The Art of Letterboxing

This month, The Art Ed Bloggers Network is writing about "artful excursions". 

What better than for me to share my love for Letterboxing!

Usually, that statement is followed by a blank stare from anyone who doesn't know about letterboxing.  So if you happen to be blank staring at your screen right now, read on.  

I am about to share my secret nerdy art hobby with you!

What is Letterboxing?

I like to think of it as an art scavenger hunt.  Letterboxing dates back to the 1850s in England when hikers left postcards along a special route for future hikers to find them. Today, letter boxes are hidden in weatherproof containers with sets of clues that lead searchers to them.

Are you intrigued yet?

So, where does the art come in? 

Each letter box contains a hand carved stamp.  Letterbox seekers travel with their own hand carved stamp.  When the box is located stamps are exchanged in special log books as a way to track where you've been and who has visited each box.

For me it is all about finding the stamps.  Each stamp represents something unique about it's owner, it's location, and has it's own story.  Some stamps are beautifully detailed whereas some are very simple.  Each time I locate a box its a special mystery as I discover what hides inside.

How do you find each box?

In the US, there are two sites where clues are located.  Letterboxing North America and Atlas Quest.

You can search for clues by city/town or zipcode.  Clues can range from easy to difficult.  Clues can be found by car, bike, or on foot.  Letterboxing is for any ability and skill!

I use letterboxing as a way to explore new places and discover areas that I would never have visited otherwise.  I found boxes hiking in the woods, off of bike paths, in cities, even in other countries.  

I even found one letterbox that you could only get to by boat! That one was one my favorites!

How do you get started?

Put together your own letter boxing kit.  You'll need a log book, a pen, a stamp pad, and a stamp.

Design your own stamp! Carving a stamp is like creating a mini linocut or woodcut.  Speedball  tools  are easy to use with a speedy carve piece of linoleum.  

  

Design a stamp that represents you! 

My family has changed as my family has grown. I think I may be ready for a new one!

My first stamp

Second Family Stamp 

Sometimes, special bonus prizes and "hitch hiker" stamps are hidden inside letterboxes. 

What are you waiting for?  Get Letterboxing today!

Art Supplies: The Case for Sharpies and a Few Freebies

After a short hiatus, the Art Ed Bloggers Network is back in action! The AEBN is a partnership of art teachers from across the country.  On the second Tuesday of each month all of these amazing teachers blog and post on the same topic.

This month we are discussing art supplies!!

There is so much to talk about when it comes to art supplies.  I'm assuming that maybe you are reading this post because you don't have as much experience with art supplies or maybe you do and are just looking to switch things up a bit?!

There are many places to order supplies from and if you aren't limited to purchasing through purchase orders it opens up so many more doors for you.  When I order for school, I can only order from companies that accept purchase orders (so no Amazon!).  The nice part about Sax/School Specialty is that they give schools 30% off. You can get a lot for your money!

Something FREE!

My favorite thing to include in my order are the paper sample books. First, they are free!  They let you see the papers first hand. You could also save them and use them for scraps and collage.

These are 2 products that I love having the actual paper in front of me to make sure I'm ordering the right color.  Here's a link to their swatch books:

Tru Ray Construction Paper Swatch Book

Spectra ArtKraft Duo Finish Swatch Book

The Case for Sharpies!

When I started thinking about this post, I tried to think about one supply that every art room should have. That's a tall order as there are so many art supplies out there! 

If I had to make a case for one supply though, it would be the Sharpie!

Sharpies are so versatile.  

They can be used as the main ingredient or they can add to and enhance a work of art.  

Here are a few lesson examples that emphasized sharpie.

"What do you Do with a Dot": I first saw this lesson on the Firstie Land Blog. 

I tried it with my first graders this year for Dot Day and it was a huge success!

Sharpies are also incredible with line design and Zentangle lessons.

A few years ago I tried out this Zentangle Landscape Lesson with 6th grade.

I haven't thought about this lesson in a long time.  The students were able to explore many different styles of lines and patterns which were only enhanced by the use of sharpie.

I'm definitely going to have to give this one a whirl again this year!

Introduce your sharpie lessons by exploring these artists and their incredible Sharpie art.

Artist Allison LaValley 

David LaFerriere's Sandwich Bag Art


Malaysian Cup Artist, Cheeming Boey

I love that these Sharpie examples show you that art can take place on any platform!

What are you're favorite Sharpie lessons?

An InLinkz Link-up

Student Engagement: Finding a Hook For the End of The Year!

I have been working with children in the arts for almost 15 years! 

In that time I have come to realize that art is definitely not for everyone.  

There will always be the kids that are an art teacher's dream, they love every project!  For everyone one of them, there are also the kids that begrudgingly come to class and kind of do their work. 

At the end of the year, it seems even harder to get everyone on board. 

                                          No better time than now to dive into challenges!

I have actually introduced a few challenges throughout the year.  This first one was inspired by a wonderful blog by Angela Watson, thecornerstoneforteachers.com. I love how she emphasizes the important role of challenge tasks in developing problem solving and creative thinking skills. 

