Elementary Art
Updated: March 24, 2003
1925 - Year in Review - This section of a larger art site features works by international artists who were active in the 1920s. It includes images, descriptions, and links to other background material and information. Useful for students learning about 20th century art or the social and cultural history of the period. Individually published.
Animation History - Learn to be Wild - Grades 4-12 - The British Film Institute offers this site which details the evolution of animation from its crude beginnings in the late 19th century to today's sophisticated computer simulations. The site treats animation as an art form, and provides a number of examples of how animation trends mirror those elsewhere in the art world. This site puts an interesting spin on a topic with which most students are already familiar.
@rtRoom - Grades 2-8 - This is a nicely constructed collection of art and art appreciation activities. Well illustrated ideas and concepts could be used in a variety of settings and grade levels. If you're looking for art projects, there are dozens of ideas here. From the University of Florida.
Architecture Through the Ages - Grade 5-8 - Social studies/art - See images of different architecture styles with a glossary to understand terminology of buildings from Ancient Egypt to modern times. Use this student-made site for preliminary research before starting your own model buildings or as a supplement to the study of these civilizations. Thinkquest Junior winner: third place winner, social studies, 1998.
Art Education & ArtEdventures - Grades K-8 - There are lots of resources at this site from the Sanford art supply people. There's a nice mixture of lesson ideas - many, many perspective lessons - as well as information for teachers and "just fun" ideas for students. This site would be particularly helpful for regular classroom teachers who don't have an art instruction background.
Art Images for Instruction - Grades K-12 - This is an elegantly-presented collection of royalty-free art images which are copyright-free when used for instructional purposes. The site is broadly divided into time periods, and there are thumbnails for each image. Clicking on a thumbnail will bring up the image in several size options. Wonderful resource for art history or lessons dealing with comparative art styles.
ArtsEdge, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington - Performing Arts, Music, integrated with all subjects: K-12 - The Kennedy Center presents an excellent set of indexed links by interest area, including materials for integrating the performing arts and music into other curriculum areas. You can download the Cuesheets created for students to introduce them to the many fine programs offered through the Kennedy Center, but these Cuesheets could also be used for study of a play or musician just within your classroom. The Curriculum Studio section of the site includes many lesson plans and units (including handouts!) ready for teacher use in all subject areas, such as Math and Miro. Teachers are also invited to share materials they have created. For students, there are a student sharing area, resources for student research, and SAFE links for student research. You will return here often!
Art Safari - Grades 4-8 - This site from New York's Museum of Modern Art uses animals as an introduction to art appreciation. Students can view a selection of different art works, make their own observations about what the artist is showing, and learn about the role of art in cultural expression. The site can be used successfully at several different levels.
AskAsia, The Asia Society’s Asian Educational Resource Center - Grades K-12 - World Cultures/Art/ Interdisciplinary - This site has comprehensive information, resources, and teaching materials about Asia and Asian-Americans. There is a virtual art gallery, a large selection of lesson plans, a locator for teaching materials in your region of the U.S., a page to send questions from teachers or students to experts on Asia, a page of interviews with authors about Asia, and a large collection of supplementary teaching materials, such as maps and images. This could be a great resource for familiarizing both teachers and students with Asian topics.
Classroom Crafts from Elmers - Grades K-3 - This is a collection of craft projects which primary level teachers can easily use in the classroom with their students. Each includes a simple illustration and basic instructions. The activities are grouped thematically and can be used by any teacher, regardless of their artistic ability.
Chinese Calligraphy - Grade 3-6 - Art/ social studies - This student-created site explains about the art of Chinese Calligraphy and includes basic information about the Chinese civilization. The graphics and explanations will make students want to try this new way of communicating. Thinkquest Junior Winner: third place, art and literature, 1998.
The World of Escher, by The World of Escher (a Texas Corporation) - Grades 4+ - This Escher site includes biographical information from an Oxford scholar, a chronology of Escher’s life, a tessellation contest for upper elementary grades, information for making the art-math connection, and sales information for Escher commercial products. There is also a place for student writing responses to be entered via the Internet.
Alexander Calder - An Exhibition from the National Gallery of Art - Grades 4-12 - Take an interactive tour through the National Gallery's Calder exhibit. You can click on a sculpture or painting to see details about that work. Use your mouse to pan around the rooms and move from point to point. Requires the Live Picture viewer plug-in, which is available from the TeachersFirst Toolbox.
Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston - K-12 - This site provides an excellent introduction on how to experience contemporary art which could help prepare any class(and teacher) for any contemporary art field trip, wherever you are. There are also online exhibits formatted to feel as though you are walking through the actual museum, so your class need not even leave school! The valuable art links included within this site are user-friendly.
