Joel Scholten | Elementary Art (@scholtenart)

I’m Joel Scholten— art teacher, reading specialist, artist, devoted husband, and enthusiastic father, just like my bio says. I teach art with a passion for creativity, curiosity, and controlled chaos (mostly the chaos). When I’m not elbow-deep in paint water or debating whether googly eyes count as mixed media (they do), I work with @theartofed, helping other art teachers feel seen, supported, and slightly less caffeinated. I believe art class should be a place where students feel safe to take risks, make messes, and discover who they are—one glue stick at a time. I also believe in snacks, dad jokes, and not taking myself too seriously. Outside of school, I hang out with my amazing wife and kids, sing in church, doodle obsessively, read voraciously, and hit the gym before the chaos of the day begins. Welcome to a new year. Let’s make cool stuff. Let’s be kind. Let’s survive September. #teachertok #artteachersoftiktok #ArtTeacherLife #MeetTheTeacher #CreativeChaos TeacherLifeUnfiltered VisualArtsMatters ArtRoomMagic TeachingIsMyCardio CreativeEducator TeacherInfluencer ArtEd TeachingWithHeart ArtEducationMatters StartWithArt

A classroom full of fourth graders, all packing their creativity for a trip across the country! In this state travel art project, students design vintage inspired posters while practicing block lettering, landscape drawing, and foreground, middle ground, and background. Each student chooses a state, bends bold lettering back into space, and illustrates a mode of transportation for the adventure. From Volkswagen Beetles and campers to airplanes and passenger trains, every poster becomes a colorful journey through drawing, design, and imagination. This may seem like a lot, but my students are absolutely crushing these posters packed full of personal style! Ans as always, we have high expectations with low stakes because we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • Drawing paper • Pencils and erasers • Black markers • Coloring materials of your choice • State and landscape reference images • My modes of transportation drawing packet Save this fourth grade art lesson for your next landscape drawing project! #ElementaryArt #ArtEducation #ArtTeacher #ArtLessons #ArtForKids

When I started teaching, I thought the best teachers created unforgettable lessons every single day. Nearly two decades later, I’ve learned that memorable classrooms are usually built on ordinary things done exceptionally well. Clear expectations. Predictable routines. Simple lessons. Genuine relationships. The projects matter. The curriculum matters. But the environment you create every day matters just as much. If you’re in your first few years of teaching, I hope you know this: You don’t have to be the coolest teacher in the building. You just have to keep showing up, keep learning, and keep believing that your students are capable of more than they realize. What is something you wish someone had told you during your first year of teaching? #ArtTeacher #ElementaryArt #TeacherLife #TeacherMindset #ArtEducation

Candy corn is basically a cutting skills workout in a Halloween costume. My kindergartners turn yellow, orange, and white painted papers into candy corn collages while practicing tracing, cutting, and gluing. Those little hands are working! The painted papers can come together SO many ways: painting stations, oil pastel lines with watercolor washes, crayon leaf rubbings, gel plate leaf prints, cookie cutter stamping, or tempera paint sticks. Use a process your students need to practice! Once their papers are ready, students trace their candy corn pieces, cut them out, and glue them onto black paper. Then we practice “bubble cutting” around the outside, leaving a little black border. Another chance to turn the paper while keeping those scissors moving! This kindergarten fall art lesson packs in texture, collage, fine motor skills, and plenty of room for individual results. Around here, we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • Yellow, orange, and white painted papers • Black construction paper • Pencils • Scissors • Glue • Your choice of paper decorating supplies: paint and brushes, oil pastels, watercolors, crayons, leaves, gel printing plates, cookie cutters, or tempera paint sticks • Candy corn tracers, available through my Pensight landing page linked in my bio Save this for your fall art plans, and share your favorite way to make painted papers in the comments. I’m always up for another excuse to make a beautiful mess. #KindergartenArt #FallArtProjects #ElementaryArt #ProcessArt #ArtTeacherIdeas

