❤️ Have you considered setting up exploratory art stations or fast finishers art centers in your classroom or art room?
Why not? What is holding you back? In short - We can no longer omit art explorations from our classrooms because art can make a powerful contribution to our students' mental health. In addition to helping students develop a number of important skills, free expression (like using art stations or art centers) is also good for overall health and well-being.
Giving young children a creative outlet can help relieve stress and work through things happening in their lives. By encouraging artistic expression, you can help facilitate further learning and engagement. Making art can help children to deal with a wide range of mental health issues and psychological stress, like anxiety.
You can view further information about this topic from Michigan State University HERE
❤️ Types of Stations you can set up
Convinced yet? Then you may benefit from these sets of art station set-up guide cards I created for my classroom, to help you get started. Suitable for students in elementary grades, you will find guides, so far, for:
→ What is Collage
→ What is Papier-mâché
→ What is Clay
→ What is Wax Resist
→ What is Sculpture
→ What is Paint
→ What is Drawing
Typically, these guides includes 10x square shaped slides for:
- The guide cover
- What is (Media)
- Famous (Media) artists
- Materials list
- Making a (Media)
- Can you make a (Media) - instruction card
- (Media) clean-up guide
- Teacher Information x2
- Teacher instructions
- Blanks slides for you to add your own instructions x2
And a bonus slide with a recommended lesson for your next whole class (Media) project, with links.
If you would like more topic cards added to these guides, or a guide created for a specific center, please comment on this post below. Then follow my TPT store so that you don't miss the new set when it's added.
Bundles are also available to save you $. Read this feedback from teachers who have already used:
→ CLAY, COLLAGE and PAPIER-MÂCHÉ BUNDLE 1
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Thank you for creating this art lesson, my students were engaged in this project and the outcomes were great"
❤️ The benefit of Art Stations for your students
Are you wondering why you should run art exploration centers in your classroom? Isn't that just for art teachers? The short answer is NO.
✅ Use this art resource to build independent prior knowledge before starting a whole class project.
✅ Guides new learning for students who have not experienced an art medium before
✅ Consolidates knowledge for students who have used a medium in the past.
✅ Avoid possible frustrations for students working on your guided art projects, that result from not having time to explore a media or technique, beforehand, and build that crucial prior knowledge and confidence with this medium.
With these Art station guide cards, you can either print and file into clear sleeves - with blank spaces on either side of the images where you can also add your own notes, or...
print 2/page, laminate and add cards to a jump ring for students to use.
Introduce the art station guide to you students by sharing the PDF slides on your large screen, discuss your expectations and answer any questions. Then leave them to it and watch them grow in responsibility and self management. You can even put some students in charge of the clean up section on a rotation basis.
❤️ How will this resource help busy teachers, who are nervous about teaching art?
No worries - I’ve got you covered.
This guide comes with illustrated cards & teacher information, giving you the confidence to run art centers in your own classrooms.
⏰ How long should I run an art station for?
If you are an art teacher, then you can make that call based on your programme. For classroom teachers, I recommend that the art center stays open for at least a week, prior to starting your guided, whole class art project, with this media.
Then for another week after completing that project, so students can further experiment independently, especially those early finishers, giving you time to support those that need it.
❤️ So what is special about these art station guides?
Introduce students to the techniques of creating with a particular medium. Learn about the history of a medium or meet famous artists that have created with this medium. A list of the materials that students can use. A starter project is included with an image and simple instructions, or to a video with QR code link, to foster further independence. The clean-up card will encourage responsibility and blanks cards have been included for you to add further resources or personalise for your classroom needs. Teacher information cards will up-skill your knowledge about each medium so that you can wow your students. Media specific, teacher guided lessons are also recommended in each guide, as follow-ons.
❤️ Where can I find more information about these art station guides?
→ You can browse all my Art Stations / Early Finishers / Sub support resources on TPT, in their own custom category, HERE
→ Browse all my comprehensive art lessons provided as PDF presentation lesson on TPT HERE: VISUAL ART STORE
→ If you would prefer the added support of guided video tutorials, browse my growing collection in this custom category on TPT HERE: ART LESSONS WITH VIDEO TUTORIALS
→ For my Elements of Art lessons on TPT, click HERE: ART ELEMENTS
All lessons are also available directly from my own Website, Help Me Learn, HERE
❤️ Why should you trust my lessons?
I am both a general ed. classroom teacher and currently practising as a Visual Art and Digital Media specialist educator, teaching students from ages 4-12, at a primary school. I do this every day, just like you! I’ve done it all for you and trialed these art station guides in my own fast finishers art centers.
