First I want to say hello to all my new subscribers 🙂
89 NEW subscribers in the past month! WOW! A BIG thank you and welcome!!
Below is a collection of newly finished winter artwork!
Kindergarten- SnowyOwlCollages
Such a fun lesson that my students really enjoyed! To learn more about these Snowy Owl Collages click on Kindergarten Art Lessons under the main menu and scroll down. These are actually at the top of that page! Detailed lesson directions, photos of steps along the way, and learning goals are posted!
1st Grade – Mixed-Media Snow Globes
To view more Mixed-Media Snow Globes and read how we made them along with step-by-step photos, and learning goals, click on 1st Grade Art Lessons under the main menu and scroll down
2nd Grade – WinterBearsInSweaters
To view detailed directions, with more photos of student artwork and see the learning goals for this lesson, click on “2nd Grade Art Lessons” under the main menu and scroll down!
3rd Grade – Polar Bears
This is a fun 3 (40 minute) art lesson that has been a huge hit year after year! Black oil pastel, liquid watercolors, and salt
I hope you enjoyed looking at my latest K-3 students artwork! I’ll be making a new post on 8 Valentine’s Day lessons later this week!
Also my 4th graders are currently working on drawing Victorian houses (Victorian Architecture) and 5th are working on “Winter Northern Lights” and I will post photos of students finished artwork here as soon as they finish (which is VERY soon!)
If you haven’t seen it yet, please also check out my previous post below on 5th grade “winter northern lights” which also has my YouTube video! My detailed instructions with step-by-step photos and learning goals are posted under “5th Grade Art Lessons” as well!
Below are 22 Winter Art Lessons ranging from K-5th grade and Special Education. These are a variety of winter art lessons that I’ve taught over the years since 2012. I hope that this post will give you some fun winter art lesson ideas to use in your classrooms!
To find each lesson, just go to the main menu and select the grade level that each lesson is from and scroll down the page to view more photos, directions with steps, and the learning goals!
5th GRADE
WINTERNORTHERNLIGHTS
This is a NEW lesson that I created 12/17/25 and just posted a new blog post on it! Please check out the blog post with details on how to create it by typing in Winter Northern Lights in my search box —Or—by visiting my “5th Grade Art Lessons” page in the drop down menu. ***Update: I just added my new YouTube tutorial on this lesson below too!
(Holiday Lights lesson inspo from @artwithmrsnguyen )
4thGRADE
(Lesson idea from LauraLee (@2art.chambers)
(lesson idea from @mrsallainart and @2art.chambers)
3rdGRADE
Below is my YouTube tutorial on the 3D Winter Mugs
(Polar bears lesson inspiration from @2art.chambers)
2ndGRADE
(Winter Bears in Sweaters lesson idea from @2art.chambers)
1stGRADE
The mixed-media snow globe is a 1st grade art lesson that is NEW (started in Nov. 2025) and is still underway. I did a blog post recently on the steps to create it and added photos of students artwork from day 1 so far. I will add a new blog post on the final artwork with more details as well as add it to the 1st grade art lessons page once complete! I also have a snow globe PDF template in my TpT store for $1.50
(I have another version of this winter landscape lesson under Kindergarten art Lessons – with pink paper and snowflakes created with fingertips dipped in paint!)
(Mixed-Media Alphabet Soup lesson idea from @2art.chambers)
KINDERGARTEN
SPECIALEDUCATION
I hope that you enjoyed looking at these winter art lessons!
I also recently added some fun Q and A to my “About Me” page (under the drop down menu). The Q and A is at the bottom of that page – so check that out if you haven’t yet!
I also added a new “Comments Page” where you can read comments that I collected from all over my websites pages and put all together on one page!
Thank you for visiting my website and be sure to check back for new posts coming up later this week!
“Snowy Owl Collage” with Kindergarten started last Thursday at one of my schools (11/13/25)!
I brought this one back out from the vault with a new twist! I decided this time we’re going to add white tempera paint to the branches AND use a toothbrush to flick snowflakes all around the sky! My kindergartners today were like “whaaat? A toothbrush??” Haha a little confused on that one, but they were very excited to be able to flick paint!
So far on this fun 4 day lesson, Kindergarteners learned what a collage was and strengthened their fine motor skills by tearing small pieces of brown paper for the branch ( I drew the outline of the owl and branch ahead of time with a white colored pencil on black Sax brand paper).
