The Day of the Dead project is absolutely one of the author's favorite lessons. It's easy enough for almost any grade level--the author does it with her second-graders--yet can be detailed enough to keep eighth-graders interested. It uses a limited number of easy-to-acquire supplies, which is great for tight budgets. It can also be easily broken…

As the holidays approached this year, the author was looking for something new and different from poinsettias, Christmas trees and snowy landscapes for third-graders. This is a special class who is up for new ideas and art adventures. They had not yet used the changeable markers, which are great fun for pattern and design work. This article…

During each of the holiday seasons, the author tries to come up with a lesson that will incorporate art history and have a holiday theme. One recent winter-holiday season, the author was thumbing through a catalog and saw a picture of note cards that had famous artists' stockings hanging on a mantel. This triggered an idea for the author's…

Presents an art lesson for first-grade students where they painted portraits of their fathers (or the significant male in their lives) for Father's Day. Explains that the students secretly observed their fathers in order to enable them to create the portraits as a surprise. (CMK)