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How to Make Sensory Bottles for Adapted Art
Creating sensory bottles is one of the best projects to do at the start of the year in adapted art class. Here are the easy steps you can follow to create sensory bottles with your students.
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The Ultimate Adapted Art Supply List
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Y'aLL ReAdY fOr ThiS?? *cue up the 90's Jock Jams * No seriously, are you ready for the *Ultimate Supply List * for your adapted art class? After 15 years of teaching self contained adapted art, I have compiled a list of my go to supplies that can be used in many different ways. Oh and there's more good news: most of these supplies can actually be found at your local dollar store! Quick sidebar: If you are teaching a self contained adapted art class this year and are looking for help with HOW to go about navigating this class, I encourage you to head to my previous blog here, and you can also check out this blog post with some of my all time favorite art lessons to do in adapted class. Ok, let's do this!! The Ultimate Adapted Art Supply List * The first three sections of this list are made up mostly of items that can be found at your local dollar store. However, to make things easy, I went ahead and linked what I could to Amazon for convenience. I have also linked my favorite brands for the more traditional art supplies. Containers for Holding Supplies or Used for Printing * Muffin tins Sheet pans Salad Spinner Aluminum Casserole Pans Foil Plastic cups w/ lids Ice cube trays with lids Plastic Spray bottles Materials Great for Sensory Play * Cornstarch (for Oobleck) Food coloring (safer alternative to liquid watercolor) Shaving cream (or whipped cream for sensory play) Flour Dish soap ( Salt (salf resist for watercolor) Baking Soda (for fun experiments with vinegar) Colored Rice (sensory bin filler) Mini plastic animals or cars (perfect for sensory bins!) Kitchen storage rack (for Oobleck play) Chips & dip dishes (for sorting paper, materials or sensory supplies) Recycled Supplies* Bubble wrap (all sizes- for all the printing!) Cardboard (all the cardboard!) Cardboard egg cartons Styrofoam egg cartons Plastic containers (for sensory bottles) Cardboard tubes Materials to Add Texture * Dish brush with handle Loofahs Rolling pins Tooth brushes (use to splatter paint) Cotton Swabs Clothes pins (to hold small pieces of sponge) Plastic silverware Plastic combs Marbles Potato masher Kitchen utensils Garlic press Eye droppers Plastic Wrap Craft Sponges Squeegee Supplies From Art Distributors Kinetic Sand or Play Foam Sand Fun Foam Cloud Clay Model Magic Clay palm printers Texture Rollers Easy grip texture rollers Texture Scrapers Fluorescent Tempera Cakes Fluorescent Tempera Paint (tip: add white to each color to make them more opaque on black paper!) Squeezable paint brushes Kwik Stix Bingo Daubers Chalk Markers (great for drawing on transparencies or windows ) Contact paper Transparency Film Plexiglass sheets (for printmaking & painting) Standing Plexiglass (reuse those old sneeze guards from covid times) Adapted Scissors Large Pencils Clear Glue Empty Daubers (to add glue to) Pom Poms Craft Foam Googely Eyes Adapted Paint Brushes Textured Art Tools Whew! I know that seems like a HUGE list but honestly, I bet you already have many of these materials in your storage room. Stay tuned to learn more about how I use many of these materials for specific activities and lessons in my adapted art class. Embrace the mess and have fun! Cheers!
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How to Feel More Confident Teaching Adapted Art
Are you looking to gain more confidence in teaching adapted art? I'm here to help! Check out this blog to learn how to create a valuable, enriching and powerful adapted art program!
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How to Create a "Grab and Go" Adapted Art Bin
Learn how to create a "Grab and Go" bin full of Adapted art supplies you can grab in a pinch during class!
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5 Cardboard Creations Your Kids Will Love
5 fun and engaging cardboard project ideas that will have kids of all ages excited to create!
