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Montessori Fall Crafts: Fall Leaf Inspiration

Fall is here (in North America, at least)! Have you gotten your pumpkin spice latte or a warm apple cider yet? Fall is one of my favorite times of year! It’s not just the cool, crisp air and reasons for wearing a sweater…from an art teacher’s perspective, there’s so much inspiration out in nature—outside the classroom—for fun and exciting artworks that celebrate the season. Montessori fall crafts are the perfect activity to help students connect what they’re learning inside the classroom with beautiful pieces of nature they can find outside the classroom.

Fall crafts are a great way to connect kinesthetic learning (or art making) with what students are already learning in the classroom. It caters to a different learning style and creates new opportunities for students to use their imaginations and express themselves. This keeps them engaged and excited about what they’re learning!

It doesn’t have to be a challenge to plan your art specials. One of the best things about using autumn as inspiration for your art specials and projects is that it makes things easier on you! You don’t have to comb through Pinterest or other corners of the internet looking for ideas—very likely, they’re right outside your door.

Where to Start: Use Both Outdoor Montessori Fall Crafts & Indoor Crafts

I always encourage Montessori teachers to take their students outside to find fall craft inspiration. The changing colors of the leaves, naked trees, morning dew on the grass, migrating birds, and new fall botanicals (like fungi, pumpkins, and gourds) can all lead to great art projects. And all you have to do is go outside and observe the changes. 

montessori fall crafts leaves books

On days when you can’t head outside, turn to books for your Montessori fall crafts inspiration. There are so many books for Montessori students that have beautiful pictures of fall leaves. You can have students paint or draw what they see (depending on their age and level), or even just give them paints within the same color palette as the leaves in the books and let them explore the medium. 

Here are four fall-leaf books that I really love:

  • Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
  • Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
  • The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
  • Leaves by David Ezra Stein

Bonus Quick Tip: Leaf Luminary Art Project

Here’s one of my favorite Montessori fall crafts that you can do with your students. Send them outside to collect fallen leaves, then use them to create these delightful little luminaries. Your students will be so excited to be able to take them home and show off their art project!

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: collect leaves
Step 2: press leaves so they’re flat
Step 3: Use Mod Podge or decoupage glue to adhere leaves to a clear glass
Step 4: Let dry overnight

montessori fall crafts fall leaf download

One Step Further: Download My Fall Leaf Inspiration Print

I personally think the fall season can give us hundreds of art activity and project ideas, but just to make it even easier on you (which, really, is such a joy because I get to share my love of both fall and art with you!), I’m giving you a FREE Fall Leaf Inspiration Print.

You can print it out and use it on your art shelf or hang it in your inspiration gallery to during the season, or let students fill it in with beautiful colors. It seems like a simple tool, right? But trust me, it’ll lead to so many amazing, creative artworks! Download the Fall Leaf Inspiration Print by clicking here.

A Short Cut Just for You: Professional Development

Of course, fall is just one season of the school year. If you want the tools to be able to come up with art activities all year long, you need the foundation of understanding how children are able to learn art. In my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint, I give you everything you need to easily start teaching art to your your Montessori students.

Art Teaching Blueprint is about to open!

I’ve been helping Montessori teachers all over the world bring art into their classroom for more than 20 years. And I’ve honed and perfected my own art teaching method, and have developed it to complement and support Montessori philosophy, so that you can start teaching art in your classroom too. From setting up a proper art environment and art shelf, to giving your students age-appropriate mediums to explore with, I cover everything a Montessori teacher needs to know.

I’m so excited to be opening up the course one more time for this year! You can sign up for the course starting November 1. But if you want a reminder, and to save your seat now, click here to join the waitlist!

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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Montessori Fine Motor Art Activities

Montessori Fine Motor Art Activities

I’ve spent years observing how young students learn art, and in my experience I’ve seen how sensory art projects and art-making actions can help students achieve better control of their fine motor skills. In fact, I encourage you to look for Montessori fine motor art activities to do with your students in your classroom.

It’s important to understand how fine motor development plays a role in a child’s daily life, both inside and outside of school. They give kids the strength to press, push, pull, and squeeze so they can learn and be able to dress themselves, tie their own shoes, eat without assistance, and play outdoors safely. In the classroom, this translates to holding a pencil to write, using scissors safely, handling papers, opening lunch and supply boxes, and using art supplies (like glue) without a mess.

Montessori Fine Motor Art Activities for children

Increasingly, over the years, early childhood students are coming to my classes and workshops with very little, or even no, finger or hand-strength capabilities. Many Montessori teachers have shared with me that students entering their classrooms also seem to lack the capabilities of completing simple tasks that rely on fine motor skills.

Because these basic skills are lacking, it’s slowing down student progression in the classrooms and some teachers worry that students aren’t able to participate in independent art activities. Not only does that limit a student’s ability to learn and develop their art literacy, it increases the chance of mess or injury in the classroom—and both are major problems. 

Montessori Fine Motor Art Activities lessons

These issues can be remedied, on a large scale, if you give children the opportunities to make art. In fact, not providing kids with enough chances to do repetitive movements, especially in the lower grades, can delay their confidence to work independently and successfully progress within the school year. Make sure you’re designating plenty of time for your students to work on implicit memory functions—which means performing certain tasks without conscious awareness, while building strength.

