Add a Little Confetti to Your Journal Cover

     Our first art project of the year is usually decorating the covers of our journals.  We write in these almost every school day of the year, and it's just nice to have the covers personalized.  This year the students were encouraged to create a type of collage, and the results are as varied as my wonderful students' personalities.  

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Smushy Journal Art: Symmetry Painting

This is another creative journaling entry.  We do one of these weekly to celebrate the last day of the week.  (To read more about these, see this post:  Journal Writing 101.)  I honestly remember doing these when I was in kindergarten or first grade, but I still enjoy it every time I do it.  

It's super easy.  We just put blobs of paint on the right sides of our journals by squirting the paint right out of the bottle.  Then we closed our journals and gently pressed them.  The best part comes next -- opening the journals to see the lovely results.  

Assignment: Tear Your Journal

This was another Creative Art Journaling assignment.  Just about every Friday, I try to give my students something artistic to create in their journals instead of writing.  Besides being another avenue to be expressive, it is something they look forward to, and I do believe that the process of writing on most days and doing something a little different on Fridays does help the students to think a little "outside the box," and that will help them become better writers.  For what it's worth, almost half of these were drawn by guys.  

This student wrote the first part of her Bible memory verse on the torn edge.

Creative Art Journaling Project: Bookmarks

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For another creative art journaling Friday, I gave each of my students a blank piece of card stock and told them to make a bookmark.  But that alone probably would not have produced stellar results.  Part of being a good teacher is encouraging students to be creative. 
There are a few things we, as teachers, can do to spark our students' creativity that will produce stellar results though, and here are a few.
1.  Present the idea with enthusiasm!

2.  Show them an example or two. (I showed my students a bookmark that I had made.)

3.  Provide materials.  (I set out stickers, washi tape, scrapbooking paper, and scissors.  They asked if they could also use yarn and a hole puncher to make tassels, to which I, of course, answered, "Yes!"  I always keeps lots of supplies like this on hand.) 

3.  Give them a few ideas.   For example, for this project I suggested that they cut the top into shapes, which many of them did.  

4.  Encourage them to take the project home and work on it more, or to make additional ones.  While I only gave my students a few minutes to work on these during class (enough time to complete something simple), I always give them the option of taking them home over the weekend to work on them just for fun, and many of them do.  That's why I always do these on a Friday.





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A Pumpkin Post

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For a recent creative art journaling day, I found this free little pumpkin and made thirty-one copies, one for each of my students.  They taped them in their journals.  Then, during the three-to-four minute time slot which I reserve for working on our journals each day, they had the opportunity to color.  Not only do I think that this is a great brain exercise, but it gives them a creative outlet, and I see the results in their writing and other academic areas.  And besides, it's just fun.  
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Doodle Initials - Creative Art Journaling Fridays

Creative Art Journaling assignment last week:
Draw your initial and then doodle inside it.  
Color it.