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Botanical Plexiglass Painting
Is there anything more satisfying than painting on glass or plastic? I think not! That’s why plexiglass is the perfect surface to keep your students engaged while painting. A few days before my adapted class while chatting with my librarian pals, I noticed an extra standing piece of plexiglass in their storage room that was currently not in use. My brain instantly started spinning thinking of potential ideas of how I could use it in the art room. My students paint and print on small pieces of individually cut plexiglass all the time, so I’m no stranger to how wonderful plexiglass is- but I was so excited to have a large piece that was vertical! Thankfully my fabulous coworkers said I was happy to borrow the plexiglass for class so that’s what I did! Photo of Lucy Tiffney working (Source https://www.sofa.com/inspiration-corner/design-lab-lucy-tiffney/ ) When trying to figure out what it is we were going to paint on the plexiglass, I suddenly remembered artist and designer Lucy Tiffney who I had started following randomly on Instagram a few years back. Lucy is an artist, muralist, and designer with a distinct painterly style of vibrant botanicals and her work is just gorgeous! With our theme this year being the rainforest, I thought that Lucy’s work would be the perfect reference for this project in adapted art. So here’s how we did it! Materials: Plexiglass soft bristle paint brushes (I love Royal Langnickle brushes of all sizes) Tempera paint (if you plan on washing it off) I use Crayola Premier Tempera paint- the fluorescent colors are my favorite! Messy Mats & Smocks Reference images of Lucy’s work and plants 1. Prepare Your Materials and Work Space Prep your paint. Lucy obviously uses many different types of greens and blues, but she also uses different pinks for a pop in her work. So I prepared lidded ice cube trays with colors from Lucy’s palette mixed with a bit of white to make the paint nice and opaque on the glass. Prep the space I prepared the tables by covering them in my large messy mats with the plexiglass in the middle and Lucy’s work on my board as reference 2. Get Them Started Before my students arrived, I painted a few of the leaves/ botanicals around the edges to show them ahead of time what will be going on the surface. This is also a fun way to invite them into the lesson- when they came in and saw this interesting glass on the table with paint on it, they were ready to jump right in! 3. Demo How to Paint the Leaves then Let Them Do Their Thing! On a piece of scrap paper nearby I showed my students how to paint one long line for the stem and then add short lines on each side for the leaves. Some students really grasped the demo and others decided to paint whatever they wanted- and both were completely fine! As long as your students are safe, engaged, and hopefully having fun then that’s a win in my eyes! If the artwork happens to turn out lovely at the end then that’s a bonus! For my teaching adapted art is so much more about the experience for my students than the final product. Students sat on each side of the plexiglass which was really fun for them to see their peers across from them also painting the same surface! 4. Display Your Art! The best part about our plexiglass botanicals was showcasing how beautiful they turned out! Our wonderful librarian suggested we display our work in the windows of the library since we have large bright windows. It turned out to be the perfect space for our display and is enjoyed by every student in the school! Be sure to give plexiglass (or even window painting) a try! Your students are sure to love it!
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Sugar Skulls (Part 2): Fluorescent Paint
Hi friends! Today I wanted to share with you part two of my giant Symmetrical Sugar Skulls lesson that I did with my adapted art class. This lesson was so fun and would be well loved by students of all ages and abilities! If you are looking for part one of this lesson, you can follow this link to learn how to make the big ole sugar skulls. For this lesson you need: MATERIALS for Part 1: Oversized white paper (I used 18 x 24 posterboard) Black tempera paint Large paint brushes Part 2: Fluorescent tempera paint (I love Crayola Fluorescent paint) Paint brushes, Cut up sponges in clothes pins, Q tips, or any other stamping materials you have around the house! Optional (but recommended) Black lights for glowing fun! I use these HouLight black light flood lights. Sugar Skull Idea Sheet Step 1: Gather your Supplies For this project you will need fluorescent tempera paint if you would like your paint to glow for your students. I use Crayola Premier Fluorescent Tempera paint. I also gathered various painting/stamping tools for my students to use such as: Q tips, Sponges cut into pieces and held by clothes pins and large round paint brushes. Step 2: Set the Scene! To add a bit of extra excitement to this project I went ahead and blacked out my classroom before my students arrived. I pulled down the blinds and plugged in 3 Black Light Flood lights that I had previously purchased for art shows. There are tons of options regarding black lights on Amazon but I found that flood lights really project and fill a space! I ended up buying a brand called Houlight. I placed my black lights as high up and tilted downward as I could. The paint was poured and the scene was set and I was so excited for my students to arrive! Step 3: Let them paint and have fun! I showed my students that they could do the same “paint then fold” transferring technique that we did the previous week but I found that so many of my adapted art students truly just wanted the freedom to paint their skulls however they wanted. Like the previous class I had my Sugar Skull idea sheets available and they enjoyed dotting around the eyes, and using sponges to paint florals in the eyes. However, some of them just really wanted to paint their skulls however they wanted and that was completely fine with me! The important thing is that they were engaged in the project and having fun! There is something so (dare I say) satisfying about painting in a black light setting. The paint glowed as the students painted and they were quiet and focused the whole class period! I plan on hanging these sugar skulls in a showcase in the school and hopefully shining a black light on them to glow so that other students can be amazed! This was such a fun project and I know that students of all ages and abilities would love it!