Where to Start: Sensory Activities to Build Fine Motor Skills

Typically, when I teach my own classes or go into Montessori classrooms, I start my students out with clay modeling, paint brush stroking, sensory painting, and safety scissor activities. I’ve found that these types of activities, plus many others, can help students develop their skills quickly over a short period of time.

Montessori Fine Motor Art Activities, method and advice

You want to start your students out with very basic one- to two-step isolated movements. For instance, I’ll often introduce clay to a classroom and then we’ll work on kneading the clay and forming it into a sphere. After that, I’ll give them time to just sculpt simple creatures, botanicals, or anything else they desire—but only working with simple movements. Same thing with painting—I’ll teach kids one isolated movement like dipping a paintbrush into a palette then making a smooth brush stroke. I’ll give kids time for these movements over and over so that they build implicit memory and concentrate on that one moment.

One Step Further: Download My 10 Creative Art Movements Guide

Fortunately, there are some great Montessori fine motor art activities and movements that can adapted for early childhood, lower elementary, and upper elementary students. These types of art making activities will help students develop fine motor control and small muscles in their fingers and hands.

how to Montessori Fine Motor Art Activities

The guide includes 10 different types of movements that will help strengthen students’ hand-eye coordination and help refine their manual dexterity. Each movement can even be used to set up a simple, stress-free lesson; or you can make sure these movements are involved with any other art lesson you have planned.

To download your FREE guide, click here.

A Short Cut Just for You – Early Childhood Art Guide

Montessori early childhood

Early Childhood Art Guide

Visual Arts Teaching Guide
for 13 Months – 6 Years Old

This book includes:
✅ My proprietary art teaching method
✅ The proper and complete list of art materials
✅ A guide for staging and setting up a successful art environment
✅ Tips and art lesson ideas for early childhood
✅ A convenient three-ring binder presentation

Buy Guide Now!

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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Montessori Arts and Crafts | Integrating Art with Lessons

Montessori Arts and Crafts | Integrating Art with Lessons

Create powerful curriculum that will engage and excite your students in fresh new ways by combining lessons with Montessori arts and crafts. Not only does it allow students to develop their creative thinking and imaginations, but it also helps them make tangible connections to sometimes complicated concepts. Thinking about subject matters through art construction supports students to think in complex ways. 

Bringing Montessori arts and crafts into you classroom is as simple as combining them together with what you’re already teaching in the classroom presently. It can be as easy as putting out different art mediums and having students respond to the stories and ideas you’re sharing through their works.

When I visit Montessori classrooms to teach art, I always check in with the teacher and ask: What’s going on in the classroom? What are the important lessons you’re teaching right now? Then I customize the art activity to support the teachers topics by creating art projects around those ideas. All you have to do is simply look at your core lessons and turn those into easy art activities. 

Montessori Arts and Crafts | Integrating Art with Lessons, projects

Imagine not having to stress about what art activity you have to teach!

Creating and making artworks is highly kinesthetic, so if you have some students that benefit from this learning style, you’re giving that student more opportunities to engage and understand topics better. This allows students to use mental energy (in creating) along with physical energy (in making). Art making is a lovely way to present new ideas to different types of learners, setting you up to be far more successful in helping all your students learn—no matter their learning style.

There’s no reason to go searching for art ideas outside of your classroom when your core lesson can be an inspiration. You just need to add to what your students are learning already. I promise it will make things so much easier for you—you may even end up enjoying art lesson planning!

I dedicate a full chapter (chapter 17) to this topic in my book, Introducing Visual Arts to Montessori Classrooms. So, if you want more information on how to integrate visual art into the curriculum, you can order the book here.

Montessori Arts and Crafts | Integrating Art with Lessons

Where to Start: Combine Montessori Arts and Crafts with Core Lessons

Here’s a couple of great way to combine art activities with your Montessori lesson plans:

  • Take kids on nature walks to observe their surroundings, maybe collect specimens like rocks, leaves, seeds, flowers to use in art activities. 
  • Encourage students to keep nature journals with sketches and diagrams of plants, insects, birds, animals, weather, season.
  • Create botanical bookmarks by stamping leaves with an ink pad, creating leaf rubbings with crayons, taping or gluing botanicals to bookmarks, or by drawing or painting images of botanicals. (Bookmarks can be cut into any shapes or sizes.)
3 to 6 Art – Early Childhood Montessori Teaching Resources

Sign-up to receive video

The Phases of Art Development is a quick digital course that explains how art making can help students develop their creativity, fine-motor skills, and focus. More importantly, I share what types of projects students at every age are capable of completing safely, and without making a mess.

Best of all—it’s free! To sign up for the course, click here.

One Step Further: FREE Mini Course

I created a FREE online video mini course—Phases of Art Development—that teaches exactly what kids are capable of learning Understanding what your students can learn (in early childhood, lower elementary, or upper elementary) will help you decide what to teach them.

Even better—the mini course comes with a rock painting integrated lesson. You’ll have everything you need to set up an art activity that reflects a Montessori Great Lesson. You can sign up for the FREE mini training and get the rock painting art lesson by clicking here.

