Earn 7 hours of professional development in visual arts education. Gain proper art literacy training to set up your classroom. Watch all 6 videos this summer. No more guessing on what art lessons you should be teaching!
There’s a lot of art advice out there that is not tailored to teach YOU proper art literacy for children. I’ve spent years designing curriculum and training courses to assist Montessori guides in effectively teaching art lessons to children. I have designed thissummer art video bonus to help you get on the right track!
When you purchase this 6-video set, you will also receive an invitation to a special Q&A session with me. This session aims to address all your questions and demonstrate the correct art materials to incorporate into your classroom. The live session is scheduled for mid-August (date TBA), allowing you ample time to watch and absorb the videos beforehand.
In this pre-recorded 20-minute training, Spramani explains the essential areas young children should learn in visual arts and discusses why it is important to teach these skills in the 21st century.
The Art Lessons You Should Teach First!
In this pre-recorded 1-hour training, Spramani delves into what Montessori art guides should prioritize teaching first. She outlines the key areas to focus on, provides examples of art lessons, and offers insights on what to present and demonstrate to children who are new to learning art. Gain access to a wealth of professional art teaching advice in this comprehensive session.
How to Theme Art & The Natural World
Embark on a journey of discovery with Spramani in this enlightening 3-part video series spanning 2 hours. Discover how to engage your child outdoors, fostering scientific and artistic observation skills. Uncover the power of using art in conjunction with Montessori subjects to ignite a curiosity for the natural world and enhance knowledge. Learn how art lessons can intricately represent diverse aspects of Montessori topics found in nature, including seasons, soil layers, energy, rocks and minerals, fossils, landforms, water, flora, fauna, and the atmosphere.
How to Stage A Montessori Art Shelf In this 1-hour pre-recorded video, Spramani shares her: – Proprietary staging system for Montessori classrooms – How to stage to meet the arts standards – What types of materials to stage – How to support group and independent work, and much more!
Positive Artful Ways To Talk To Your Students
She shares examples of how these conversations should sound, drawing upon her 30 years of experience in positively and supportively engaging with students to encourage creative expression as an art facilitator.
Watercolor Joy
In this 1-hour video, Spramani shows you which watercolor paints to use for teaching children. She provides you with all the tips on what to buy, how to set up, and how to prepare for watercolor process-based activities. Great if you are curious.
Get instant access to all 6 videos. Enjoy a 3-year viewing window, giving you ample time to delve into the pre-recorded live sessions led by the esteemed art teacher, Spramani Elaun.
Whether you choose to watch on your phone, tablet, or desktop, these videos are available for your convenience anytime, anywhere. Get the necessary training to start art programming in your classroom.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
I’ve spent years and years researching and observing how children learn art, and what I’ve found is that children are able to grasp different artistic skills at different planes. In this new blog series, I’ll be sharing my insight on the art teaching methods that work for each age group of Montessori students.
Children of all ages can be taught visual arts and be guided through the artistic process. Each developmental phase requires different teaching styles and approaches.
Below you’ll find a general arts literacy guide for Montessori Early Childhood ages following the International Standards for the Arts Education & Sensory Visual Arts method that aligns with a child’s growth.
Montessori Upper Elementary Art Teaching Methods Resources
If you would like to understand more about which types of art projects children can work on, register for my free video course, Phases of Arts Development, which discusses teaching methods for Lower Elementary Montessori students (ages 7-9).
If you would like to understand more about the phases of art development, register for this free mini digital course
Upper Elementary, Ages 10-12, Montessori Visual Arts Teaching Curriculum
Students in upper L can go through the artistic process, conjure up their own ideas and see them through to completion. They’re able to do reflective work, bringing meaning to their creations and making connections to artworks in their community.
Children in this phase of art development should have different opportunities to explore different artist techniques. They can now work independently and follow guided instructions. Projects can be spread out over the course of a few days and should include a variety of concepts, such as line, shape, value, form, texture, color, symmetry, 3D and composition.
Continue to help students develop their art literacy by using art language in the classroom.
You can also continue to teach student Montessori art lessons through a combination of process-based art, creative mode, and simple copy mode.
Strengthen and Develop Upper Elementary Students’ Art Skills
By the time students are in upper elementary, they’re extremely competent when it comes to their fine-motor skills; in large part, this is due to the day-to-day activities they’re completing as part of their Montessori curriculum. Their muscles—both large and small—have been developed through school work and art creating, which gives them improved control over their movements. This means drawing and painting can be done in more detail.