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Oversized Symmetrical Sugar Skulls (Part 1)
Let's learn about the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos by creating an oversized symmetrical sugar skull in art class! This lesson is hands on, fun and has the perfect books to accompany it!
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Cardboard Houses in Adapted Art
Creating oversized cardboard houses is one of my favorite projects to do with my adapted art class! How To Create Oversized Cardboard Houses with your Students 1. Gather your supplies As many of you probably know, the #1 rule as an art teacher is NEVER EVER throw away any type of cardboard! These cardboard houses that I created with my adapted art class were created from old Tag Board paper boxes or you could also use old boxes that anchor charts come in. Every year when I am unloading my supplies I make sure to keep these trifold boxes safe in my storage room because they are ✨GOLD ✨. 2. Draw the simple features of a home Using a thick black marker or bingo dauber (if you haven’t created the Cassie Stephens India ink bingo daubers yet, what are you waiting for? They are a GAME CHANGER in the art room! You can find everything you need to know on her blog here), begin by drawing simple house details on each cardboard box. A roofline, front door, windows, maybe some shutters, whatever you want! I try to make them each a little different but it’s ok if they are all similar. This is just to help give my students a start to the project, instead of having them create a house from a completely blank canvas. (Note: this is all PREP work meant to be done before you see students in class.) 3. (Optional) Draw the start of the nside of the house You can draw windows or bushes on the side panels, as well as flipping the box over to draw what the inside of the house would be. In the past when I have drawn a few things for the “inside” my students’ imaginations take off and I love seeing what else they add inside their houses! 4. Let students go wild with color! Next, using Kwik Stix paint sticks or some other kind of paint stick/ gel crayon have your students color in their houses and add their own details. If you’re feeling brave you can also have students just use tempera paint (add a little bit of white to each color so it stands out on the cardboard). But if you’re looking for a “less messy” option I could go with the Kwik Stix. If you don’t have enough boxes for each student to have their own, they can absolutely collaborate! I have had up to 3 or 4 students working on one house before. It’s totally up to you! Lastly, for some extra fun you can also partially cut open some of the doors or windows with a box cutter or, my personal favorite The Canary corrugated cardboard cutter (another essential for the art room!) I hope your student enjoy this fun project! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you share so I can see your students’ amazing work!
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8 Amazing Adapted Art Lessons
Scribble monsters are a favorite in my adapted art class! If you follow me on Instagram you probably know that I am absolutely head over heels in love with teaching adapted art! I love teaching and creating lessons that meet the individual needs of my students in order to provide them with their own authentic, enriching, and engaging artistic experiences. I am so excited to share some of my favorite art projects for adapted art class at the elementary level. Muffin Tin Prints Before I go any further with this post you must stop right now and purchase the book Art Workshop for Children by Bar Rucci. Bar has been one of the most influential art educators in my life regarding planning my adapted art lessons. In her book, you will find SO many incredible process-based art lessons that can all easily be adapted to students with varying needs. One of my favorite lessons of hers is called Muffin Tin Prints. The concept is pretty easy- paint the back of a muffin tin with whatever colors you like (I usually have an analogous color scheme available for students). Then place a small piece of paper over the top of the paint, creating a monoprint, pull up, and wa-la! You have pulled a gorgeous print from the paint! These are so fun for students and the products are gorgeous when displayed together! For more detailed instructions be sure to grab Bar’s book or head to her blog artbarblog.com. 2. Bubble Wrap Printing Bubble wrap printing is so fun for any student, but my adapted students absolutely love the texture and process of bubble printing. It’s so easy, just use tempera paint to paint on the bumpy side of the bubble wrap, flip it over onto another piece of construction paper and lift to reveal a print! You could also take it a step further and wrap a piece of bubble wrap around a rolling pin so students can roll the texture onto paper. I love to use this printed paper for other projects, like paper weaving (as shown here) and as the texture for this rainbow cloud mobiles. 