Don’t worry, I have a very special resource for elementary teachers too! My all new Color Theory: Practice & Process Curriculum has dozens and dozens of color theory lessons for lower elementary and upper elementary Montessori students. The lessons build on each other to provide students with the knowledge they need to understand color theory and start the artistic process. Plus, every lesson is laid out, step-by-step, so all you have to do is read up and follow the instructions! To purchase Colory Theory Curriculum for your classroom, click here.

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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Montessori Art Activities | Big Bang Art Lessons

There are so many different art activities on Pinterest and elsewhere on the internet that it can be overwhelming to choose which of the many Montessori art activities for Big Bang lessons is best for your students. And a hard-working, multi-tasking, total boss teacher like you has better things to do that browsing through endless web pages, right?!

Montessori Art Activities | Big Bang Art Lessons

I’ve been in your shoes, browsing books and websites looking for ideas on what to teach. There are so many things to consider and questions to ask yourself:

  • Which activity will keep my students engaged?
  • Is this big bang art activity age appropriate?
  • Do I have all the materials or would I need to go out and buy some?
  • How do I stop scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of ideas on Pinterest!?

That’s what I’m here for!

I’m here to answer all those questions and give you some ideas on what kind of Montessori art big bang activities are going to support the Great Lessons you’re already teaching. I want to share with you ideas on how to support your important lessons, engage your students creative imagination, and get them working independently!

There are so many different art activities you can present to your students that incorporate the lessons about the Big Bang. I can think of a dozen different mediums that would help them visualize and understand such a big, seemingly-indefinite concept.

Montessori Big Bang activities

In fact, art lessons related to the Big Bang are some of my favorites to teach Montessori students! It allows them to explore their imaginations and get creative, but in a real, concrete sort of way. An explosion they’d only be able to imagine, they can now draw out on paper. They can paint the beautiful colors of a supernova. It’s amazing to see what they create!

Combining art activities with science can help kids express ideas in completely different ways than traditional learning, plus art stimulates creativity! Another bonus is art activities are sensory and tactile experiences, and offer students a new way to learn, rather than just through visual and auditory methods. Integrating art with the Big Bang lessons (and really, any other Great Lesson you’re teaching) gives your students the chance to think deeper fire up multiple senses at once.

Montessori Art Activities

Where to Start: Look for Visual Inspiration in the Great Lessons

When you’re teaching about the coming of the universe and the Big Bang, there really is no shortage of art inspiration. Just flip through some of your books! One of my go-to books for visual inspiration is “Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story” by Jennifer Morgan. What beautiful lines, swirls, textures, and pops of wonderful color! These images are sure to inspire your students to create.

Montessori Art Activities | Big Bang Art Lessons

One Step Further: Download My 5 Montessori Big Bang Art Activities Idea List

As I said, Big Bang art activities are some of my favorite to present to students! It took some time, but I whittled down all my favorite Big Bang art activities, to these five. They’re simple to present to your Montessori students and can be slightly adjusted to fit early childhood, lower elementary, or upper elementary classrooms (unless otherwise noted). Click here to download my top 5 Big Bang Art Activities and start teaching them in your classroom! 

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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Montessori Curriculum | Art Planning Tips

The start of a new school year is the time to get organized for the next nine months (or so) ahead. Of course, you know the general subjects and lesson themes you’re going to teach, but doing your Montessori curriculum planning for the entire school year, or even the next month, can seem overwhelming.

In all honesty, coming up with art lessons for Montessori students just takes a bit of preparation and basic knowledge of what your students are capable of learning and understanding.

Montessori Curriculum for teaching art lessons

I’ve worked with Montessori teachers from all over the world. I know that far too often, art curriculum can take a back seat to other presentations like science, practical life, or language arts. However, it’s SO important for children to be introduced to visual art! You don’t have to deviate far from the Great Lessons to teach it either, in fact, I recommend using a Great Lesson theme as art idea inspiration when you’re creating your Montessori curriculum.

Let’s back up a second, though. I know it can be challenging—stressful even—to try and come up with Montessori art lessons when you have no art experience. Look, I’m a professional artist, I’ve done it! However, truth be told, I rarely get to show off the complete extent of my skills to elementary students, because they’re too young for this type of instruction and aren’t developmentally ready for these types of lessons.

It’s been the norm to think we need to be teaching children the classical Masters along with the elements and principles of design—but that’s not the case! Students struggle to learn those high-level, in-depth concepts because they need a foundation of simple art curriculum first. The truth is you CAN present great art lessons without being an artist!

Montessori color mixing curriculum for first and second plane

Montessori Curriculum – Art Planning

Isn’t that great news!? You don’t have to be an artist to teach your Montessori children art literacy and concepts. (But I do have an online course, Art Teaching Blueprint, that does train you in how to teach art if you’re interested.) As an adult you have enough experience and knowledge to teach a basic one- to two-step Montessori art lesson sequence and activity.

But I know without the proper art training it’s hard to know what a quality art program should actually cover. Or how to go about choosing art lessons, setting up for activities, and creating a schedule for the year. I get it! Let me fast track you with some tips on creating Montessori art lessons. 

how to create Montessori curriculum for art

Montessori Curriculum – Where to Start Art Lessons

What you decide to present for your art lessons is entirely up to you. I always suggest trying to integrate art lessons with other lessons you’re already presenting. You might also want to think about cultural special events or the Great Lessons as you map out your Montessori art curriculum lesson plans. For instance, U.S. Earth Day is in April, so your lessons that month can focus on nature and the earth.

