teaching montessori arts Archives

During the holiday things get busier, but we also create space for special moments, even in the Montessori classroom. Painting holiday crafts are a fantastic way for children to express their creativity and independence. I’ve painted ornaments with countless kids in classrooms and workshops during the holidays, and they all enjoy this craft immensely! It’s a keepsake that students and their families can cherish for years. Every year, I have kids coming back to create a new ornament for their collection.

Setting Up a Kids Craft Activity

One of the great things about this kids’ holiday craft is its simplicity in setup, requiring just a basic paint kit without the need for many special items. Opting for woodcraft ornaments is beneficial as they are environmentally friendly compared to plastic and safer for younger children than glass ornaments.

Here are some handy tips for organizing this festive art activity for your students (or for kids at home too!):

Holiday Craft | Painting Ornaments, child painting

Creating a Mess-Free Painting Area

Ensure the painting space is located in an area where children can freely engage in a bit of messiness. Consider using a drop cloth, especially if painting indoors. Provide smocks, aprons, or large old t-shirts for the kids to wear, protecting their clothes from potential stains—some paints are challenging to wash off fabrics.

To enhance the painting experience, place the materials at eye level on a flat and stable surface, such as a table. Adding another layer of protection with a drop cloth or old newspaper on top can further safeguard the painting area from spills and splatters.

Ornament Supplies

Here’s a list of everything you’ll need for this kids’ holiday craft:

Wooden ornaments – any shape will work, but ‘holiday shapes’ add to the festive spirit
Acrylic paint – for the best and longest-lasting results
Paintbrushes – various sizes, including fine/tiny ones for details
Paint palette – any size works, even a simple paper plate
Glitter – choose any color; white glitter adds a lovely touch to painted ornaments
Smock – or another cover-up to protect kids’ clothes from acrylic paint stains
Napkins – for cleaning paintbrushes between color changes
Water jar – for rinsing paintbrushes
Hairdryer (optional) – handy for speeding up the drying process, especially for older kids or adults working on intricate details

Painting Tips

Ornaments: You can purchase unfinished wood craft shapes at local superstores, craft stores, or online. Glass orb ornaments can also be used, but caution is advised with younger children. Consider recycling old ornaments by refreshing their designs or allowing kids to create new ones from scratch.

Paint: Opt for acrylic paint for its durability and longevity. Memories can last a lifetime—I still display ornaments my kids painted when they were young every holiday season! Ensure you use kid-safe, non-toxic acrylic paint for this activity.

How to choose colors

Encourage children to express their creativity freely by allowing them to paint whatever inspires them, whether traditional holiday themes or personal creations. While kids may opt for symbols of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or other winter holidays, they have the freedom to choose.

Here are some recommended colors to kickstart the painting process:

Red
Black
White
Gold
Silver
Dark Green
Yellow
Orange
Pink
Purple
Brown
Burgundy deep red

If you don’t have all these colors, that’s perfectly fine; beautiful ornaments can still be created using just three to four colors!

Remember, when using glitter, ensure children apply it while the paint is wet. If they wait until the paint dries completely, the glitter won’t adhere well and may not stick effectively.

Ultimate Guide to Montessori Painting

Take it a Step Further: Grab Your FREE Kids Holiday Crafts Painting Checklist!

If you’re new to painting activities with your students, get ready for a delightful experience—kids truly enjoy this craft! The setup is straightforward, making it easy to repeat with your students multiple times throughout the holiday season. You can also explore related activities like rock painting or painting on paper using the same materials; only the images, paint colors, and canvases may vary.

Buy Kids Painting Online Here

Painting Guide for Teachers and Parents

Discover a straightforward guide tailored for teachers and parents to kickstart painting lessons with ease. This book equips you with essential knowledge on the required materials, the best paints suited for kids, fundamental painting techniques, and my top tips for creating an exciting painting exploration experience for your students. Get ready to ignite a passion for art in your students as you embark on this colorful journey of creativity and learning. Unleash the joy of painting and inspire young minds to express themselves through art! ORDER NOW

A Short Cut Just for You

Once you see how much your students love painting, you’re going to want to include it as a regular part of your curriculum. My Kids Painting Practice & Process Curriculum has 57 master lessons that walk students through everything they need to know to be successful at painting, from setting up a paint station and holding a brush all the way to creating beautiful nature landscapes and painting different types of animals!

Each lesson is part of a sequence and includes all the components, tips, materials lists, and instructions you need to ensure you will be able to actually teach your students to become skilled painters. All you have to do is simply follow the instructions and easily present the activities to your students.

Kids Painting Practice & Process Curriculum sets the foundation for their art education and will help them transform into little artists! To purchase the curriculum, click here.

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.

Upper Elementary Montessori Art Teach Method

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).

You can learn about Art Literacy Standards and the benefits of visual arts by reading Defining Visual Arts (paperback book).

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.
Clay Modeling: earth clay, non-harden plasticine clay, air-dry modeling clay, polymer bake clay
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.

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.