We talked about how to glue the back of the torn paper, not the black background paper, (so we don’t put glue where we might not need it), overlapping, as well as texture.
Later on in the lesson, on day 4, they’ll be working on their fine motor skills even more with tracing circles and cutting them out with scissors for the owls eyes, and using a toothbrush to create falling ❄️❄️❄️
By the time they finish these, who knows- – we could very well be seeing some snow falling ourselves! I can’t believe Thanksgiving is already in less than 2 weeks? It feels like it wasn’t that long ago that I was just out walking with a pair of shorts on?!?!
I’ll be posting more details on this lesson with more photos of students working on them, and of their finished work in the next few weeks! (it’ll probably take 4 (40 min. ) art classes to complete. Stay tuned!!
Below are pics from previous years where students used a white crayon to add snow details rather than paint.
Learning Goals:
Continue to strengthen fine motor skills (tearing, gluing, cutting, drawing)
Can create a collage using torn pieces of paper, and define what a collage is
Can define texture and show texture within their artwork
Can define overlapping and show this in their artwork
Connection to science/ Learn about owls
If you are someone new to visiting my website go below to my search tab below and copy and paste
Elementary Art Lessons: A quick glimpse of my website! To view a variety of art lessons in one quick swoop!
Please also check out my most recent blog posts by copying and pasting the title below in my search bar to go directly to that blog post
1 Point Perspective Cityscapes
Mixed-Media Leaf Impressions
Art on a Cart
Dotted Leaf Paintings
Drawing a Victorian House
Also, what YouTube tutorial would you like me to make next? Any suggestions from any of my art lessons you see here on my website …or something else? or you can drop me a line by adding a comment below!
Gahh! These pumpkins are just SO stinkin’ cute! I LOOoove how they turned out, and my students did too! So proud of their hard work and effort. 2 out of my 8 classes finished so far. Here’s some of their finished work- and photos and details on how we made them! BTW— Please be sure to read some important information at the bottom of this post!
I love all the different facial expressions!
But students didn’t have to include a face in their pumpkin if they didn’t want to
This was a 4 day lesson (40 minutes each art). My YouTube tutorial is posted below the artwork / steps for the lesson.
DAY1:
This lesson was inspired by “The Starry Night” —Kindergarten and 1st grade students learned about the life and artwork of Vincent van Gogh.
After learning about Vincent van Gogh, I showed students step-by-step under the document camera, how to draw the pumpkin on a 12×12” sheet of 80# white drawing paper. I began with drawing a large “C” on the left side of the paper. Then drawing a backwards “C” on the right side- leaving a little space in between. We then connected the two C’s at the top with a slight curving line, then connected the bottom.
Then we drew the pumpkin’s stem, adding a few bumps at the top and lines inside for texture. After that, we drew a straight line down the middle of the pumpkin, and then curving lines on either side to create more texture, and to make our pumpkins look more rounded. Then students drew the face (if they wanted one) and added a zig-line for the grass (making sure to go OVER the bottom of the pumpkin a little bit to show overlapping). Then we erased the parts of the pumpkin that was below the zig-zag line. For the final step of day 1, we drew a moon in the sky.
DAY 2:
Students traced over ALL pencil lines with a black crayon making sure to press real hard as they traced. Then students filled in their pumpkin’s eyes and mouth with a black crayon; pressing hard. Students then drew stars in the sky using a yellow crayon (also making sure to press really hard, and to fill in the circles completely).
DAY 3:
Students then painted their sky using black watercolors, creating a crayon-wax resist technique. It never gets old seeing students watch in awe as the paint glides right over the crayon and doesn’t cover it up! Then they painted their grass, pumpkin, stem and moon.
DAY4:
On the final day, we looked at Vincent’s StarryNight painting again and talked about all the short dashed lines in his work- particularly around each of the stars, and how it made them look like they were twinkling, and how it created a lot of texture throughout.
Students drew short dashed lines in the grass with a dark green crayon, dashed lines with a red-orange crayon inside the pumpkin, and white dashed lines all around the stars; making sure to press down hard as they drew.
LearningGoals:
Students can identify and create various types of line
Students can define texture and show texture within their artwork
Students can define overlapping and show overlapping in their artwork
Students can define and create a crayon-wax resist painting
SO proud of my 5th graders on this lesson! It took 6 to 7 (40 minute) art classes to complete them. (Can’t you just hear all my 5th graders saying “six-sevvven” right now haha)
On the first day of the lesson I explained what perspective meant in art, and showed students some example photos that show 1 point perspective.