Download 3 Step Montessori Art Lesson Planning How-To Guide

Montessori free art lesson guide to building art curriculum

One of the most important factors when it comes to Montessori curriculum planning is staying organized. When I’m training Montessori teachers how to bring art into their classroom and create an art lesson plan, I try to keep it simple by breaking it down into three easy steps. 

Basically, you can make art lesson presentations much easier on yourself by:

  • Planning and scheduling ahead of time
  • Keeping organized
  • Ordering materials ahead of time
  • Integrating important Montessori subjects (to keep you from struggling on what to teach about)
  • Giving children their own unique way to learn topics
  • Downloading my Montessori Art Lesson Plan Guide

Because I’ve been in your shoes and know exactly what it’s like to spend all your time searching for Montessori art lesson plans and ideas, I’m helping you out with this handy guide. Download it, keep it in your desk or folder, and refer to it whenever you’re mapping out your curriculum or planning your next art activities. Click here to download the guide.


two drawing curriculum covers, best curriculus for drawing and painting lessons for students 6 12 years of age

Best curriculums for drawing and painting grades 6 – 12 years

These curriculums meet and exceeds the national and international core arts standards for children. It teaches the Elements and Principles of Design and the artistic process through the Science Art Method™. These are sequential step-by-step, drawing lessons that are easy to follow in scope and sequence. So you can save time with prepared lessons that are ready to schedule weekly, biweekly, or monthly. This is the best Montessori art curriculum for early childhood/elementary grades. Children love these fun drawing lessons.

Yes this is a stand-alone curriculum.

Yes this shows you how to teach progressive art skill sets

LEARN MORE:

Drawing Curriculum – ORDER HERE

Painting Curriculum – ORDER HERE

Color Theory Curriculum – ORDER HERE

Clay Modeling Curriculum – ORDER HERE

Publisher: Nature of Art®

First year starting an art program For Montessori Children?

arts and craft book by Spramani Elaun

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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Easy Montessori Art Activities and Prompts

Easy Montessori Art Activities and Prompts

Art lessons can be planned with very little effort, a quick set-up, and even keeping messes to a low impact! Whether you’re at the beginning of the school year and are still getting situated or further along but just having a difficult week (it happens to all of us!) easy Montessori art activities can save the day as long as you have a little preparation in place. These art lessons can also support the development of independence for your students.

Starting a new school year can be challenging. You’re getting back into the swing of things (hopefully you enjoyed your summer!), and your students are still adjusting to being back at school every day and doing their classroom work.

Here’s the thing, I know this new school year can also lead to joyful moments between you and your students if you create some calming, expressive situations for your students can settle into. I want to fast track you with some helpful suggestions to aid in these early weeks with easy Montessori art activities and prompts that you can set up quickly.

Montessori Art Activities

There’s a chance you’re still setting up your classroom and fine-tuning your shelving. Art lessons during the back-to-school season shouldn’t be difficult—for you or for your students. Start the new year with simple, easy Montessori lessons for art. It’ll keep your students captivated while you focus on putting together other presentations or just getting acclimated. 

Where to Start: Know Your Aim

Don’t stress yourself out! The first couple weeks of school should come with a grace period. Instead of coming up with complex art extensions, give yourself a breather and do something easy. Just because a prompt is easy on you, doesn’t mean it won’t be engaging and educational for your students.

Direct Aim

You can start with basic lesson procedures such as technical material set-up demonstrations or presentations on how to properly manipulate mediums. Here’s a couple of examples of what I mean:

  • You can demonstrate how the art shelf is staged.
  • You can give presentations on how to set-up for watercolor painting and why all the tools work together, where to dry artworks, and how-to put materials away for the next artist to use.
  • You can give presentation techniques on different ways to use mediums like color pencils; you can also remind children how not to misuse these materials.
  • You can demonstrate why the materials are staged and how they relate to your inspiration gallery.
  • You can explain where art making will take place inside or outside the classroom.
  • You can show how to clean up materials and tools properly.
  • You can demonstrate how to manipulate mediums in different ways.
  • You can prepare an inspiration gallery.
Easy Montessori Art Activities and Prompts

By taking time in the beginning of the year for these lessons you set-up students for independence.

Indirect Aim

Once you’ve given these basic demonstrations and presentations you can make the materials available for your students by giving them an indirect aim of investigating creativity and responding to the great lessons or practical life stories you’re sharing this fall. This frees you from needing to have art extensions ready to present every day—just allowing them artistic expression and room to practice using the art materials will take care of everything else.

A few easy art mediums to start with are: 

  • Crayons
  • Watercolor
  • Paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue sticks
Easy Montessori Art Activities and Prompts

I’ve created a download for Montessori teachers headed back to school (or really, Montessori teachers who need a quick, go-to art lesson prompt any time of the year). Each one is really easy to set up and pull off; they don’t require very many materials or an elaborate presentation or demonstration. They’ll still keep your students busy, help them grow in their art literacy, and won’t lead to any major mess or confusion. 