3. Sensory Bottles For this project, we followed Especially Education’s blog post that you can find here. Plastic bottles were ordered from amazon, and all you need is water, clear glue, and random snazzy goodies! We filled the bottles 3/4 with water and then my students did an amazing job squeezing enough clear glue to the top. I had an assortment of water beads, glitter, sequins, beads etc available for students to pick and choose to add. Even though I bought funnels I found that styrofoam cups were the best way to pour the goodies in! We added a few drops of liquid watercolor (don’t add too much- a little goes a LONG way) and then once they were filled I hot glued the lids on justttt Incase! You can find the steps above. Disclaimer: Please make sure your students’ safety is your #1 priority. Any of my students who crave oral stimulation were not given access to water beads or anything that could potentially go in their mouth, or they were added by an adult in the room. Always always make sure your students are being closely supervised when using art supplies no matter what they are! 4. Scribble Monsters For years I’ve done some version of this “scribble monster”‘ with my adapted art class but recently tied this project to the book The Color Monster. Here’s how you can make your own! 1. Using fluorescent oil pastels students used either warm or cool colors to scribble on a piece of 80lb drawing paper. 2. Using watercolor (or liquid watercolor) students painted over their scribbles. This technique is called “wax-resist”, meaning the water-based paint will not stick to the oil pastels which allows them to shine through the paint brightly. 3. Once the painting is dry, I lightly drew an outline similar to a chubby cat over the paintings in pencil. Then using a small piece of cardboard and black tempera paint, students dipped one of the edges of cardboard into the black paint and “tap tap tapped” along the edge of my pencil lines making the monsters look like they are covered in hair. 4. We glued google eyes on and tapped the black paint and cardboard across for a mouth and then also used it to stamp the monsters’ bushy unibrow 🤣 5. Teeth were cut out of white scrap paper and glued on my students. I encouraged them to add as many teeth as they wanted! 6. Monsters are then cut out, mounted, and matted. Bonus if you want to create a fun textured border with texture rollers! 5. Colorful Cardboard Village Inspired by the gorgeous rainbow murals in the Village of Palmitas in Mexico by the German Crew, my adapted students love always love transforming old cardboard supply boxes into gorgeous colorful houses! To make the colors pop on the cardboard be sure to use higher quality tempera paint and mix it with a little bit of white to make it more opaque. I love to use fluorescent paints because they look so bright on the cardboard. Often times to get the students started I will draw a few doors or windows with a chisel tip sharpie or bingo dauber filled with black India ink (a Cassie Stephens hack you can find here) and I will even cut open a few parts with a Canary cardboard knife (the best tool ever) so they will get even more excited about their house/ building! One of the best parts of making huge cardboard houses is how they all look when you display them together. 6. Nature Mobile The project comes from my friends Bar and Shannon over at The Creativity Project. You can find so many incredible ideas through their blog and website, so be sure to check it out! My adapted art students loved painting the leaves, pine cones, sticks, threading beads, and wrapping pine cones in brightly colored yarn. This beauty was then hung from the ceiling in the students’ classroom. 7. Flower CD Prints I started this project a few years ago and it never ceases to amaze me every time I do it! Shout out to my media specialist for all the old CDs that were no longer used- perfect for printmaking! Starting with a little white for paint mixing (this makes the paint pop on the black paper- but not necessary if you print on white). Crayola premier fluorescent tempera is my paint of choice! Students could either paint some type of radial flower design or they could paint the CD solid and then use a Q-tip to subtract away paint with bumpy or curvy lines- or do both! Once the CD is painted just stamp it on the paper. I also love to have my kids do a ghost print right after to see how it looks! One thing I try to do is have my students use two analogous colors per CD and have multiple colors schemed CDs in rotation. If you mix too many colors on one CD they will definitely get muddy. To finish them up I cut a few leaf shapes out of styrofoam to paint and print as well. You could also add small dots of seeds/ details with Q tips at the end lots of possibilities for exploring! So easy and fun to do! 8. Contact Paper Sun Catchers Using contact paper, small pieces of tissue paper, a smidge of glitter/ sequins and embroidery hoops these beauties are sure to make any space they’re hung in gorgeous!! All you have to do is give students one piece of contact paper with the sticky side up, have students place materials of their choice in the arrangement they would like. Once they are finished, cover with another piece of contact paper, piece sticky side down, sealing the tissue inside. Place contact paper in between two rings of an embroidery hoop, trim the edges, and hang in a window. For more fun, you can hang ribbon or DIY pom-poms from the bottom. If you decide to try any of these projects be sure to tag me on Instagram (@artwithmrs.e) so I can see and share your students work!! Have fun!
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