Then I showed them the circle template that each student would receive. I drew a large 9” circle by tracing a plate on a sheet of 12×12” paper. Then using a ruler, created little lines along the inside of the circle to mark where students would draw lines using their rulers. I wrote a number at each little line indicating where they should connect their lines.
Students drew their lines connecting to each corresponding number using their rulers making sure to draw lightly. After that they started drawing buildings within each “pie slice” starting at the roofline. They had handouts of buildings to refer to for inspiration while drawing. They could make any building they wanted, and could of course create them from their imagination as well. I explained to create some taller than others, and to make sure that each building touched one another within their circle. I also mentioned to make sure to leave some space in the center for sky.
I also mentioned to make sure any windows drawn inside the buildings go from largest to smallest from the bottom up to show a sense of space and create the illusion that things are getting smaller and are further away from the viewer as they go up towards the vanishing point.
Once everything was drawn, students erased the guidelines created on day 1 that remained in the sky and traced over everything using a fine point sharpie.
After sharpie, students decided on whether they wanted to create a daytime or nighttime sky and created stars and moon or a sun and clouds with pencil. Then began coloring in using alcohol markers, using whatever colors they wanted.
Once finished, (some students finished on day 5, some day 6, and some day 7– but I think I should’ve had more moments of silent art to help them stay focused)— they cut their circle out and glued onto a separate sheet of 12×12” black paper.
These are some works still in progress below —- (my Monday and Tuesday classes are behind everyone else due to holidays and the fact that we started school this year on a Wednesday). I absolutely love the “pencil” store and cool 3D art museum below! My students had some very creative ideas for their buildings!
This is a new art lesson for me this year (2025) and I LOOVE it! I love the fact that it’s a circular design on square paper as well. Lesson idea from art teacher @kerry.daley_artteacher on Instagram. Thank you Kerry for such a cool lesson idea! My students really enjoyed this one!
Please check out my previous most recent posts below if interested!:
“Dotted Leaf Paintings – 4th Grade”
”Mixed-Media Leaf Impressions – 5th Grade”
”Owls at Night” – grades 2+3
”Art on a Cart”
”Pumpkin’s Starry Night” YouTube tutorial
”Drawing a Victorian House”
”Elementary Art Lessons: A quick glimpse of my website!
You can always use my “SEARCH” bar (in the drop down menu) to copy and paste in any of the above post titles to find them quicker as well! Also—- I will be posting finished artwork on k/1 Pumpkin’s Starry Night on Thursday night (11/6/25)! Thank you for visiting my website!
My first graders had so much fun creating these! It only took 2 (40 minute) art classes to make them too.
Day 1
First, I created these pumpkin, moon, and ghost template tracers made from heavyweight Manila tagboard. I created about 25 tracers each.
Students chose their tracer and taped it with a masking tape loop (I helped with that step) on 3 areas of the back of the tracer onto a sheet of white 80# drawing paper.
Then students splatter painted whatever colors they wanted on top of their paper using watercolors. I told them to cover their paper with a lot of splatterpaint, and to splatterpaint close to the edges of their tracer especially. This makes sure the image comes out clear once the tracer is removed.
Once finished, the paintings were put into the drying rack.
Day 2
I carefully took off the tracers on each paper (it’s a good idea to actually press the tape loops on a bit of cotton beforehand so the tape won’t be AS sticky and tear the paper) I learned that the hard way, as some of the tape loops tore their papers a tiny bit in some areas.
We talked about positive / negative space. If a student chose a moon tracer, they cut out a bat from black paper (that they traced a bat on using my tracer) and glued it on their painting.
Students then drew faces if they had a pumpkin or a ghost with a black sharpie marker to add final details!
Such a fun and quick lesson that my students LOVED! Lesson idea from @artsyblevs
LEARNING GOALS:
students can define and identify positive and negative space within their artwork
students can create artwork using various painting techniques
This was a lesson I did last October (2024) but I never added it to my website until now. The first 3 images from the top are my teacher examples, and the rest are by my students.
My students in grades K and 1st created these beautifully vibrant leaves for the fall trees I made on my schools bulletin board recently! It took just 1 art class (40 minutes) to create.
I did this a couple years back and I’m always SO impressed at how bright and vivid the colors come out! And how rarely any leaves end up being brown or muddy!