One Step Further (Download My Easy Montessori Art Activities Cheat Sheet)

Before I became a Montessori art teacher trainer, I was an artist and homeschool mom. I also taught other art students from around my community how to create art, and have led programs in museums and educational conferences from different pedagogies throughout the world. With all this experience (more than three decades!), I’ve been able to observe the activities that excite and engage students. I’ve also learned what prompts require very little effort to put together and result in no stress at all! And that’s why I’ve made this download for you!

Easy Montessori Art Activities and Prompts

I know that Montessori classrooms are unique and lesson prompts should support independent learning. I’m so excited for you to check out this art activity cheat sheet. They’re easy for you and fun for your students!

You can download 10 FREE Easy Montessori Art Activities by clicking here.

A Short Cut Just for You

Some days you just need a short cut, and aside from hiring me to teach your Montessori students directly in person, this is the next best thing! Here’s an awesome art lesson I’ve created that you can buy and quickly present to your students. The Warm to Cool Butterfly Art Lesson introduces students to color theory and will keep them occupied without much supervision on your end. 

color mixing lessons

It comes with four student exercises, and five inspiration color cards to print out, and a butterfly template for students to color. All you need to have in your classroom already are crayons, colored pencils, or any type of paint medium.

To purchase and download Warm to Cool Butterfly Art Lesson (for only $12.99!) click here.

color mixing art lesson for kids download

arts and craft book by Spramani Elaun

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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Montessori Art Storage | How-to Set Up Storage for Easy Presentations

Montessori Art Storage | How-to Set Up Storage for Easy Presentations

One of the biggest challenges I hear from Montessori teachers is keeping their classrooms organized—especially when it comes to art. Many of them think that it can be messy, and, because there are so many cool art materials you’ll want to have in your classroom, it can become disorganized and chaotic fairly quickly. But that’s not the case at all! Once you know how to set up your Montessori art storage, you’ll be able to do shelf staging, presentations, and demonstrations without breaking a sweat! You’ll be able to teach your students fun art projects without needing to be an artist yourself, you just need to be able to master your art materials storage and set-up!

I’m all about organization! When I’m not training other Montessori teachers with how to bring art into their classroom, I’m setting up pop-up art lessons at museums, studios, workshops, and different classrooms all over the world. You can sometimes find me at local Montessori schools here in San Diego, and I’ve also taught art at the Children’s Museum in Seattle, in lower elementary Montessori classrooms in China, and at Montessori teachers conferences in Bali! I’m literally all over the world!

My key to success in being able to set up shop with everything I need is organized storage! Because I know exactly where all my art materials are within their storage containers, I can quickly grab what I need and set up an art presentation without any stress. And I’m sharing my storage secrets with you! (Click here to watch my video, How to Set Up Your Montessori Art Storage Stress and Mess Free.)

Montessori Art Storage

There are a lot of reasons to spend a little extra time unpacking your classroom and making your art storage a priority.

  • It keeps your classroom and art shelf neat and tidy throughout the year.
  • It allows you to quickly set up your art environment for lessons.
  • Being able to see all your art materials while they’re in storage will make it easier to know what supplies you have on hand so you can quickly plan a lesson or project.
  • You’ll be able to rotate art material out of storage and onto your art shelf, so students stay inspired all year.
  • It models a good example for your students.
  • It helps you know your art material inventory so you know what items should be added to your shopping list for future activities.
  • Gives you assistant the ability to set up your art activities since everything is kept all in one place.
Montessori Art Storage | How-to Set Up Storage for Easy Presentations

Where to Start: Understanding Art Shelf vs. Art Storage

It’s usually easier said than done, I know. At the beginning of the year you can start with a clean slate, but at the same time, you have all these cool new art materials you want to showcase and share with your students! Reel it in!  

Not everything needs to be on your art shelf. In fact, if you put every art material out on your art shelf, it’ll probably backfire! Your students will lose interest in all the amazing mediums and art-making tools you’ve provided them. Plus, more things out on the shelf might very well lead to more mess!

Montessori Art Storage | How-to Set Up Storage for Easy Presentations

One Step Further (Watch My Montessori Art Storage How-To Video!)

I know that you’re going to have your own preferences in how you like to set up your classroom and how you like to organize your storage. In my experience, every art storage area should:

  • Include one container per art area, or domain
  • Have clear containers
  • Have containers with easy-to-open lids to access materials
  • Be in an area near your staging containers
  • Be in a place that’s away from your students’ reach
  • Have everything you need to teach stored together (e.g., a container for watercolor painting should have paints, palettes, napkins, wash jars, paintbrushes, watercolor paper, inspiration, etc.)

Generally speaking, you want everything that’s in storage to be visible and accessible.

I’m a visual person, so I made this video for you to check out. I’m going to walk you through how I set up my own Montessori art storage place. You’ll see how I organize things overall, but I’ll also show you how I categorize my tubs and storage containers. And then, as a bonus, I’ll show you why it’s so important to have a functioning art storage system…I’ll walk you through how I use the art materials I have in storage to set up an art lesson without much thought. Trust me, it’ll save you tons of time if you get this down. 