I started off the year with a Brown Bag Art Challenge in my Artovation classes. It was a way for me to introduce what Artovation is all about and get students hooked, engaged, and thinking creatively...

To get ready for Dot Day, I presented a dot themed brown bag challenge.

There was such a wide range of ideas!

Check out the link here to my Brown Bag Art Challenge. 

We also tried out the Longest Line Challenge right before Thanksgiving.  

(Challenges are also a great hook right before vacations!)

Another favorite challenge is the Building Challenge: Lego Edition! I printed out these Lego Task Cards (thank you to A Few Shortcuts Blog!).  Each student was given a task card, each table a Lego bin.  Let the building begin!  I loved seeing how different students interpreted the same task in a different way.  I also saw collaboration and camaraderie. Kids would yell out if they had a Lego piece someone else was looking for.  Students spontaneously joined their creations.

As you can see they loved it!  I think I will need to revisit this one again ts year!

What are some of your students' favorite challenges?

 

This post is a part of The Art Ed Blogger's Network: Monthly Tips and Inspiration from Art Teacher Blogs. On the first Tuesday each month, each of these art teacher blogs will post their best ideas on the same topic.

Participating Art Teacher Blogs:

• Art Class Curator
• Art Ed Guru
• Art is Basic
• Art Room Blog
• Art Teacher Tales
• Art with Mr. E
• Arte a Scuola
• Brava Art Press
• Artful Artsy Amy
• Capitol of Creativity
• Create Art with ME
• MiniMatisse
• Mona Lisa Lives Here
• Mr. Calvert's Art Room Happenings
• Mrs. Boudreaux's Amazing Art Room
• Mrs. T's Art Room
• Ms. Nasser’s Art Studio
• Party in the Art Room
• shine brite zamorano
• Tales from the Traveling Art Teacher
• There's a Dragon in my Art Room
• 2 Art Rooms

What to do with Early Finishers?!

This year I have been working to grow as an art teacher and communicate what I do with parents, staff at my school, and (my ultimate goal) other art teachers!  I've taken to twitter (@catnasser), facebook groups, and most recently I have joined the Art Ed Bloggers Network!!

The Art Ed Bloggers Network is a partnership of art teachers from across the country.  On the second Tuesday of each month, all these amazing teachers blog and post on the same topic.  I am so thrilled to join them! This month we are talking about early finishers, so here we go....

I think this is the age old art teacher dilemma.  On one hand you want to give students something meaningful to work on.  On the other you don't want them to rush through the "real" work 

just so they can get to the "fun" activity.  

And then of course there is the matter of free draw...should you allow it? When do you allow it? Sheesh!

I've broken down my early finisher activities into 3 categories: 

Extensions, Previews, and Open Exploration.

Extensions 

I often try to plan for a follow up lesson as an extension of what we have just finished.

This fall my 4th grade Artovators created Geometric String Art Designs.  Check out my post on this lesson here.   As a fun extension I had students use Spirograph to create designs and then add extra details and colors to them.

 They loved it!

The Preview

The other end of the extensions is the preview.  These tasks can help set the stage for upcoming projects.  A preview can be an art task or a research task.  

3rd grade artists created clay owls this year.  Right before this lesson, I put out pictures of owls and had 3rd grade early finishers focus on creating implied owl textures using drawing materials.

I also used Padlet this year as a preview.  As a lead up to our Rube Goldberg lesson, my 6th grade Artovation classes researched and posted facts, videos, and pictures about simple machines.

Check out our  Rube Goldberg Padlet here!

Open Exploration

Finally, I'm always trying to find meaning opportunities for open exploration in the art room.  I've been experimenting with choice boards for a few years.  I have a giant grid set up on the wall.  The grid acts like a menu.  Students can choose from different items to try if they are done early.  Items vary from independent reading from my "student art library", artist trading cards, helping in the artroom, and other exercises to help students work on various art skills.  

I think students enjoy having options and choice, but it definitely took some getting used to in the beginning.  "Wait, can't I just free draw?"

I am also in the process of setting up a small makerspace in my K-2 school that I'm calling The Tinker Lab!  It is going to have a lego center, a cardboard attachments center, and bins of ideas of tasks and open discovery.  Here's a little preview:

Thanks for learning about early finishers with me - make sure to check back for next month's post!

This post is a part of The Art Ed Blogger's Network: Monthly Tips and Inspiration from Art Teacher Blogs. On the first Tuesday each month, each of these art teacher blogs will post their best ideas on the same topic.

Participating Art Teacher Blogs:

• Art Class Curator
• Art Ed Guru
• Art is Basic
• Art Room Blog
• Art Teacher Tales
• Art with Mr. E
• Arte a Scuola
• Artful Artsy Amy
• Capitol of Creativity
• Create Art with ME
• MiniMatisse
• Mona Lisa Lives Here
• Mr. Calvert's Art Room Happenings
• Mrs. Boudreaux's Amazing Art Room
• Mrs. T's Art Room
• Ms. Nasser’s Art Studio
• Party in the Art Room
• shine brite zamorano
• Tales from the Traveling Art Teacher
• There's a Dragon in my Art Room