Giraffes truly are the most beautiful creatures. Eyes adorned with swooping lashes, graceful necks that bend and reach and those adorable knobby knees. No wonder giraffes are the animal of... Learn More

Wildebeests (or Gnu’s) are a strange looking animal that are quite noisy. They look like they are made from the spare parts of other animals with a tail like a... Learn More

My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me by Maya Angelou If you love hearing Maya Angelou speak, reading this book is the next best thing. Her lovely, poetic voice follows the... Learn More

folk art stylings, African art is colorful, dynamic and easily adaptable to most age levels. This lesson takes two 1⁄2 40-minute class sessions. For the first class, we painted the... Learn More

This is a great project to incorporate into an African or Mammal Unit. Hippos need to keep their eras and eyes above the water level so they can keep alert... Learn More

For this lesson, my goal was simple: create a line drawing, using thick and thin lines using an image associated with Senufo Mud Cloths. Because I expected the students to draw... Learn More

Imagine living in the African rainforest amongst chimpanzees? Studying, sleeping, watching. Jane Goodall’s story, beginning with her curious girlhood days to her travels throughout Africa, ignites the imagination of children.... Learn More

Some of my favorite lessons to teach in the art room originate from a book. Searching through old and recently published children’s books is both inspiring to me as a... Learn More

I always wanted to do a papiér maché project. To me, it’s the quintessential kid’s art project. But here’s the deal: they take time, patience and space. At least this... Learn More

Using the figurine, I drew a basic sketch on the white board and showed different options the kids could choose to take. Use the handout to guide your students or... Learn More

Sometimes it’s fun to draw with a paint brush. That’s exactly what my fourth graders did as they studied various tree shapes for an upcoming project. They also learned that... Learn More

Have you ever wanted to do a super simple clay project but with a group of older kids? My time was always super short with the kids. I had about... Learn More

While most weaving lessons I have done have been for younger grades, this was the first paper weaving project I did with upper grades. The details are finer: narrower paper,... Learn More

Drawing a giraffe can look intimidating to a young student but if you demonstration a rather pathetic looking giraffe on the white board, they will begin to settle down. My... Learn More

I have a book on African Animals and in it a few pages featuring the Lesser Flamingo. If you have any flamingo visuals in the form of calendars or books... Learn More

I love drawing projects that are based on the observation. Of course, it would be lovely to gather in front of a herd of elephants for a drawing exercise but... Learn More

Creating sunflowers in the art room is a welcomed subject. They are easily understood by most children, some have planted a few in a school garden, and many have plucked... Learn More

Drawing castles with a classroom of noisy, rambunctious kids is the surest way to win them over. Really. Every child loves this lesson because they know castles very well and... Learn More