Bored in the house- ART BOARD GAME! ARTOPOLY

As an art teacher, I was always looking for fun art games for kids to play if they finished their art work early or on shorter days before holidays or the end of the school year. Now that we are under quarantine and still have to find ways to keep busy and have fun at home - this project was more needed than EVER! I couldn't find any 'Artopoly' games that I could buy so like any good artist- I MADE MY OWN! and it was SO MUCH FUN!

I started by taking an old board game that we didn't play anymore (Chutes and Ladders) and I primed it by painting over it with flat white acrylic paint. Once it was dry I sketched and measured the spaces on the board (they are about 3 inches in height and 2 inches in width but some spaces vary) . Then I sketched the artist palette desgin in the center and the Artopoly letters. Once I finished that , I mixed the signature monopoly mint green color (using white and green ) and painted the background and spaces. Then I looked up and sketched the drawings for each of the pieces of artwork using an art history timeline. I started with cave paintings after the 'go' space and ended with Op art in the modern art section. I couldn't fit ALL the artwork I wanted (I didn't get to add the Scream !! :( ) but I tried to make sure that I had at least one space for each major art movement in the art history timeline. I added the dates for the artwork and the artist's names as well. I painted the artwork using acrylic paints and a VERY small paintbrush. I am not used to painting on such a small scale so that was pretty time consuming. You could definitely save time by saving and printing thumbnails of the artwork you want and then gluing it to the spaces on the board. I sealed the board with modge podge. For the playing pieces, I used sculpey clay to make 4 pieces of famous art work. I made Van Gogh's ear, a Warhol Soup Can, a Dali melting clock and an ancient Greek amphora. 

I really LOVE how it turned out and can't wait to play it!

Jasper Johns Alphabet art lesson for k-1?

Is it just me, or do all art teachers struggle with finding successful kindergarten /first grade art projects !?  I love being able to find lessons that are not only developmentally appropriate but also are engaging and related to literacy.  I went on a search to find some art lessons that incorporate letters and found some really great ones that go along with books like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and also related to the contemporary artist Jasper Johns. 

So I threw together a google slide show with some facts about Jasper Johns.  Here 

  Then I found an example that I like the most to try for my own demo. I found a really great lesson from a blog that used only one letter. I still want to try that one but I wanted students to be able to practice the whole alphabet.  So I made a video of my attempt and it turned out great! 



I used oil pastels and acylic paint (because thats all i had on hand) but I would use tempera with  k-1 kiddos in the classroom.  I definitely think this would work great with tempera cake paints as it involves learning some techniques like dry brushing (which is pretty advanced for kindergarten!)

I made an art alphabet poem to go with it- so I could read it as we drew each letter together!

A is for ART the best class of the day

B is for black the color that will stay!

C is for Create – we’re creating all the time

D is draw- we draw every line!

E is for exciting- art always is

F is for FUN we never want to miss

G is for GREAT- our masterpiece will be

H is happy your work is always making me

I is for imagine- all the things we can make

J is for JOY from rules that we will break

K is for kind- we will treat ourselves and others

L is for love we have for our sisters and our brothers

M is for masterpiece- that’s what we make each day

N is for No- something we promise to never say

O is for outside- we can color outside the lines

P is for paint- we can do it all the time

Q is for QUESTION- why do we love to make our  art

R is for red- a primary color we’ll use to start

S is for second- the next color that we’ll use

T is for the tons- of colors we will fuse

U is for understand – understand how to mix

V is for violet that red and blue will fix

W is for which- what will we add now

X is for excitement- and we know how

Y is for yet- we haven’t finished yet

Z is for zero- we don’t worry what we get!

Here's the video: