Thank you to all who participated in the first issue of the carnival either by contributing submissions or comments. As promised one of those lovely people will win this cool little table top easel. The winner was chosen via a random number generator which just so happened to be #15 who just so happens to be...
Mary who has a great little blog called A Merry Note.
So all Mary needs to do is email me her shipping info at msjuliesartclass@aol.com so I can forward that on to my sponsor.
The Gallery-Blog Carnival of Art Projects for Kids
Issue No.1
I am pleased to bring you some wonderful ideas. Though there are only a few, what they lack in volume, they make up for in substance as they come from some of the best art teacher and homeschooler blogs around!
This being our "maiden voyage", it is only right to celebrate! So to honor this blog carnival kick off, I am going to give away this easel with the help of my sponsor Toys & Games Online Part of CSN Stores, ToysandGamesOnline.com is just one of over 200 retail sites that offer a diverse array of products from office furniture by Herman Miller to wall sconces by Murray Feiss.
KidKraft - Tabletop Easel- Retail Value $41.00
(click on picture above for more details on the product)
To enter the easel giveaway, just leave a comment on this post before September 8, 2009 at midnight pacific time. You must be a resident of the USA or Canada to enter.
Something else my sponsors would like you to consider is your posture while you are hard at work on all those creative projects. Art should never be "pain in the neck" or anywhere else! To keep your posture in check, you may want to consider investing in a really good chair the The Aeron® Collection From Herman Miller ®, is a great if your budget will allow.
I so appreciate Kathy for contributing to this carnival. I "borrow" from her all the time, so it is a great honor to get to host some of her hard work over here.
Tisha Smith presents ART with Mrs. Smith: Art Lesson, Dali posted at ART with Mrs. Smith, saying, "I chose this project because the kids enjoy creating it so much. It's not one that "looks" extraordinarily beautiful or colorful, but it encourages expression in a simple manner."
I always love it when a creative person devises a way to present material that is not necessarily "kid friendly" in a really "kid friendly" way! I definitely plan to "borrow" this lesson.
Barb presents Just Like a Cezanne Still Life posted at Harmony Art Mom, saying, "Cezanne is our artist of the moment and when the opportunity arose with a crop of fresh fruits and veggies, we made a still life inspired by Cezanne. What a great way to seize an art opportunity! Barb also challenges us in this post to make some art opportunities of our own!
Thanks so much for joining us on our maiden voyage! If you have enjoyed what you've seen here, please be sure to leave a comment and maybe let others know as well. The Gallery will be open once a month, so if you have anything you would like to display or share with us, please follow the link below to the carnival submission form.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the gallery using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our
and her suggestion of a unit study on knights and castles!
My suggestion is to begin the study with the art lessons then learn about the subjects and finally at the end of the lesson to create the same projects again integrating all the new knowledge gained in the learning explorations!
First the knight drawing lesson...
You can click on this to make the picture bigger. If the visual step by step is not enough, let me know and I will post a more detailed tutorial.
Additional art projects to go with this study can be found here..
Math... Practice your math facts with these games... All you need is a chessboard, knights, rooks, kings, queens, di, and flashcards or a regular deck of playing cards.
Directions: Roll di to see who goes first, highest number goes first. Players pick their game pieces- king, queen, knight, or rook and start on corner of the chessboard. The first piece to make it all the way across wins. (Depending on the age and interest of the players you can have the players move straight ahead in a column to the other side or have them move on a winding path through every square on the board- for this option use a roll of the di to determine how many spaces will be won with a correct answer, incorrect answers lose number of squares indicated by di roll.)Have the player pick a card with a math fact, if they answer correctly they can move ahead, incorrect answers lose one square. Variations of this game are really endless and brainstorming new rules with your players could result in a really fun new game. Some variations I thought up were: Knight's War- 2 players Use regular playing cards or flash cards. Shuffle cards and place in a stack. Both players draw a card. High card or sum gets to move on the board. Another variation would be low card or sum gets to move. (if any of you out in blogger land have additional suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments for this post.)
