Three Art and Two Tech Tips Make for a Happy Five Friday

3 + 2 = 5... Five for Friday. Thanks to Doodle Bugs Teaching for this favorite teacher link-up!

I was at Ann Arbor's Art Fair, one of the biggest in the country, and found their kids' art booth. They had some great art projects for kids to do. So great I was taking pics to remember to do them this year.

1.  Art tiles

Using gel pens on black foamcore tiles– beautiful!

How simple but beautiful is this! Kids were using gel pens to make designs on black or white foamcore tiles. Black foamcore is pricier than white, but they were more striking. These tiles were 4x4, but 3x3 might be better for kinders. Kinders like to draw large but gel pens have a fine tip. I'm thinking a smaller drawing space would help them scale it down and cover more surface with their drawing... and a class set of tiles would take less foamcore.

2.  3D Painting   

Painting on styrofoam balls

The kids were painting styrofoam balls that will be used on a Thanksgiving Day Parade float this year in Detroit. They were using paintbrushes as holders, but popsicle sticks would make better handles and stop the balls from twirling as they were painted. I love having kids paint 3D objects as it adds a whole new dimension to the painting experience... get it... new dimension... Har har. I sometimes have kids paint boxes for the same reason. 

3.  Beanie Structures

Neat structures

Packing beanies, toothpicks and wooden skewers were out for kids to build structures with. There were abstracts, people and animals– the dinosaurs turned out particularly well as we are used to seeing dinosaur bones, and the beanies gave that sort of look. This self directed activity which makes good reuse of packing materials lends itself well to the classroom and is on my list for next year. 

4.  Here's a tech tip reminder for laptop use– one we all know but I forgot about at the beginning of the summer. No matter what kind of electronic device  you have, it is always best to run down the battery as low as you can, and then fully charge it again. It is actually good for the battery and it will last longer if you do this regularly. In the school year, many of us charge at home, then go on battery alone when we are at school. This is good practice as it drains and recharges the battery on an ongoing basis. Once summer comes and we are not carrying our laptops home and back everyday it is easy to just plug it in and forget about it, using it more as a desktop computer than a portable one. So this summer, try to have it unplugged most of the time, only charging it when it is very low.

5.  If you read my last post you'll know I discovered Zoobe and will use it in the classroom this year. I can hardly wait to have a disco rabbit and a slew of other characters help me teach. Click on the pic to see the post. It will make you laugh.   

Yippee. Zoobe.

Now head on back to the linky and find more great teacher stuff. Thanks Kacey!

Hope you have a terrific summer weekend. Time does fly faster in the summer, you know!

Thanks for stopping by.