My kids had art projects on display at our local museum.

 

A mom in our homeschool co-op volunteered to teach a variety of art classes over the course of a month and then the kids could all put their work on display at our local museum.  Here are some pictures of their art projects.

She got the lesson plans from Blick Art Supplies.

Katey, Tommy and Emily Did  Art – O- Motion

 

 

Here is one Katey did called Encaustics.

 

Something that we all thought was really neat was Someone had put in a quite extensive collection of ATC ( Artist Trading Cards).  Since we have participated in some simple swaps with other’s, on a very small scale.  We thought this collection was incredibly neat.

Get out there and let your kids express themselves through some guided art lessons.  Free from Dickblick.com

Our New Art Wall

I finally have an art wall.   Whoo Hoo!  I live in a smaller home without much wall space and we do NOT have a specific school room.  We school in our main living areas.  Having an art wall became very important to me this year.  I knew exactly what I wanted:

• Easily changeable
• Displayed where we can enjoy it each day

Deciding the where was hard.  I thought about many places, sure there are many low hanging places around my house, but that would just not work with my little guy. 

After much back and forth in my mind, I finally decided on a spot along my kitchen ceiling.

Presenting…………………

It is our tradition on the first day of school every year we draw self-portraits and compare them to the previous years.  Here are their self-portraits from this year. 

It is really neat to see how they all get better each year. I also have them sign them, so they can see how their signatures change too.

 

 

5th grade art ~ Highlights from the past year.

 

 

Emily is quite my little artist, in every form of the word.  She loves to create!

Here are a few project highlights of hers from this past year.

She painted an Easter Egg on a canvas.

She created a sun catcher  using washable markers and vegetable oils.

She loved coloring the composer pages when we studied the composers.

She created many things with clay to go along with her Early American history.

She made neat Halloween Skeleton paintings.  She was even Painter Smurf for Halloween, although in this picture she doesn’t have the makeup on.

Emily created a very detail oriented Gingerbread house.  Which won 1st place at a Homeschool competition.

She loves to create jewelry.  She received a wonderful jewelry making kit for Christmas.

We made homemade Valentines as well as we have joined an Artist Trading Card group. 

We have done so much more art projects than this.  These are just a few highlights.

 

Art supply caddy.

 

 

One of the things that was making our art lessons take so long, was the hunt for supplies.  I keep kept them in the closet upstairs.  We do most of our artwork downstairs, at the kitchen table. To solve this problem I decided to keep all the basic, most used art supplies downstairs in an art caddy.

For us the most used supplies are scissors, a box of crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, a ruler, scotch tape, and a small watercolor set with paintbrushes.  (The paper we usually have to get from a shelf in the computer desk.)

 

I keep this caddy on the top of the computer desk near the kitchen.  It is easy and quick to get to, yet out of the way from little ones.  

I also pull this out for free art while we are listening to audio books.

Don’t forget to vote for me over at Picket Fence!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!

Harold and the Purple Crayon–A Picture for Harold’s Room

 

 

 

Katey recently finished reading A Picture for Harold’s Room to me.

 

It is from the series Harold and the Purple Crayon.

I choose to have her do an art activity along with it. She had to draw a picture like he did using only a purple crayon. 

This was such a simple activity and she loved it.  Her favorite part was sharing it with everyone.  She explained every detail.

Don’t forget to vote for me over at

Picket Fence!

 

Zentangle

 

The girls, (Emily 11, Katey 6) and I have been taking Zentangle Art classes.  They have been really great so far.  We go once a month.  We have gone twice.  It has been really neat. 

Today I drew this in about an hour. 

I just wrote my name and then Zentangled around it. 

I love it for my first try and doing it so quickly. 

Zentangle is also very relaxing. Very!

This post is property of Family Style School.

Pick and Draw Review and Giveaway.

Giveaway closed!  Congratulations to Kimberly, Comment #22.

 

I have a few questions for you. 

Was one of your New Year’s Resolutions to spend more quality time with your family?
If so I have found a great way to make it fun for all.
It is a game.  It is called Pick and Draw. Rich Davis created this game. He has illustrated many children’s books, greeting cards, he has even drawn coloring books.  He also has free art lessons here!  Check those out for sure!


What makes a game user friendly?
Is it quick to set up, quick to learn, and fun to play? Does it get you interacting with those playing it too?
Pick and Draw does all those things.


What makes a game family friendly?
Is it that it can be played by a wide variety of ages and any number of people?
Pick and Draw is that.


What if no one can play with you?
Pick and Draw can be played alone or with any number of players.

Is the price reasonable?
Pick and Draw is just $10 for hours of endless fun.

Now you ask me, What is Pick and Draw?
It is a simple game made from sturdy plastic cards,  (my 2 year old got ahold of them and they are still fine). There are 5 categories.  Face, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Hair.  (You add your own ears if you would like.)  Each feature is simple to draw.  Don’t worry, we are not going for perfection here anyways, just fun!  Each card category has 8 different types.  That makes for 60,000 different designs! 
How does you play?
You divide the cards into their categories and choose one card from each category, without looking.  You then flip each card over one at a time. drawing that feature.  After you have drawn all the features, you can then name your character and write a story about them, or you can just go on creating more. 
The drawings above were all drawn using the same features, they look different due to placement of the items.
PRETTY NEAT!


