Ready-to-go lessons that inspire kids to love art

The Kids Art Projects 101 membership program is designed for parents and teachers who want to tap into art experiences that encourage creativity, support problem solving and skill development, and inspire self-confidence in young artists.

 

You already know kids benefit in so many ways from authentic art experiences

You hear it everywhere… Business leaders are saying they value creativity as one of the leading skills they look for in new employees. Leading early childhood organizations are saying that the art of creating is essential to early childhood development. Research shows the mental health benefits of art experiences in children and adults of all ages.  And you know in your heart engaging, well-developed art experiences:

• foster creativity, 
• inspire kids to take artistic risks, 
• provide an outlet for reducing stress and anxiety that are currently on the rise in children,
• encourage self-discovery and self-confidence, and more!

Meet Cara

Hi, I’m Cara! I am an elementary art teacher. I’ve been teaching K-5 art for more than 20 years. I believe beautiful things happen when you invite children to engage in authentic, age-appropriate, art experiences. I have a BFA (I majored in Painting/minored in Art History), an MA in Art Education, and a doctoral degree (Ed.D.) in Instructional Leadership. I am a mom to two boys, ages 9 and 12. Helping children understand and enjoy the visual arts is my passion. I created Kids Art Projects 101 to share my approach with you. I hope my work saves you time and inspires the kids in your life!

So what can you expect from Kids Art Projects 101?

Kids Art Projects 101 is a collaborative community where parents and teachers get access to engaging art lessons, implementation tips, and ongoing support as they make authentic art experiences a regular part of children’s lives.

Fostering Creativity Through Process Art

We begin with a strong foundation in process art. In this series there are  48 simple and fun process art activities to try with your kids.  Each lesson offers strategies for simplifying, enriching, and extending each activity so you can adjust to suit your kids’ needs. The focus here is playful exploration as you introduce children ages 3 to 6 to a wide variety of art experiences. 

The Fostering Creativity Through Art Series Delivers:

• Open-ended art activities designed to inspire creative art exploration
• Printable PDFs with clear directions, supply lists, work-sample photos, and tips for getting the most out of each activity
• Differentiated strategies for simplifying, enriching, and extending each activity so you can adjust to suit your needs. 

Learn more about the pre-k art curriculum here.

Famous Artist Series

Introduce children to famous artworks and details about famous artists through an ongoing series of detailed unit plans for K-2 art teachers and homeschool families.

Learn more about the elementary art curriculum here.

Art Song Posters to Help with Transitions and Mini-Lessons

Help students cheerfully absorb and reinforce procedural and art-specific knowledge! There are songs for key transitions and routines that we do regularly in the art room!

Doodle Prompt Calendars

Inspire artists of all ages to create art daily with a fun doodle prompts in a printable monthly format. These are great for early arrivers, early finishers, and sub plans! 

Organizational Tools

Get organized and tackle all the extras that come your way as an art teacher with our growing library of organizational resources.

Planner Made Just for the Unique Needs of Art Teachers

But that’s only the beginning! New content added monthly!

Here’s what we have on deck next: 

1) Continued Scripted Slideshows and Project Guides!

We will continue rolling out new art units as we work toward a full PreK-5 art curriculum. These units are full of facilitator tips and practical suggestions. Over the next two years we’ll be sharing our Global Connections Series. This is the series of art projects I typically do with my third-grade students. You can expect to see projects related to:

• Kente Cloth
• Mandalas
• Worry Dolls
• Origami
• Ming Vases
• Nesting Dolls
• Clay Snake
• Paper Beads
• Molas
• Aboriginal Dots

2) Continued Video Trainings!

Every time we release a scripted slideshow, we’ll continue to follow up with a video training to unpack the unit. These videos are full of actionable tips to help you implement the unit with ease and make the most of the content with your students.

3) NARRATED DIGITAL STORYBOOKS!

I’m making it even easier for you to do these units with your students and buying you a bit of time in the process. Throughout the year I’ll be sharing recorded digital storybooks where I’ll narrate the digital storybook portion of each unit so you can share it directly with your students (or just take a listen to gather your own notes if you’d like!). Use these extra couple of minutes to take attendance, put out supplies, or just take a few deep breaths! Take a peek at some of the digital storybooks on my YouTube channel here.

 

 

Get even more details in this video overview.

 

Why Join?

Results! Watch your children deeply engage with authentic, age-appropriate, art experiences! It’s good for the soul! (Theirs and yours!) Community! Membership includes the immeasurable bonus of sharing the highs and lows of this creative adventure with people in the same boat! Convenience! You are perfectly capable of planning this all out yourself, but let’s face it, who has the time? Why not let an experienced art teacher save you the trouble? Entertainment! The activities and community will keep you laughing and inspired!

What ages?

Children of all ages can benefit from participation in the Kids Art Projects 101 Program, and we are ultimately building toward a complete PreK through 5th Grade art curriculum. Our current resource library is most closely aligned with the skills and interests of those in preschool through grade 2. While we designed the Fostering Creativity Through Process Art series with preschoolers in mind, the truth is process art activities are open-ended and can be done by kids (and adults!) of all ages. Generally process art experiences can be introduced to kids as young as 2 or 3 who are beyond the “put everything in your mouth” phase. Older kids will interact with the art projects in a different way and make different discoveries. All ages will benefit from the experience! The projects in the new Famous Art Series were originally developed for use in a public school art room with kindergarten students, but have been adapted into a scripted PowerPoint format so that they can be easily utilized in a variety of settings and with a slightly broader age-range. In the coming years of the program, we will be adding a new series each year so that the entire program will include a comprehensive art curriculum for preschool through grade 5. As a member you will get access to these new resources as they are released in the coming years.

Sound dreamy? Click the pink button below to get started right away.