People
often ask me, "What do you do when kids finish early?" I try
to keep the Art room a fun place where kids are actively engaged and
exercising their creative thinking skills. When kids finish early I
usually tell them they have "Choice Time". During that time
students can choose from a number of activities, such as:
-Continue
working on a drawing project:
Some kids have a in-progress drawings that they leave inside the class folder. They like to work on this little by little when they are done early.
I keep all of the supplies labeled and organized
on the "Kid Counter" so they can easily find what they
need to work on their project.
-Free-time weaving:
"The
Friendly Loom" is a large wooden loom that allows
several kids to weave at the same time. Over 400 students of all
ages have contributed to the weaving projects this year. It is
available at DickBlick.com
for $275
-Free-time sculpture:
I have several containers of "Play
Foam", and students can use it to build things. When time is up they have to squish it back into the bin
though so the next class as the same opportunities to sculpt it
into something new.
-The
"What do I do now" bucket:
I have a bucket filled of tons of ideas for drawing topics. Next
to it students can find paper, and buckets of slightly used markers and
crayons. It helps students who have trouble coming up with ideas
of what they should draw.
-Work
on a puzzle:
Thanks to the generosity of some parents, the Art room has
several puzzles with large pieces. Students can bring the
puzzles onto the rug area and work in groups putting them
together. Some art art related, some are more science or social
studies related.
- Magnetic
Mosaics:
Students can create mosaics using
small colored magnets. There are patterns for them to follow, or
they can create their own design from their imagination.
-Activity
Sheets
Ranging from
Art Vocabulary Word Searches, to "Create a Mystery
Masterpiece" graph art, students are sure to find something
to stimulate their creative mind in the Activity bin.