We used Roylco brand diffusing leaves (you can purchase these on Amazon in packs of 80 leaves -3 different leaf varieties). I’ll also share a pic of how I did the bulletin board one year with the leaves as a wreath for the holiday season below.
Kids colored on their leaf (1 per student) with any colors of the rainbow they wanted (plus teal and pink) with bingo daubers until the entire leaf was colored in. Before they colored, we talked about colors and discussed what two primary colors make secondary colors. I was VERY impressed with my kindergarten students knowledge on this!!
Once they finished coloring, I sprayed their leaf (while on top of a messy mat) with a water spray bottle (about 4-5 sprays) about 12” away from their leaf. Students loved seeing the water spread the ink and watching their colors blend!
After letting the leaves dry in the drying rack black veins were added using oil pastel, then I stapled them on the 3 trees I created earlier. I made them out of crinkling brown construction paper strips and stapling them together.
I love how the trees came out and how it brightens up the hallway for fall!
I’m planning on using the remaining leaves that didn’t fit on the trees, to decorate the edges of my second bulletin board for other “fall” artwork soon!
Here’s a photo of how I used the leaves a couple years ago for the winter holiday!
Thank you SOO very much for following my blog and visiting my website! I know I haven’t been posting on the regular lately but I definitely plan on it this year!!
I have lots of new art lessons that my students are currently working on and I’m EXCITED to share them with you very soon, so be sure to check back and check your email for updates!
Also please be sure to visit my YouTube channel, and subscribe (I was just checking my videos this morning and was surprised and happy to see that my OpArt drawing tutorial video has over 185k views!!!) for more art video tutorials and read-a-loud stories! And you can follow me on Instagram @mammalovespeaches for additional art lessons and ideas!
Thank you so much
This is my 13th year teaching art! 12th year at my current district and 13th year overall!
I just added 24 new art lessons for grades K – 5! This is the first year in my district to teach art to Kindergarten as well!
They have been added to the bottoms of each page under each grade level page (see under menu options). Lessons include steps, photos, and learning goals.
These are the new lessons added:
Kindergarten
Paper diffusing leaves w/ marker and water
Leaf rubbings w/ textured frame
Bugs in a jar
“Little cloud “ inspired by Eric Carle
Organic and geometric shapes Robot
1st grade
Fall tree drawing
Lines makes shapes “house”
Sunflower drawing inspired by Vincent Van Gogh
2nd grade
April showers brings May flowers
Pumpkin tinfoil prints
Owls at night
Snowman in perspective
Superhero masks
3rd grade
3D heart
Sunflowers inspired by Vincent Van Gogh
Spider monkey inspired by Frida Kahlo
4th grade
Patterned pumpkin with oil pastel
Dotted leaf paintings inspired by Brandon Rollin
Spooky eyeball drawings
Symmetrical name creature
Box of chocolates
Tiger paintings inspired by Henri Rousseau
5th grade
Finish the picture
A love yourself drawing
Please follow our art room adventures …(well, more like art on a cart for one of my schools!) AND
@mammalovespeaches on Instagram! Thanks for following! More to come!
I created a new page on this blog of my video read-alouds for kids (I’m calling it STORYTIME), and for teachers to use in their classrooms.
So far I’ve only recorded one book, but I am excited to add and share more very, very soon! I have a ton of books in my collection in my art room and I recently purchased 2 more children’s books!
If there are any short picture books that you would like for me to add to my videos, please let me know (you can email me under my contact page) Thank you! I hope you like it!
This first grade lesson took about (2) 40 minute art classes to create.
Students first learned about the artist Sanford Biggers and we discussed his AMAZING artwork. We also discussed how we’d be utilizing the elements of art; Line, Shape, Color, and Texture to create these fun paper quilts.
DAY 1
After reviewing his artwork, students each received a sheet of 8.5” x 11” copy paper with a grid as seen in the photo below.
Then students colored in each corner with marker, and drew a pattern with black sharpie on the edges.
After that students colored in 8 sections with whatever color they wanted using marker.
Then they drew patterns in the remaining 8 sections with sharpie.
Then students drew ”stitches” with black sharpie all around each rectangle and corners.
DAY 2
On day 2 students cut all around the edges of their paper, creating fringe.
Then students crinkled up their papers into a tight ball and then carefully pulled it apart and repeated crinkling it into a ball and uncrinkling it about 12 times to create texture! Students were surprised they were told to crinkle up their artwork and were amazed that their papers had also shrunk!