How did we play?
We began by playing the same way as stated above.  We then decided to switch it up a bit.  Each person was assigned a feature.  They would draw their feature and then pass the paper to the next person for them to draw their feature.  
Another way we played was to have someone else name and tell the story about the creation done by person who was next to them. 
Emily even played it using all the cards.  She created 9 faces this way. Never using the same feature twice. Then she went through and named them all.


You will need some supplies to play Pick and Draw, you can be as plain or as creative as you want.  Any drawing device and canvas will do.  We started out with just paper and pencil.  Then we went on to Dry Erase. Then onto paper and Crayons.  Markers and construction paper.  Chalk and chalkboards or sidewalk.  Window markers and windows.  The possibilities are endless.


 
The Nitty Gritty
Pick and Draw is a fun family game that can be played as a group or individually.  It was created by an actual artist! You do not have to be “artistic” in order to play it and enjoy playing it.  Open the door to creative fun for the whole family by ordering Pick and Draw here for just $10.

I am so excited to be hosting a giveaway for you to win your very own Pick and Draw game! Entering is easy!!!  Leave each entry in a separate comment.  The winner will be drawn by Random.org on Feb 6th.  There are 4 ways to enter
1. Leave a comment on this post to be entered.
2. Follow Family Style School on Google Friend Connect.
3. Check out one of Rich Davis’ websites.  Pick and Draw website, The Draw with Rich blog, or his Art Website.  Tell me which one you went to.
4. Like Family Style School on Facebook and/or Twitter.

GOOD LUCK!!!! 
Also one last thing I wanted to mention:  I love giving unique gifts for Birthdays or Christmas.  It seems to me that people are always more surprised about something they have never seen.  It may not provide the same shock value for the child as the trendy toys, but this game will provide long time creative fun.  All their friends will want to play it with them.  Or think about a friends and family game night with this game.  Even a baby shower game (This is what your baby will look like.)  SO MUCH FUN!!!







I was generously provided this game for free in order to be able to write an honest review.  All opinions are my own. He also generously provided a free copy for the giveaway.   Thank you, Rich Davis.

*Affiliate links are used,  I became an affiliate after I saw how great this game really was. If you prefer not to use the affiliate links you can purchase Pick and Draw here.

Making a little bit of everything.

 

Emily has been learning about Indians and their dwellings.  She made a version of Adobe houses.  She put vent holes for the smoke from the fire to escape.  She even painted Pictographs on the sides. 

 

 

When the clay comes out all kids want to create!!  Katey created a bowl and a spoon.  She was really upset when I wouldn’t let her eat her cereal out of it.  I had to explain that these were just for decoration. 

Tyler was trying to live up his shirt.  LOL. 

 

 

Well, that’s a day in the life, right? 

 

Homemade Art Prints

We recently completed a fun art lesson for 1st grade. 
I let Katey paint onto an old cookie sheet. 

  I showed her how to create designs in it by taking away some of the paint using a pencil eraser. 

Then we took a piece of paper and pressed it on the sheet, creating the print.

She thought that it was the coolest thing ever to paint on a cookie sheet.  


Click on the Virtual Refrigerator button at the top to see other art ideas. 

Clipboards make school fun!

This is a recycled post from a while ago, but because we still use these every single day, I thought it was totally worth re-posting.  This first paragraph is newly added ;)

I feel absolutely lost without my clipboard.  It is wear I keep my menu plan for the week, and all my upcoming reviews, as well as each child's weekly plan of what schoolwork should be done that week.  I also keep any notes I have been taking from an online homeschooling class I have been taking.  I love my clipboard.  My children all love theirs.  On theirs they each keep their weekly plan, along with any worksheets for the day that need to be completed.  On their weekly plan I also write in which room in the house they will need to be in charge of cleaning each day, along with any outside activities they have, scouts, dance, basketball, etc. 

This works for us! 




 I got this fun idea from Blue Cricket Designs, we made clipboards! I love clipboards, you can do work anywhere. As my daughter says, "These are so stylish!"

We took some scrapbook paper and cut to fit. I also ripped a piece to add some dimension. Then we just used Mod Podge to glue it on. They loved getting to choose what they would look like, and it's a great way to tell them apart. It feels like their own little desk, right there at the kitchen table.



This post is linked to  WFMW over at We are that family!

Repurposing old clothes

Emily had this skirt that was clearly too small for her but she just loved it, it also had a matching tie.  So we decided to make it into a purse. 

It had shorts underneath it, so she would sew the shorts closed and add the tie for a handle. 

She did most of it by herself. 

Then we traded places (she took the camera and I took the sewing machine).  She only needed help with the backstitching.

Here it is finished. 

She just loves it and it is a pretty decent size bag. 

We love repurposing old things, and Emily loves sewing.