KidzArt Official Blog

Spiders are fascinating creatures who produce beautiful works of art: their webs. Try this fun Halloween project by seeking an empty spider web and turning it into art!

Materials:

• Non-toxic white enamel spray paint

• Black construction paper

• Newspaper

Directions:

1. Find an EMPTY spider web and place sheets of newspaper around the area to protect it from the spray paint.

2. Spray both sides of your web with short, gentle bursts of paint. Don’t spray too much or your web will break.

3. When the entire web is covered with paint, press a sheet of construction paper to one side of the web and pull the web down on it. Let the web dry.

4. Once your web has dried to the construction paper, you’ll have a beautiful Halloween decoration! Take time to examine the details and patterns of each web you find!

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From Guest Blogger: Terry Groehler from Art Innovators in West Los Angeles:

Painting/Collage Project Overview:

Students of Malibu’s Webster Elementary School painted a watercolor wash background on watercolor paper. They drew the jaguar with Sharpies and Prisma markers on drawing paper with options of Prisma water color pencils, Art Stix and the Portfolio Series water based crayons. Then they cut out the jaguar and pasted it on torn heavy black construction paper which was pre-glued to the dried background wash. The foliage was made from torn specialty paper and pasted on. Students were very focused with the drawing part; this took two days to complete allowing time for background wash and glue to dry.  The students loved exploring different mediums with this fun painting/collage project.

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Your kids or students will surely get in the Halloween mood with this easy ghost necklace craft!

Materials:

White Construction Paper

Heavy Yarn (white)

Hole Punch

Black Marker

Scissors

Tape

Directions:

1. Print out your favorite ghost patterns.

2. Trace each pattern on white construction paper.

2. Cut each ghost out and punch two holes 1/4″ from the top of the ghost’s head, 1/2″ apart.

3. With a black marker draw eyes and mouth on each ghost.

4. Cut 30” of heavy yarn. Thread yarn through holes punched at the top of each ghost (wrap a small piece of tape around the end of the yarn to make it easier to thread through the holes). Center all three ghosts in the middle of the yarn. Tie necklace off at the ends.

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“ I found I could say things

with color and shapes that I

couldn’t say any other way—

things I had no words for.”

— Georgia O’Keeffe, artist

The week of September 11-17th was National Arts in Education Week. During that week and since, there has been much discussion and blogging about arts education and ways to make sure it thrives in our schools- from elementary through high school.

The arts can be a rescuer especially during high school years when students are at the highest risk of dropping out (research has show that arts education has an impact on truancy and delinquency problems).

What can parents do to make sure that the value of the arts is a priority at their children’s schools? They can play a very critical role in ensuring that administrators are aware of the value of arts learning. Parents can also serve as a guide to help their teens get the most from their high school arts education.

We recently found a great resource that offers guidance to parents of middle and high school students on how to prepare for, research and be an advocate for quality arts programs. The guide, Getting the Best High School Arts Education, provided by The Center for Arts Education, includes great facts on why art education is important, especially in high school. It also offers practical information such as what questions to ask your high school principal and teachers and what networks or groups parents can get involved in to be advocates.

While this guide is geared toward parents and students in New York City, it still offers wonderful ideas and practical information that can be useful in any city or town. The Center for Arts Education may be working on another version of this document for a national audience. Get your free download here:

http://www.cae-nyc.org/high-school-parent-guide.

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