Click here to unlock and watch my video on How to Set Up Your Montessori Art Storage Stress and Mess Free.

Art Storage | How-to Set

A Short Cut Just for You

Staying organized is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to having art in your classroom. Yes, Montessori art storage is important, but you need all the other puzzle pieces—knowing how kids learn art, understanding the components of an art lesson, being able to set up an art shelf, etc.—to be able to effectively teach your students art.

I’ve been helping Montessori teachers all over the world bring art into their classroom; I’ve honed and perfected the training so that you can do it too. In my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint, I give you everything you need to start teaching your Montessori students art.

arts and craft book by Spramani Elaun

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

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Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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Montessori Art Materials: The New, Hottest & Coolest

There are so many new art mediums and tools on the market this year, and I’m excited to share some of the products I’m currently exploring in my art camps, workshops, and classroom presentations this year. These are all items I found for teaching basic art literacy principles to young students. And, so far, the kids are responding extremely positively and really seem to love these Montessori art materials! 

Bringing a new product into your regular art lessons will excite your students and hold their attention. Think about how you cook in your kitchen; when you get a new gadget to do the same old task, it suddenly becomes so much fun again! Bringing one or two new products into your art lessons this year inspire your students and help them come up with beautiful new creations.

I make a list like this every year, reviewing some of the most popular products that kids, teachers, and parents loved at my events throughout the year. Sometimes these mediums are so good that they replace old ones and help me teach better. So, here are six hot, new items—that worked best for me—on my art shelf and in my online sales kits this year!

1. Primary Watercolor Pencils – Water-soluble 

Learning to mix primary colors into an array of color combinations is the study of color theory. I like to think of it as an opportunity for scientific exploring for young students; it gives them a chance to see colors evolve and transform. And I usually start them with red, yellow, and blue pigments for mixing primary into secondary colors.

I know so many teachers who struggle with maintaining messes. Well, guess what? These water-soluble primary watercolor pencils are a great way to let students explore without needing to worry about paint creating a mess. These simple three colors can make a full color spectrum color wheel. Definitely a hot product for teachers!

Tip: Keep the pencils sharpened for precision drawings, and crisp, clean lines.

2. Petite Pintora™ – Color Mixing Station

My new favorite product is also for color mixing! It’s this fabulous wooden Color Mixing Station by Petite Pintora™. This item was my most popular at the AMS education conference among teachers!

After understanding how specific pedagogy teachers need materials to function in the classroom and on their art shelves, and as an art teacher who knows what needs to be learned for advance painting skill sets, I decided to bring this product to market this year. I’ve found that it really helps children to securely carry their work station from the shelf to a table without knocking things over or creating a mess.

This beautiful wooden color mixing station is handcrafted in Turkey and designed for 3-12 year-old students. It comes with glass droppers, and non-toxic primary paints for mixing the perfect 12-step color spectrum wheel, which helps students properly learn about secondary color mixing. The set also comes with a wash jar, paintbrush, and laminated visual color wheel chart.

3. Watercolor Crayons – Water-soluble

Watercolor crayons were so popular this year among my upper elementary students because they are simple to use, easily glide across paper, and are super rich in pigment. When you wash over them with a wet paintbrush it instantly turns into paint—making them two mediums in one! Even the teachers I demonstrated these mediums to during training fell in love with them. 

Drawing lines then adding color is a dominant activity kids regularly do while creating art. I love these crayons because students can draw or doodle with them, then use a wet paintbrush to turn their drawings into paintings. It makes these crayons a mess-free alternative to keeping wet paints in palettes during art presentations. 

If you’re struggling on what Montessori art materials to invest in for the 2021 school year, I recommend opting for these, since they do the job of two products in one (drawing and painting), and last a really long time. 

4. Sumi-e Ink & Pointed Paint Brush

My last visit to China gave me the opportunity to investigate the art of sumi-e ink painting and learn all about the materials and methods ink-painting artists use. This year, I took what I learned and now I’m so thrilled to be offering a new curriculum for teaching kids how to make proper brushstrokes, Level 1. Painting for Montessori Children, which will be available this fall!

I found that teaching kids these basic skills and brushstroke lessons with sumi-e ink is easier than traditional paints. Sumi-e ink is perfect for isolating brushstroke movements and last long on the paintbrush. I love this product and highly recommend using it when you’re starting your students with basic brushstroke lessons.

Tip: Sumi-e ink can create messes so be sure to check out the painting presentation method I introduce in my books and trainings for how to set children up for working with this product.

5. Tempera Paint Sticks

Oh my, to say my early childhood kids loved these would be an understatement… they loved loved loved these! Tempera Paint Sticks are a great addition to your students’ process-based painting experiences. (But don’t replace traditional painting experiences; young students still need to be exposed to both types of tactile painting.) The paints glide smoothly across paper, offer bright pigmentation, and are safe and non-toxic without leaving behind any large messes. 

The smooth paint sticks are actually in a solid form and no paintbrush is required. They’re super easy set-up and use—just open caps and doodle the paint on paper. I’ve observed hundreds of kids this use these and have noticed the instant gratification they get seeing bold colors appear even when they’re still developing their gross to fine-motor control and hand strength. These tempera paint sticks are great for making basic line shapes like zig zags, and straight and curved lines. 

