Sometimes I forget about incorporating holidays into my lessons. I know at some schools celebrating holidays has been frowned on, but so far not at my school (cross your fingers, hope to die..).
Anyway, I don’t always incorporate holidays, often I forget about them until they are just a few days away…so without further ado, here are a few ways to do something special for Valentine’s Day this year:A day or so before Valentine’s Day, say something like: “Ok, class, I want you to use everything we have learned so far to make a one sided Valentine’s Day card. Open a new document and make it 5”x7”. Have fun!”
- Another thing I like to do is point them to some online tutorials. There are tons of sites out there that teach step-by-step instructions for almost everything. Here are a few that I liked (but I have to be honest with you, I didn’t test them all…):
- https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-create-an-intricate-vector-heart-illustration
- https://www.denisdesigns.com/blog/2010/02/create-an-arrow-through-a-heart-icon/
- https://veerle-v2.duoh.com/blog/comments/create_a_valentines_card_in_illustrator/
- https://vectips.com/tutorials/create-a-mouthwatering-chocolate-covered-strawberry/
- If you don’t remember until the day of, and you are feeling totally stressed and guilty because you didn’t get as much done as you wanted and kids aren’t enjoying your class as much as you hoped and you are behind in grading and… my advice is to STOP, have some chocolate, and pull the kids out of whatever you have them doing and play a game with them. It can even be an art game. I mentioned one that I like to do in a previous blog post.
Don’t feel stressed about feeling the need to incorporate every holiday. YES, you are the art teacher. NO, you don’t need to feel guilty for the things you are too busy to do.
Whatever you choose to do, just remember, that teaching art should be fun! Hard at times, yes, but fun nonetheless. If you have the time, try one of these tips out, if not, wait until next year. Valentine’s Day will be here again in 365. 🙂
Are there any tutorial website that you like? Let me know in the comments!