Archive for the ‘Art’ category

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Free Digital Design Program

February 20th, 2010

Hi! It’s Saturday, February 20, 2010 and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Inkscape

Age Range: 9 and up (4th grade and beyond)

ClickScholar Cie discovered this website that offers a free, downloadable vector graphics editor with capabilities similar to Illustrator or CorelDraw. What does that mean?  It means you can use your computer to draw, create digital designs, and more.

Inkscape is being used successfully by 4th graders in the Los Altos School District in California. You can see a gallery of the students work by clicking HERE.

I suggest you check out the students’ art gallery first, to get an idea of the possibilities which are sure to inspire the tech-savvy artists in your home. Click on the link next to each of the images to view the corresponding sub-galleries too.

Then, head back to the Inkscape website featured in this review to download the editor. (Just click on the “Download Now” button located in the upper right corner of the homepage.)

Note: You can learn a lot about Inkscape, system requirements, and how it works by reading the FAQs located on the menu on the left side of the homepage.

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Posted in Art

President’s Day Art

February 13th, 2010

Hi! It’s Saturday, February 13, 2010 and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

President’s Day is Monday. View artistic portraits of the U.S. Presidents and then try your hand at some presidential craft activities.

Recommended Websites:

Whitehouse: The Presidents

Age Range: 10 and up (This is geared for the general public. Younger children may enjoy aspects of the presentation.)

At the Whitehouse website, you can watch a slide show of the official presidential portraits for all 44 U.S. Presidents. Not only that, but below each portrait, there is a link to a full biography. Be sure to check out President #1, George Washington, and President #16, Abraham Lincoln. President’s Day commemorates their February birthdays.

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DLTK: President’s Day Activities

Age Range: 3-12 (approximately)

This site offers free craft activities that are appropriate for ages 3-12. For President’s Day you’ll find an assortment of coloring pages, a TP roll craft to make a stovepipe hat, and even instructions to make a milk-carton log cabin.

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Posted in Art, Social Sciences

Valentine’s Day Crafts & Learning Activities

February 6th, 2010


Hi!  It’s Saturday, February 6, 2010 and time for Art at ClickSchooling! 
  
Valentine’s Day is coming and I wanted to share with you a couple of terrific resources (if I do say so myself) for art, crafts, and much more that are available on my websites… 
  
Recommended Website: 
Age Range: 6-18 (Grades 1-12) 
  
At Homefires.com, you’ll find a terrific, free ”chocolate curriculum” by veteran homeschool mom, Fran Wisniewski, that not only links to the best sites on the web for exploring the history and science of chocolate, but includes fun, artistic, and creative activities with chocolate that your whole family will enjoy!  
 
  
Recommended Website: 
Age Range: 2-5 (Pre-K – and fun for the whole family!)
 
Check out our Valentine’s Day book list, fun poems, stories, and songs.  Get instructions for “Stinky Valentine’s”, Paper Plate Valentine People, and make your own Valentine Mailbox. Click links to free valentine printables and coloring pages and tons of valentine art and craft projects. Learn how to make valentine pancakes, heart-shaped sandwiches, pizza, and hamburgers.  Find out how to play the game, ”Hugs and Kisses.”

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Posted in Art, Electives

Be a Police Sketch Artist!

January 30th, 2010

 

Hi! It’s Saturday, January 30, 2010 and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
The Art of Crime Detection

Age Range: 8-18 (Parents, as always, should preview the site for suitable content.)

A Washington ClickScholar reminded me of this website that we featured on ClickSchooling in 2003 – it’s fun and deserves another look. It provides free instructions on how to be a police sketch artist!

When you get to the site, the program lanuches and includes an introduction that explains how artists use the right and left sides of their brains to draw.

Then, watch some animated crime scenes (very mild — for example, vandals put toilet paper on trees). As you watch the scene you get a glimpse of the perpetrator’s face.

Next, you help the police catch the vandal by drawing that criminal’s face using a sketching tool provided on the site. You select the shape of the face, the eyes, hair, lips, nose, etc. Your composite should look like the criminal.

There are three exercises provided at the site — so plan to spend some time when you visit.

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Posted in Art

Color Matters for Kids

January 16th, 2010

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Hi!  It’s Saturday, January 16, 2010 and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
ColorMatters.com: For Kids
http://colormatters.com/kids/index.html

Age Range: All (The kids section of this site is geared to ages 6-12.)

At this website, real-life Color Professor J.L. Morton, provides kids with free and fascinating information about color and how it affects humans and other creatures. The topics are quite unusual and include:

  • How Animals See Color – Explanations and actual photographs that demonstrate the colors you see and what your dog sees.
  • Why Are School Buses Yellow? – Enjoy a brief discussion of “true yellow” and some facts about the color yellow you might not have known.
  • Look Inside the Eye – Find out how cones and rods in the eye’s retina determine the colors that humans, insects, birds and animals see.
  • Color Matters for What You Wear – What do you know about the colors pink and blue?  Find out what colors mean in different cultures.

When you are through exploring the kids’ section of the site use the menu to explore color in depth. Professor Morton provides the sum total of her color research and courses on this site. You’ll find out how color affects:

  • Symbolism & Emotions
  • The Body
  • Vision
  • Design & Art
  • Business & Marketing
  • Computers
  • Ecology
  • Science
  • ~ and more!

 Enjoy!

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Posted in Art

Make Holiday Chains & Garlands

December 12th, 2009

Hi!  It’s Saturday, December 12, 2009 and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

I thought you and your children might enjoy making some holiday decorations. Here are some websites with step-by-step directions designed with kids in mind.
 
Recommended Websites:
 
Age Range: 4-104 (Fun for all ages! Little ones will need assistance.)

Reindeer Paper Chains
http://www.homefires.com/click?reindeer
 
Preschool children can help make decorative chains out of construction paper and gift wrap. There are also instructions for how to make a really cute “Reindeer Chain.”
 
Popcorn and Cranberry Chains
http://www.homefires.com/click?popcorn

Make a pretty popcorn and cranberry garland, while teaching the kids some basic sewing skills.
 
Paper Snowflake Chains
http://www.papersnowflakes.com/fans.htm

Get free printable snowflake patterns with instructions on how to fold and cut them so that they resemble beautiful snowflakes. Then, string them together in a chain or hang them individually.
 
Paper Chains
http://www.homefires.com/click?chains

Get easy instructions on how to make simple paper and lotus chains.

Have fun!

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Posted in Art