The best part (at least, for teachers) is that these tempera sticks are not messy; as soon as they’re applied to paper, the pigment won’t smudge as long as they’re used on smooth, uncoated paper. I don’t recommend using these on other surfaces like canvas or wood.

Tip: These paint sticks have caps that may be a choking hazard for children under 3 years of age. I usually remove all caps while arts in session, then replace them and store the paint sticks away from my young artists until next time.

6. Yarn Weaving Sheets

I’m always on the hunt for creative ideas that help young students build and refine their fine-motor mastery. I found these fun yarn weaving sheets for kids to learn the basics of weaving yarn with their hands. Hand-crafts are important for helping students develop their fine-motor skills, and these sheets are like blank canvas waiting for kids to come up with creative ways to weave colors or designs into them.  They can be used with a cross-stitch needle or yarn needle. I found these to be a great calming tactile experience. 

One Step Further: Learn How to Use These Montessori Art Materials 2019

The majority of these art mediums might be self-explanatory, but I think it’s important to see them in action. I spent some time earlier this week gathering up all the items in my round up so I could demo them for you.

Click here to watch my video demonstration and review. Once you have access to the video, you’ll be able to watch it as many times as you’d like. That way, you can choose the 2019 Montessori art materials you want to bring into your classroom, then rewatch my demo for it so you can easily present the medium to your students and get them started!

A Short Cut Just for You

These cool art materials are just the tip of the iceberg! While new mediums come out every year, having a foundation of art materials as well as an understanding of their general purpose, is crucial. I’ve developed an online teacher training, Art Teaching Blueprint, that gives you everything you need to bring art lessons into your Montessori classroom.

The course is an accumulation of everything I’ve learned and observed while teaching art for the last almost 30 years! In seven lectures, I show you how to use a wide variety of art materials, plus how to set up an art shelf and how to teach lessons that actually help Montessori students learn and appreciate art.

I’m currently doing a special summer enrollment for my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint, and offering it at a discounted price! But not for long! Click here to learn more and register.

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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30 Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary Classroom

We’re soon approaching the new school year! Have you already started all your back-to-school shopping for your classroom materials? While you’re out picking out the last few items to make your classroom truly spectacular, make sure you’re adding Montessori art materials for lower elementary to your list! There are so many awesome art products and wonderful things to work with, I’d encourage you to explore any materials that inspire you. 

montessori art materials

Choosing the Most Appropriate Art Materials for Lower Elementary

When you’re out shopping for art materials, you’ll probably be greeted with hundreds of options, but not everything will be appropriate for a lower elementary classroom. 

Students in lower elementary have great energy and curiosity; they’re wanting to understand how the world works and are learning to express their imaginative fantasy ideas through artwork. It’s also a time where they’re developing and practicing their fine motor movements, so practice and repetition is key at this age, and creating art with different mediums can help with that. 

Lower L students are able to learn quickly with guided lessons and then work independently. They love exploring different mediums and what they can achieve with them. That’s why it’s important to have all the essential materials ready and on hand—your students will have more choices to explore with. It also helps you to be able to quickly and easily give presentations and demonstration set-ups.

30 Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary Classroom

I’ve worked with teachers all over the world, and almost all of them had questions about how to start teaching art in their classroom. Where do I start? What material do I need? These were some of the most common questions I’d be asked by lower elementary Montessori teachers!

It’s taken me years to get my own art supply collection to the point it is now, and I didn’t purchase everything all at once—and I don’t expect you to either! The trick with buying art materials for Lower L—especially if you haven’t done this before—is starting slowly. You can get by with just a few basic materials to start the school year. 

I created a cheat sheet of the best Montessori art materials for lower elementary to make your back-to-school shopping easier on you. You don’t have to purchase everything all at once, but be strategic with what you do buy. Add to your materials as the year goes on, and you’ll constantly see your lower elementary students get excited with each new thing you bring out!

Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary Classroom

Where to Start: Which Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary to Purchase First

It’s taken me more than three decades as a professional artist and art instructor to understand what materials are appropriate for lower elementary Montessori grades. It all starts with the 5 Domains (which is how I categorize the different areas of visual art).  

All my experience and observations have led me to develop a list of the specific mediums, tools, and art materials that can be used to successfully teach lower L students and help develop their art literacy and fine motor skills. 

I’ve created this art materials list, to take the guesswork and trial and error out of what to purchase for your classroom. I know classroom budgets can be difficult to work with, so I recommend starting by purchasing items from one domain, then adding to your art materials from there. You can make dozens of different art lessons and presentations based on just a few art materials. (If you’re looking for other money-saving tips, read this blog.)

30 Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary Classroom

One Step Further (Download My Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary List!)

I made this art material list based on my years of experience teaching art to lower elementary students, ages 6 to 9. Every item listed here is suitable for their age group and will make introducing art concepts and lessons to them stress-free, and mess-free. Trust me, having the right art materials makes all the difference in making teaching art fun and easy (for you and your students)!

You can download 30 Montessori Art Materials to Have in Your Lower Elementary Classroom by clicking here.