At this age, students still need lots of exploratory sessions and opportunities to experiment with different mediums and techniques. Children are now drawing and painting with a 2D perspective, and can be introduced to simple 3D concepts—like value, shading, and basic three-point perspective ideas—as well. Again, keep lessons simple, easy to follow, and easy to understand.
Some upper elementary students might also be interested in learning realistic drawing and painting skills. However, not all children at this level will be developmentally ready for these types of advanced concepts.
Provide connections to The Elements and Principles of Design, introduction to three dimension 1 point perspective ideas, value shading, and composition relationships.
Upper Elementary Montessori Art Activities & Mediums
Here are some great Montessori Upper Elementary art projects for your students who are 10 – 12 ages in the elementary grades. These types of art activities will help develop their fine motor control and small muscles in fingers and hands while teaching the Elements & Principles of Design. (You can find non-toxic, kid-friendly art supplies needed for these art activities at Nature of Art for Kids.)
Drawing: crayons, color pencils, graphite pencil, and oil pastels, soft pastels etc.
Painting: watercolor paints, acrylic paints, watercolor crayons, watercolor pencils etc.
Color Theory: primary to secondary color mixing, tints & Shades, dropper color mixing, etc.
Crafts: Paper folding, origami, nature and paper collage, mosaic arrangement, sewing, wool felting, string weaving, nature crafting, 3D constructing etc.
Learn more about how to teach a in a Montessori curriculum by registering for my FREE mini digital course, Phases of Art Development Video. I get more into detail on upper elementary Montessori art lessons and provide fun and exciting art project ideas.
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.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
Usually when I tell Montessori teachers they can start teaching art in their classroom, they look at me like I’m crazy! So many of them tell me they have no training, they’re not creative, or they struggle with just drawing stick figures! Trust me though, you CAN become an art-trained Montessori teacher!
In fact, winter break is one of the best times to get started. Think about how excited your students will be to come back to school and find out you’ll be introducing art lessons to them. They’ll love it! Not only will it help develop their creativity and art literacy, but it helps them make connections between all the other subjects they’re learning—such as the Great Lessons.
So, now I’m sure you’re thinking, “Look, Spramani, I definitely want to become a better Montessori teacher, and it would be really cool to start providing visual arts in my classroom, but how can I become art trained in a matter of weeks? Winter break is only so long.”
I’ve done the hard work for you. After 20 years of observing the way kids learn art, I’ve created a simple way to teach art that works perfectly in the Montessori classroom. It really doesn’t require much leg work from you, and students get to explore the entire artistic process. Of course, you’ll have to sign up for my Art Teaching Blueprint and get all the info you need (I’ll touch on what the course is and why it’s so awesome further below), but here are five things to do to get you started to becoming art trained over winter break.
1. Buy Some Supplies
The first step to becoming art trained is setting yourself—as well as your classroom and students—up with the right tools and supplies. (I’ve broken down the essential art supplies every Montessori classroom needs in this blog post.) Starting with a stocked classroom gives you the foundation to explore the visual arts.
2. Set Up an Art Shelf
As you know, subject-based shelves are the basis of a successful Montessori classroom, so it only makes sense that you should set up an art shelf. You can read how to set up an art shelf in your classroom here. A proper art shelf supports art literacy and helps keep all your supplies organized in one easy-to-reach place for your students to access.
3. Build an Inspiration Gallery
Another way to get your classroom set up for teaching art is to create an inspiration gallery. It can give students a place to observe and talk about artwork, which can increase their art literacy, language, and self-esteem. While an inspiration gallery is a simple concept, there are some tricks to it. For instance, you don’t want to solely include fine art examples; it’s important to incorporate students’ own work too. (If you want to learn more about how inspiration galleries work, read this blog post.)
Once you’re all set with supplies, an art shelf, and an inspiration gallery, it’s time to start your training. You can give yourself a great base by doing some quick reading. I’ve written two visual art books that create a framework for learning the subject.Defining Visual Arts focuses on the latest standards and the most important projects, mediums, and techniques to teach.Introducing Visual Arts to The Montessori Classrooms gets a little more specific in providing solid guidance for teaching art in a Montessori environment. Either one—but of course, both—of these books are helpful in giving you the context for how children learn art and are a great option in kicking off your art training.
I created a free video course to teach Montessori teachers like you the phases of art development—or what art skills your students are capable of learning in each age range. The course also includes three bonus videos of art lessons, projects, and techniques to use in your classroom, no matter what grade you’re teaching. Best of all, you can go through this mini training in the comfort of your own home (while on winter break!).