Dallas Museum of Art - Art: This site offers primarily images of works in its collections of art of the Americas, art of Europe, and more, for educational use only.
Chauvet Cave in the Ardeche Region of France, a French National Culture Website - Grades 3+ (vocabulary is high level, images good for all ages) - Discovered in December, 1994, this cave holds multiple cave paintings available on the site as enlargeable images. These images could provide visual stimulation for art lessons on primitive art.
Claynet Central, by Fayetteville-Manlius (N.Y.) School district art department - all grades - This site provides information and curriculum ideas for integrating the art curriculum in cooperation with the Everson Museum (Syracuse, N.Y.) to create a multimedia resource on the Internet. Images of student ceramics, links to lesson plans and teacher sharing for all grade levels are available. The site also describes an exciting annual art competition/show for high school students held at Everson museum: Feats of Clay.
Global Children's Art Project - This site offers a rotating collection of pictures submitted by children from around the world. Students can view pictures in either thumbnails or full size, grouped by age and country, and can also submit their own artwork. Offers interesting perspective on how other cultures see themselves and their world.
KinderArt - Grades K-3 - Here's a ready source for thousands of art ideas, projects, and activities for primary students. Seasonal and theme activities provide primary teachers with lots of instructional options. This site also includes a variety of craft projects.
A Paper Folding Project, Paul Haeberli of Silicon Graphics, Inc.( A C-graphics researcher/professional) Grades 6+ - Follow an illustrated step-by-step procedure to make folded paper sculpture. Use the demo on screen or as a lesson plan. This site also includes links to other studio art ideas and "quickies."
The Florence Art Guide - Grades 4-12 - This Italian site offers an introductory, museum-by-museum tour of Florence, providing historical background and samples of collections for each location. Good introductory reference for an art or history project, or for a basic introduction to the collections. Easily navigable by students.
The Frick Collection - Grades 6-12 - This site includes a tour of the large art collection which industrialist Henry Clay Frick bequeathed to the people of Pittsburgh at the turn of the century. The site includes detailed reproduction of many of the paintings and other works in the collection.
The Harlem Renaissance - Grades 4-10 - English, Humanities, Social Studies, Music - Introduce students to the incredible body of art, music and literature produced by African Americans during the 1920s. This site by Encarta offers specific information about the musicians, writers, and artists of this era, as well as links to related Encarta articles and websites. Take advantage of The Harlem Renaissance: Creativity and Community, a well-organized lesson plan that encourages students to examine this artistic movement, its causes, and the impact it had on American culture.
Italian Sculpture - the Last 1200 Years - Grades 6-12 - Here is a collection of superb images of Italian sculpture. The catalogue is by artist, and there are special sections on the cities of Florence and Rome. This site is in Italian, but since it's image intensive it's not hard to navigate using the artists' names. Definitely worth a try for art and art history classes.
Make a Splash with Color - Grades 4-12 - Here's an online color theory lesson with a hands-on twist. Users can select, blend, and manipulate colors in several different ways to experiment with the use of color in different settings. Lots of interesting lesson possibilities.
National Gallery of Art's Kids' Pages - Grades 3-8 - The National Gallery (US) has created this section to help children understand art, art exhibitions, and different styles of art. There's a nice animated story, along with lots of links to units on specific artistic styles. The site does a great job of explaining why particular artists painted in the way they did. This is a great way to introduce young children to museums, especially if there's a field trip in your future.
Museum sites from around the world
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- The Louvre
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
- The Museum of Modern Art (New York)
- The National Gallery (Washington, DC)
- The National Museum of American Art (Washington, DC)
- The Rodin Museum (Paris) - Web site describing the museum and its collection. Also available in French.
Van Gogh at the National Gallery - This is the web site for the current Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. The "images" section provides both descriptions and pictures of the paintings in the exhibition. Click on the paitnings for a look at the details of Van Gogh's famous brush stroke technique - the sort of detail you don't usually see on the Web.
Van Gogh - Inside Art - Grades 4-8 - This is a web game for kids which explores Van Gogh's paintings and style, complete with examples and commentary. The structure of the site encourages students to understand both what and why Van Gogh created his impressionist masterpieces. Great supplementary activity for an art class, or an independent exploration for the extra-curious.
Van Gogh Information Gallery - A very complete listing of paintings and other works, along with history, other links, and additional information. This is not a children's site, but would be an excellent source for teachers seeking a variety of examples of how Van Gogh's style evolved over the years.
Visiting a Museum - Family Guidelines - This site from the U.S. Department of Education provides suggestions for children on preparing for a museum visit, and what to do once you get there.
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