30 Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary Classroom

A Short Cut Just for You

Having the right art material for your lower elementary classroom is just the first step. If you want more information on how to use each material, how to set up an art shelf with the materials, and how to teach lessons that actually help lower elementary students learn and appreciate art, then I have some good news for you!

I’m currently doing a special summer enrollment for my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint. It includes everything you need to know to successfully bring art lessons into your lower elementary classroom—without the stress. I go into more detail about art materials (such as how to use them and where to find them), give you step-by-step art presentations, and a ton of other valuable information that makes teaching art and setting up your shelf so much easier. And, right now, you can register at a discounted price, so don’t miss out!

Click here to learn more about Art Teaching Blueprint.

30 Montessori Art Materials for Lower Elementary Classroom

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

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35 Montessori Art Materials for Upper Elementary Classroom

35 Montessori Art Materials for Upper Elementary Classroom

We’re soon approaching the new school year! Have you already started all your back-to-school shopping for your classroom materials? While you’re out picking out the last few items to make your classroom truly spectacular, make sure you’re adding Montessori art materials for upper elementary to your list! There are so many awesome art products and wonderful things to work with, I’d encourage you to explore any materials that inspire you. 

Choosing the Most Appropriate Art Materials for Upper Elementary

It can be overwhelming to start building up your cache of art materials for your classroom. There are so many options, and a lot of them will seem perfect for upper elementary students. It’s important to be savvy with what you buy though, not everything will actually be suitable for your students, and if you’re not buying strategically, you may run out of supplies or be limited with what you’re able to teach. 

Montessori Art Materials for Upper Elementary

It’s taken me over three decades as a professional artist and art teacher to understand what tools are appropriate for upper elementary grades to use to develop foundational artist skill sets. I have categorized visual art into five areas, which I call The 5 Domains. There are specific mediums, tools, and materials elementary students must use in order to learn each domain, and I’ve created an art material list for you so you don’t have to guess or use trial and error to figure out what items work best. (You can download that list below.)

Upper elementary students are now working independently and can usually read and follow guided instructions. Students at this age are interested in working on imaginative fantasy ideas, and also learning lessons on how to make their drawings and paintings more realistic. They love the freedom of having access to a tool box of mediums to express and can now distinguish the difference in results in their work. They’re also proud when their teachers display their work in a positive light in their classroom community. (You can do this with an inspiration gallery! Learn more about that in this article.)

Montessori Art Upper Elementary Classroom

These students can quickly get ideas from the curriculum they’re learning and want to jump right into planning and getting their creative ideas onto paper. Therefore it’s important to have all the essential materials ready for and accessible to your students during these independent years of creating and thinking. By having the right art materials available, upper elementary students will be able to work artistically and grow in their art literacy.

Montessori Art Materials

Building Your Montessori Art Materials for Upper L Box

I’ve worked with teachers all over the world, and almost all of them were challenged with where to start. Many of them tell me they wanted to begin teaching art in their upper elementary classroom ASAP, but they had no idea what art materials they needed to do so. They all want to know the basic supplies they need to be able to introduce art concepts to their students right now.

I’m going to tell you now, I made a downloadable list of Montessori art materials for Upper L, and it would be so amazing if you could bring everything on the list into your classroom. Realistically though, it’s going to take some time to accumulate every item I recommend (unless you’re working with an unlimited budget!). It’s taken me years to accumulate my own art material collection to the point it is now, so I don’t expect you to be able to have absolutely everything you need after one shopping trip. 

35 Montessori Art Materials for Upper Elementary Classroom

Where to Start: Which Art Materials to Purchase First

I usually teach visual art using five domains. I know budgets can be tight, so if you’re strapped and can’t spend too much on art materials, start by buying items in one domain, then go from there. It’s possible to create dozens of art projects using just a few essential materials from the crafting domain, you just have to be a little creative in the lessons you present. Add to your materials as you begin to introduce new topics; every time you bring out something new, your upper elementary students will be so excited, engaged, and enthusiastic to learn how to use them! (If you’re looking for other money-saving tips, read this blog.)

One Step Further (Download My Montessori Art Materials for Upper Elementary List!)

I made this art material list based on my years of experience teaching art to upper elementary students, ages 9 to 12. Every item listed here is suitable for their age group and will make introducing art concepts and lessons to them stress-free, and mess-free. Trust me, having the right art materials makes all the difference in making teaching art fun and easy (for you and your students)!

You can download 35 Montessori Art Materials to Have in Your Upper Elementary Classroom by clicking here.

Montessori Art Materials

A Short Cut Just for You

Having the right art material for your upper elementary classroom is just the first step. If you want more information on how to use each material, how to set up an art shelf with the materials, and how to teach lessons that actually help upper elementary students learn and appreciate art, then I have some good news for you!

I’m currently doing a special summer enrollment for my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint. It includes everything you need to know to successfully bring art lessons into your upper elementary classroom—without the stress. I go into more detail about art materials (such as how to use them and where to find them), give you step-by-step art presentations, and a ton of other valuable information that makes teaching art and setting up your shelf so much easier. And, right now, you can register at a discounted price, so don’t miss out!

Click here to learn more about Art Teaching Blueprint.

35 Montessori Art Materials for Upper Elementary Classroom

arts and craft book by Spramani Elaun

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.