You can do it, YOU can become an art-trained Montessori teacher. I believe in you and your students will thank you for taking the time to learn how to teach art in your classroom. If you have any questions or want to connect with other Montessori teachers who are going through my course, make sure you go like my Facebook page.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
25 of the Most Basic Art Supplies Every Montessori Classroom Needs
By Spramani Elaun
I’m going to start off with a disclosure, by no means do you only need 25 items to fill your Montessori art shelf. However, because I break down visual arts into five domains—drawing, painting, crafting, clay modeling, and color theory—you just need to make sure you’re giving your students art supplies that fall into each category. There are so many more options and wonderful things to work with, I’d encourage you to explore and purchase anything that inspires you.
This is just going to be a sort of cheat sheet for what you need in your classroom. If you really want a detailed list of everything to include in your art shelf, make sure you register for my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint. I have specific lessons for each domain where I list out all the exact materials I use to teach each domain, where to find those supplies, and how to use them. It’s a ton of valuable information that makes teaching art and setting up your shelf so much easier.
For now though, I want to give you a brief understanding of the different learning areas of visual arts and help you figure out the basic item(s) you need to be able to teach each domain. Grab your shopping list, let’s get into it!
Drawing
The drawing domain includes doodling, drawing, sketching, and tracing. Many of these materials (like pencils and erasers) can be found elsewhere in the classroom, so I recommend making the items on your art shelf unique. Either buy completely different styles so they stand out or color code them so they stay specifically within your art shelf.
There are several types of paints that kids can use, and each one has a different purpose and experience. Whichever you choose, just make sure it’s non-toxic and safe for kids.
Color theory is all about learning how colors behave. It can take years to develop a strong understanding of color theory, so it’s important to start teaching the subject when students are young. With color theory, I recommend you begin with primary colors (red, yellow, blue), then teach kids to mix those colors to create secondary colors, and so on. When you’re teaching color theory, the materials are the same as you’d use for the painting domain.
Clay can be a great way to relate art projects to other lessons you’re teaching. For instance, students can use stamps or natural objects (like leaves) to create imprints; they can also use the clay to create figures and animals to go along with what they’re learning.
There are so many possibilities when it comes to crafting and constructing. I tend to divide this domain into four categories: sewing, paper crafts, nature crafting, and wood/building.
Basic:
Sewing:
String (yarn, threads)
Fabric
Sewing needle
Scissors
Paper crafts
Colored paper
Scissors
Glue
Nature crafting
Glue
Hot glue gun
Natural found objects (rocks, sticks, leaves, etc.)
I know this is a lot to digest and a lot more than just 25 items, but these are the tools that will help your students explore, experiment, and really experience art.
If you want more information, specifically on how each one of these supplies work and some ideas on how to use them, make sure you register for my course! I break it all down for you so this list makes sense in the framework of your classroom. And if you have any questions—about these supplies or my course—please feel free to contact me directly by emailing me at Info@Spramani. om.
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.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
Building Out an Art Calendar to Keep Your Students Busy with Something New Every Month
By Spramani Elaun
“Teaching” art can seem overwhelming, and creating an art calendar to keep your students busy with art all year long can seem impossible. The beginning of a new school year is both exciting but stressful for that very reason. While you’re mapping out all your projects and lessons for the year, art can sometimes take a backseat.
But I don’t want that to be the case for you or for your students! All it takes is some simple planning to get you going. I promise you, if you take some time to plan out your calendar, art lessons will flow better and be so much easier for you during the school year.
The best part of all this? There’s a simple, stress-free way to break it down.
In my course, Art Teaching Blueprint, I go over in detail how to create an art schedule (and the specific resources and materials you may need!) but here’s the basic idea to it.
Building Your Calendar
You’re going to start by counting up the number of teachable weeks in the school year. That may mean excluding the first two weeks of the year (when you’re still getting your class situated), weeks where you’re off for the holidays, and the last couple weeks of school (when you’re likely busy with testing). This number can vary depending on your schedule.
Now, you’re going to follow this formula:
# of teachable weeks / 5 domains = # of lessons per domain
You might be asking, what’s a domain? The way I’ve developed my art training is by breaking down visual art into five different categories, or domains. Here is an example of two:
Drawing
Painting
Let’s say you’ve counted 30 teachable weeks for the year, that would mean:
30 / 5 = 6 lessons for each domain
Knowing you only have to teach six lessons on drawing, six on painting, and so on already makes your calendar seem a bit more manageable, right?