There are also several books about Sir Cumference in my recommendations. They may or may not be ready for these. I think they are pretty clever and fun though. Use at your own discretion.
History- Excavation Project- get a small knight figurine- one that won't melt at higher temperatures- put in a muffin tin or cupcake liner. Fill with muffin or cupcake mix and bake as directed. Let "archaeologists" excavate the knight relics with plastic fork tools.
Lots of additional suggestions can be found in the links section at the end of this post.
Science- The middle ages is not well known for it's scientific advancements, but something that was of great interest in those days was alchemy and blacksmithing. Research and learn exactly what alchemy is. Interest in this subject in China led to the discovery of the formula for gunpowder! Blacksmiths were of great interest to all the knights because that is how they got their armor and shoes for their horses. See if you can find a blacksmith still working today and take a field trip to a forge. In the meantime, try creating your own "chain mail" with paper chains. Use grey or black construction paper to make chains that interlock together the way they did on a knight's hauberk.
Language Arts- Try reading some great knight stories out loud. Kid friendly versions of Robin Hood and King Arthur would be great and inspiring bedtime tales. Try writing acrostic poems with the words knight or castle. K-kneel N-noble I-iron G-gauntlet T-triumphant
Or a write story about one of the amazing art creations they have made!
Books you may find helpful. I often check the ISBN numbers and then request them at my library through inter-library loan as opposed to purchasing a ton of resources.
Before I leave what is already a remarkable long post, I want to let Dana at School for Us know that her Tall Tales suggestion was too irresistible to pass up, but too lengthy to include in this post. I will be posting an art lesson and unit study on Paul Bunyan and Tall Tales tomorrow! Stay tuned also this week for
My good friend Jessica at ArtSmarts for kids just sent me this link. More validation for my addiction. You enabler, you. Thank you Jessica, good stuff to know when my pastor sees me doodling in church!
On another note, I am announcing my first giveaway!!!
Monday is a somewhat auspicious day for me as I am turning 35. Thirty had it's own sort of trauma but 35 is like getting to the top of the hill and getting a real good view of the steep slope down the other side and realizing the speed at which you are approaching it! There are lots of things I love about this age though and in honor of that (and the fact that I share this special day with Dr. Suess and Jon Bon Jovi- my 7 year old thinks that is so cool) I am going to give something away! In fact 35 is just so nerve racking, I will give two things away...
Eve's Redemption Giveaway Giveaway #1
Set of 20 "Eve" notecards and envelopes.
Rules: Really simple. Guess the bible verse symbolism of the butterfly pattern in the lower left of the art piece and guess the right number I am thinking of between one and one hundred. To enter, leave a comment under this post with the previous info, a valid email address and Giveaway #1 in the body of the comment.
Custom Art Lesson and Unit Study Giveaway Giveaway #2
I will custom design a step by step drawing lesson and unit study to complement your current lesson plan or an idea you want to try.
Rules: To enter, leave a comment explaining the theme of your lesson plan or curriculum and Giveaway #2 in the body of the comment.
Contest is open until Friday March 6th and winners will be announced on Saturday March 7th. (Just in time to honor my hubbie's birthday as well!)
These samples above were done by students in third through fifth grade
Soapbox time again. The Nutcracker offers an amazing array of subjects to explore in a unit study. Just a few...
Language Arts
The Nutcracker and the King of Mice
Fine Arts/Music/ Theater/ PE
Ballet Dances Waltzes Pas De Deux Tchaikovsky
Social Studies
Christmas celebrations around the world Germany, Russia, France (Clara is German. The original story comes from Russia. Alexandre Dumas revamped the story to the one we are familiar with in the ballet.) The history of Christmas symbols(IE;the tree)
Science
Different types of snow Snowflakes candymaking rats and mice- how are they different, how are the same?
Math
Telling time Calendar(when is Christmas?) Counting- characters, mice, rats, soldiers, fairies, dances, songs, etc.
