smART Art with
Mrs. Murphy
Welcome to Mrs. Murphy's SmART Site! Our Botetourt County students are some of the BEST artists around! Students enjoy using a variety of media, including watercolor paints, acrylic paints, pencil and paper, oil pastels, chalk pastels, ink, and clay to create interesting art for all to see. All elementary artists have the opportunity to study many famous artists frequently throughout the school year. Artists, such as Kandinsky, Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, and Close, along with many others, are introduced to all of our young artists so that we bring the "art world" into our classroom!
In our smART classrooms, we also continuously work on thinking through projects (project based learning and STEM) within the classroom. Children are encouraged to follow guidelines, but allow their own creativity to flow in order to find success within their work! At times, we encounter "mistakes" that we can then turn-around into "surprises". Maybe those surprises develop into something more... which is the enjoyment and the mindfulness that is required in art!
Want to learn something new in art? Art Lessons will be available at times to view on this website!
Do you want to learn how to make home-made playdough?
Follow this easy recipe below for quick dough!
Ingredients:
1 cup All-Purpose flour
1 cup water
1/3 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
A few drops of food coloring (any color... and adding color to your dough is OPTIONAL!)
Mix all ingredients together in a medium-size sauce pan. Place on low/medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture has thickened. Thickening means that the mixture will begin to build up around the spoon as you stir. Add a few drops of food coloring near the end of cooking if you wish to have a colorful dough. Place the hot dough on a plate to cool for 10-15 minutes before playing with it.
Remember when you are finished playing with your dough to put it into an air-tight container or a zipped up Ziplock baggie for safe storage. This dough should last you a few months, if properly stored!
One of my FAVORITE websites, Art for Kids Hub!
Do you want some new drawing ideas that look HARD but are actually very easy to follow? Check out Art for Kids Hub online with Mr. Rob! He works on neat projects together with members of his family and I LOVE that this is a 100% kid-friendly website. I've learned a great deal about cartoon-style characters from drawing along with Mr. Rob and I think that you will too! Enjoy!