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you here. This formula is just the basis for your calendar, you now need to fill it out with more specific lessons, or themes.
Inspiration for Your Calendar
What you decide to teach for your lessons is completely up to you, but here are some tips and monthly theme inspiration to help you finish filling in your calendar.
I’d suggest trying to integrate art projects with the lessons you’re already planning on teaching, like the Great Lessons, astronomy, physical science, etc. With this information, decide which domain makes sense for each topic. For example, if you’re learning about dinosaurs, put clay on your art shelf for students to create their own tyrannosaurus; or let them experiment with watercolors as they learn about the cosmos.
You might also want to think about holidays or special events as you map out your lessons. For instance, Earth Day is in April, so your lessons that month can focus on nature and the earth.
Here are a few other themes for each month to get you started.
Monthly Theme Ideas:
September
The Big Bang
Cosmic Education If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for my FREE mini-course—I share a lesson on cosmic rock painting
Cultural Geography Think about crafts from different cultures around the world, like Japanese origami, skull paintings from Mexico, etc.
January
Winter Snowflakes Students can cut out snowflakes from pieces of paper, or paint a sheet full of them—each with its unique shape and design.
February
Zoology (like dinosaurs, birds, insects, etc.)
March
Geography Students can create maps of places they’re learning about in other lessons this week.)
April
Botany (seeds, plants, trees, etc.)
May
Astronomy
Summer
Beach or Ocean
Hopefully this is enough to get you started!
There are SO many ways to organize your lessons, and that’s the fun part of all this!
You can teach each lesson in succession (six straight weeks of drawing, followed by six straight weeks of painting, etc.) or rotate each lesson throughout the year.
I cover a few specific ways in Art Teaching Blueprint, and even give you a few sample calendars to follow.
So if this still feels overwhelming, make sure you check out my art certification, to enroll or email me directly at info@Spramani.com with any questions.
I’ll also be sharing a specific art project each month on the blog, so make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter for even more ideas throughout the year.
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.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
I’m excited to share my 10 back to school art tips for the Montessori classroom in this blog! Getting ideas for back to school art lessons might seem challenging if you have no art background. You might wonder which art tip should come first and where to draw inspiration from.
Let me show you how you don’t have to go far to find ideas for your back to school planning and scheduling. Art lesson ideas can come directly from the concepts you’re already teaching in the classroom, from the great lessons to other Montessori books you already own. By simply opening your favorite storybook, you and your students can discover wonderful ideas to create.
Be sure to watch the video ( 10 Back To School Art Tips – For The Montessori Classroom) to understand how you can follow up with art activities after reading your favorite Montessori books.
If you want to learn more about art literacy, be sure to check out my books. You can further gain knowledge on the basic elements to focus on in each art lesson. Visit my book page for my Early Childhood Montessori Art Guide or Elementary Art Guide, which is filled with plenty of art lesson tips and ideas.
10 tips video highlights
Art Shelf: Plan to stage an art shelf in your classroom this year.
New Medium: Try out a new medium you didn’t have a chance to explore last year (e.g., oil pastels).
Great Lessons: Leverage key lessons as sources of inspiration.
Use Story Books: Go through the books you read annually to extract art-making inspiration.
Supply List Request: Send out an art supply wish list to parents!
Art Planning: Plan ahead with all your other subjects before school starts.
Art Helper & Artist Guest: Ask parents if they can volunteer to share a fun cultural art-making idea.
Where to Find New Projects: Ask other Montessori teachers for ideas, or check out online resources.
Art Album: Plan this year to make an art album where you can quickly add pictures of projects and your observation notes.
Inspiration Gallery: Create a space where your students can reflect on their projects and their classmates’ projects.
Implementing the 10 major tips
Make your back to school art experience fun this year! First, set up a special art shelf in your classroom. Try using new art tools and mediums like oil pastels and watercolor. Get some cool ideas from your favorite stories and lessons you are already teaching. Ask parents for art supplies by sending them a wish list, or create an Amazon list. It’s smart to plan your art projects along with the Great Lessons before the year starts. Invite parents to share their interesting cultural art projects too! You can also find new art ideas by talking to your colleagues or looking online on Pinterest. Make an art album to save pictures of your projects, and finally, create a space where you and your students can show off their work. These tips will make art time super fun and creative for you with less stress.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