Upon my soapbox I have boldly proclaimed before that you really can teach all your other subjects through art. Today I add more supporting evidence to my claims. I really love unit studies, and in all honesty with just a little creative brainstorming you can put together a unit study based on anything your child has a fancy for, or you do for that matter. A unit study may be a wonderful way to share something that interests or fascinates you with your children. Today, we begin with the tiger.
Tiger Unit Study
Literature; Younger Kids- Leo The Late Bloomer: I love this story! My kids all had mild delays that caused some concern for us. Though we did not just take a "wait and see" approach, ultimately they blossomed and continue to do so.
Older Kids- The Jungle Book- by Rudyard Kipling- Need I say more?
Spelling and Vocabulary- I use the rules found in weekly graded spelling books and pull out words from the books based on those rules. (Words ending in "er' for example.)
Social Studies, Geography and History India What a rich topic this is! Dig in!
Science- Domestic and Wild Cats Endangered Animals Ecology and Habitat Preservation Why do tigers have stripes and why are they all different? Adaptations of Siberian Tigers
Math- Count the tigers stripes. Count a group of tigers' stripes. (Sets and Multiplication) How many tigers are left? How many different types of tigers are there? In captivity? In the wild?
PE
Though this is a stretch, I couldn't help it. Study golf and learn about Tiger Woods!
As you can see the associations are endless and limited only by you and your children's imagination and curiosity.
Below are some some products you may find useful. I found them in about five minutes, so I know a good google search or visit to your local library will probably yield vastly more treasures than I could dare to post in a single blog entry!
You can also check out his great plan for a free tiger lapbook
Since the Carnival of Homeschooling is up a day late and has over 60 participants, I will be lazy and let them be website pick this week. To check them out just go to Simple Pleasures. Again for the sake of shameless self-promotion, you will see my hummingbird lesson as one of the offerings.
Sorry all. I am so busy right now. Please pray for me as I am really quite stressed out. I am having to do this blog at 6am after having gotten up at 5am, just so I'd have time to get a shower in. Oh well, I am thankful for the busy-ness though as it means my business is going well. The plaster project is still sitting in my draft folder, but it wants out very badly so please be a little more patient with that one. On to today's matters... Today I share with you the secret of my homeschooling success!
THE NARRATIVE FORM! This is a generic form that you can use for any subject. There are two here to choose from with the only difference being the amount of lines and line spacing.You can use it for big kids or little. They can write it themselves or dictate to you. If they are dictating and you are writing, I would use the form with more lines as someone else doing doing the actual physical part of the writing tends to free up their tongue and imagination a bit and many, many words flow sometimes. The most important (and fun in my opinion) is the drawing section. My boys have a whole ancient history book they have made themselves using these forms and narrating from The Story of the World. To print these, just click on the image. A bigger version will show on your screen. Click on file at the top of your screen. Make sure to click on print preview to make sure you will get what you really want. You may have to scale down the image to make it fit all on one paper. Right now we are using these to do chapter summaries of The Golden Goblet. My ten year old actually types his on the computer in Word and then once it is printed out he draws a picture. Many times the best thing is to have the kids draw the picture first and then write about it. A picture is worth a thousand words after all!
For Website Wednesday these are my offerings for you today.
Drawing Now- Here you will find little step by step videos of how to draw many, many things. This link will take you right to the knight tutorial, but at the top of the screen you will see the tabs for many more options. My only hesitation in recommending this site is that the advertising on the site may not be your cup of tea and you may not want your child clicking on some of the links provided. My suggestion is to sit next to your child while they do these drawings or remain quite near where you can always see the screen too. The drawings range from detailed and complicated to very simple and recognizable cartoon characters including many Anime and Mange styles.( Just to be clear though, I am not a fan of these styles though my daughter is.)
Wild Weather Adventure! This is a fun game all about weather. Each child gets their own weather drone and they must navigate through all sorts of weather by answering questions correctly. You can adjust the difficultly levels of the questions.
And a shameless plug, my Chagall lesson is also up over at KinderArt. Of course the authors over there have added much more to it in the form of info about Marc Chagall and the painting the lesson is based on. It is actually one of the features lessons in the slide show on their homepage!
