Listen, I get it. You love making art with kids.
Watching them work, sometimes biting their lip in concentration, creating something new. It’s a pretty great way to watch them grow.
I love it too, but if you are an already overworked teacher, then I’m guessing you may have trouble doing this as often as you would like.
Well, art projects with elementary students don’t have to be time consuming, or expensive. You just need to have projects and materials that show off the best of what they can do. And believe me, they absolutely CAN create art that takes your breath away with it’s color and whimsy. They just need some inspiration and supplies that support their creativity.
As a former classroom art teacher, my goal is to collect and share the projects that support this mission, so art moves from being a special occasion, to an everyday kind of thing.
— Kathy Barbro,
Author of “Sharpie Art Workshop for Kids”
My first book features more than 30 arts and craft projects specifically designed to do what the Sharpie markers do best. You can read more about it HERE.
Contact: kathy@artprojectsforkids.org
Want to know more about how Art Projects for Kids came to be?
Here are some answers to a recent online interview.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I first earned my B.F.A. at Minneapolis College of Arts and Design, and then enjoyed a 20-year career in graphic design. When my son entered kindergarten, my career path took a turn.
I started as a volunteer art docent in his kindergarten class, and eventually became my school’s Professional Art Expert (a title for those with skills, but not a teaching degree).
I taught weekly K-5 classes and eventually added an after-school Art Enrichment program as well. After 15 years of teaching by day and blogging by night, I left the classroom to pursue my online art website at Art Projects for Kids.org. I currently work from home in Henderson, NV and love learning everything I can about the intersection of art and business.
Have you always been interested in art?
Yes, I’ve been drawing and making things as long as I can remember. I have to credit a simple farm life upbringing, 4-H club and all, and mother who encouraged lots of interests for all her children.
Where do you find inspiration for your artwork?
When looking for new ideas, it can sometimes feel like everything has already been done before. I find that if you can combine the things though, you can sometimes come up with a new and fresh approach. It doesn’t happen every day, but when it does, it’s worth waiting for.
What was your favorite part of the job of being an art teacher
Every once in a while, the last student you would ever expect, would make something breathtakingly good, or creative. It was always a reminder to never assume who was capable of what, and great motivation for staying positive so you wouldn’t miss it when it happened.
When did you start your site Art Projects for Kids? Tell us about the site and what you offer.
I started blogging way back in 2006, before it was a common thing, purely as a way to keep my growing collection of art projects organized.
In time, I started making my own teaching aids, thanks to my graphics background, but I couldn’t figure out how to market them. I had no interest in doing anything risky, like sell actual printed goods, and no money to invest in them even if I wanted to.
Eventually PDFs became a standard format, buying them online became a standard thing, and I slowly built up with my PDF Shop that now includes over 150 items.
What is the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you and who was it?
If my schedule or projects ever start feeling like they are becoming too much, or overly fussy, I stop and ask myself if I am making things harder than they need be. I don’t know where I heard it or read it, but my mantra is just that. It’s the idea that a lot of the pressure we put on ourselves is totally self-inflicted, so why do it?
What would you tell a young person about following their dreams?
It sounds cliche, but if you follow your heart, double down on the work needed to excel, and stay patient, something is good is bound to come of it. I’ll always believe that.
Here is where you can follow me:
Facebook: Art Projects for Kids
Instagram: Art Projects for Kids
Art Projects for Kids.org is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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2 Responses
Kathleen Barbro
Hi Lisa,
Thank you so much for your nice comment, and thoughtful request. I’d really love to help you out (and would enjoy doing so!) but I have long “To Do” list already that will probably take me through the end of the year. I’d be happy to put a full size tree on my list after that as it sounds like something that more teachers might be interested in. I’m not sure if that helps you, but I did want to get back to you before too much time has passed. Best wishes, Kathy
lkoudijs
Dear Ms. Barbro,
First, thank you so much for sharing your awesome ideas! I am a senior kindergarten teacher and find your ideas inspiring!
At our school, we have “school families” which are students SK-Grade 8 in groups of 12-14 students for special activities. I think doing a large mural would be fantastic. Your four season trees look like they could work for our 200+ students as an all school “school family” project.
Here’s my question… after I explain my idea. I have a vision of the tree murals being combined into two trees (or possibly one tree). The tree pattern could be reversed or mirror image to make a right and a left side with the trunk being overlapped. I might be able to figure that idea out, but perhaps it would be a simpler task for you to do? I was just wondering if you would consider this idea?
My further idea is to have an additional mural space for the top of the tree perhaps with some sky which would then enlarge the mural size. This could then become one large tree for each season or one large tree showing all four seasons. This could then be promoted to larger groups or be used as a growing idea where different parts are added at different times. Let me know what you think of my idea and if you would consider expanding your tree.
It is the 50th anniversary of our school this year and I think this would be an amazing idea to do as a school community. Thank you for sharing so much of your talent, especially for those of us who love art, but are not trained and appreciate the inspiration and talent shared!
Please let me know what you think of this idea. Perhaps this would open up a new avenue for you to share your talents with a larger group. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Appreciatively,
Lisa Koudijs