Do you have Free Art?

Each quarter my students have the opportunity to earn a free art day based on how they manage their behavior as a group in the art room. Classes can earn up to three squares on the free art chart based on  behavior during instruction time, creative time and clean-up.  It is possible to earn a free art period per quarter.  The motivation for free art is the opportunity to create freely for a class period.  I have a number of kids drawing books for them to pattern after, a few art bases games and some wonderful dice games from Expressive Monkey, as well as some blocks and a felt board.  I try to move around the room and join various groups for a period of time to play games, draw, and visit with them.  I am often surprised and delighted by some of the work my students create for these free days.  It's also a great way to deal with the off days just prior to vacation when you know your students might be lacking in a focus for real instruction.

Pick and Draw with clay

Pick and Draw Clay heads

There were a few post earlier in the year on several blogs about the "Pick and Draw" game from Rich Davis.  I decided to order a set and couldn't wait to try it out as a clay game in my after school program.   Today was a our big game day.   I drew the cards pictured here and projected them with my Elmo so all the students in the program could view them at the same time.   It was fun to see the different interpretations by the students in the program.  Here are just a few.  I'll update you after we have added glaze in a few weeks.  For some of them we added a few holes in the top of the heads so that a hanging wire can be added.   Other students preferred to view their heads as an ornamental piece to be place on a table for viewing.  The cards were fun, I'll look forward to using them in other ways in my classes.