really fun to see this one come together and the colors were inspired by March Chagall’s stained glass windows.  I recommend choosing a color palette carefully!

1. Use this video and maybe this loom (we loved it, especially the dowels that prevent the sides from being pulled to tight) to get started
2. Continue adding yarn for what seems like forever 😉
3. Use this video to learn how to finish/tie off yarn and add hanger (dowels are easy to find at Michael’s and cut with a little gardening saw- you can also order fancy ones from Etsy)

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Inspired by the sun celebration mat in Montessori schools.

1. Kids use acrylic paint to add color to the background (we used birch cradled canvas panels)
2. With recycled paper, kids cut mosaic pieces, and since this one is made by 3-6 year olds, they were able to cut more specific shapes than the toddlers in the veggie collage
3. Using mod podge, arrange and glue all the pieces down!

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Inspired by the Montessori puzzle maps and pin punching works.

1. Using canvas paper, kids paint whole sheets in colors that you like or that match the puzzle maps
2. Either trace the continents from the puzzle onto the paper (with pencil), or use copies for pin punching and tape them over the painted paper
3. Kids pin punch the continents
4. Use yes paste to glue to a background (we used reclaimed wood)- if you use a more traditional background you could use mod podge instead

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1. Know someone in the tree business so you can get some great stumps 😉
2. Mandala designs are the easiest with this round stump situation- you can draw something out or let the kids organically create one
3. Use mosaic tiles and mosaic glue with a paintbrush as they work (it’s helpful to have the colors sorted) ** make sure they are gluing right side up (tiles have a back!)
4. Add grout- this one is easy to work with, and then when it dries wipe up the tiles

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Also inspired by our new (then) school garden.

1. You need a simple white fabric and I recommend doing a small test of the whole process before having the kids begin- I bought just a simple cotton from Walmart…it may have been muslin (can’t remember- do a little test!)
2. Teacher uses gel glue to draw the veggies (everywhere you see a white line or dot was gel glue)
3. Once dry, kids can begin painting (one or a few at a time) with watered down acrylic paints
4. Once all paint is totally dry, run under luke-warm water to dissolve glue
5. Iron once it’s dry again