Review: Squzzle Puzzles by Mindware

Posted on 30. Sep, 2008 by in All Posts, Art Games, Reviews

Product: Squzzle Puzzles by Mindware

Grade Level(s): Kindergarten-5th grade

Categories: Games, Teaching Resource

Product Review: Each puzzle can be worked on individually or in groups up to four students. This puzzle game is great for extensions after finishing art projects. It keeps their mind engaged and thinking “art smart”. I own many of the different sets offered and the students never get tired of doing them! Tip: Store them in Ziploc Slider Bags for storage.

Bucket Rating out of 5:

(5) Love it! Need it! Gotta have it now!

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National Arts Education Public Service Awareness

Posted on 30. Sep, 2008 by in All Posts, Cool+Creative, In The News, Neat Video

Back in May 2008, the Advertising Council joined Americans for the Arts and the NAMM Foundation to launch a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to promote the benefits of arts education.  The 30 second commercial was one of the ads.

If you need to quickly impress parents with stats and facts about the benefits of arts education, check out the campaign website.  As it states, kids need a daily serving of the arts just like they need a well-balanced nutritional diet.  Unfortunately, most kids don’t get enough art – in or out of school.  Be sure to visit the site as it also features a number of resources, activities, case studies and a nice list of 10 simple ways parents can get more art in their kids’ lives.

The Arts:

  • Improve kids’ overall academic performance.
  • Show that kids actively engaged in arts education are likely to have higher test scores than those with little to no involvement.
  • Develop skills needed by the 21st century workforce: critical thinking, creative problem solving, effective communication, teamwork and more.
  • Teach kids to be more tolerant and open.
  • Allow kids to express themselves creatively and bolster their self-confidence.
  • Keep students engaged in school and less likely to drop out.

Learning from Mistakes Only Works After Age 12

Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by in All Posts, Clssrm Mgmt, Positive Reinforcement

(Image: Courtesy of Leiden University)

(Image: Courtesy of Leiden University)

 

Thought I would pass along this article from Science Daily based on the research of learning styles of children.  This could prove helpful when developing behavior management systems in your classroom.

The picture to the left shows the areas of the brain involved in cognitive control following positive feedback in children aged 8 to 9.

Art Battles

Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by in All Posts, Cool+Creative, Music+Art, Neat Video

New York visual artists take the painting process traditionally reserved for studios or art schools and make it public with Art Battles, which are events that meld music and painting into a competition decided by public opinion. Check out the promo video below as well as the art battle event Femme Fatale below.

Does this inspire any classroom art activities?

(Trouble viewing video? Try this link.)


Femme Fatale from Art Battles on Vimeo.

MTV Creates Modern Art Olympics

Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by in All Posts, Cool+Creative

(Trouble viewing video? Try this link.)

Check out MTV Engine Room as the visual creators of a new generation battle for top bragging rights. International teams of young artists compete in a series of multimedia challenges for the chance to control the famous New York Times Square billboard. A great way to show students real world applications of art.

Review: The Ultimate Cutter by Crayola

Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by in All Posts, Reviews, Tools and Miscellaneous

Tool Name: The Ultimate Cutter by Crayola

Grade Level(s): 3rd and up

Category: Art Production

Product Review: I can finally allow younger children to use an exacto knive in my classroom. However, I would only recommend it for 3rd grade and up. I needed to train the students on how much pressure to add to achieve a good cut, but the investment in training was well worth the effort. Unlike other exacto knives, there is no way for the children to get cut – I can finally do some interesting paper cutting projects without the safety concerns. It would be good to have a few of these on hand for cutting out interior sections of paper or get a class set for whole-class art productions. The only drawback is that it is hard to get the blade lined up exactly where you want to begin to cut. When this happens, we just use a regular scissors to snip any areas left over the blade didn’t reach. The Ultimate Cutter comes with mini cutting mats – they aren’t great, but they work well for small areas.

Bucket Rating out of 5:

(3) Good. Worth a try.

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