The leaves are having a family reunion. Even the neutrals showed up. 😂 This fall leaf collage packs a whole lot of color theory into four little pieces of paper! Students use washable marker transfers to create altered papers in four color families: primary colors, secondary colors, warm colors, and cool colors. Then they trace leaves with Sharpie and cut them out. The fifth family gets its moment, too! Students decorate scrap paper with neutral tempera paint sticks, then tear the edges for texture. For the background, students choose a fall color and use oil pastels over cardboard to create texture rubbings. Then comes the arranging, overlapping, moving everything around, and finally gluing their compositions together. I love an elementary art lesson that gives students a shared skill to practice and plenty of choices along the way. Color families, texture, printmaking, and mixed media collage all working together. And through every step, we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • Four small pieces of white paper per student • Washable markers • A washable transfer surface and water • Leaf tracers • Sharpies • Scissors and glue • Scrap paper • Neutral tempera paint sticks • Construction paper in fall colors • Oil pastels • Textured cardboard Your turn: Pick ONE color family for an entire leaf collage. Which one are you choosing? Make your case in the comments! Save this fall art project for your next color theory lesson. #ElementaryArt #FallArt #ArtEducation #LeafArt #MixedMediaArt

The toothbrush has officially joined the music program’s special effects department. My fifth graders are turning handmade galaxy paintings into short animations for their solar system music program, and this collaboration has them hooked! We started with a watercolor wash on 9 x 16 paper, then students explored painting stations of their choice: liquid watercolor sprays, pom-pom space clouds, bottle-cap planets, and toothbrush stars splattered with metallic paint. Next, they illustrated something to fly through their galaxy, traced it with permanent marker, and colored it with their choice of materials. Then our media specialist helped students photograph their artwork and upload it into Canva. Their galaxy paintings became presentation backgrounds. They removed the backgrounds from their illustrations and used Canva’s animation tools to send their creations flying! These student-created animations will play behind their music performance. Their artwork gets to be part of the show! Art, music, science, and digital media coming together gives this elementary art lesson a purpose students are excited about. I love getting to build something with our music teacher and media specialist. And through every paint splatter and animation experiment, we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • 9 x 16 watercolor or heavyweight paper • Additional drawing paper • Watercolors, brushes, and water cups • Liquid watercolors and spray bottles • Pom-poms • Bottle caps • Toothbrushes and metallic paint • Pencils and permanent markers • Students’ choice of coloring materials • Camera or tablet • Canva Save this galaxy painting and animation lesson for your next collaboration, and tell me: what’s a project you’ve loved creating with another teacher? #ElementaryArt #ArtsIntegration #CanvaForEducation #STEAMEducation #artteachersoftiktok

Burlap has been waiting its whole life for third grade to turn it into something better than a potato sack. These burlap batik pumpkins give it a well-deserved art room moment! This fall art project combines washable Elmer’s glue, acrylic craft paint, and plenty of texture for a pumpkin painting with a twist. We use glue as a resist to create our pumpkin designs on burlap. This classroom batik adaptation gives students a chance to explore fiber art, line, shape, color, and positive and negative space while working on a surface that feels completely different from paper. Plan on about three weeks for this elementary art lesson. There’s drying time involved, but that final reveal is worth the patience! You’ll need: • Burlap • Washable Elmer’s glue • Acrylic craft paint • Paintbrushes • Paint palettes • Water cups • Table protection • Access to water for rinsing out the glue Every pumpkin will have its own personality. A wobbly line belongs here, too. Around here, we are practicing, not perfect. Save this pumpkin art lesson for your fall plans, and send it to the art teacher who’s always willing to try a new material. #ElementaryArt #FallArtProjects #PumpkinArt #BatikArt #ArtTeacher

I sneak neon paint into our color mixing lesson, and honestly, I’m not sorry. Neither is Yayoi Kusama. These bright mushrooms, flowers, and pumpkins start with painted paper students make themselves! Inspired by @nylah.khan projects, we mix primary colors to create secondary colors: orange, green, and purple. I sneak in a little neon paint because I love watching those colors POP against black paper. We also use black tempera sticks on black construction paper to create a subtle patterned background. Yes, black on black! The next week, we read Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn’t Sorry and explore Kusama’s artwork. Then students choose what their painted paper collage will become: a mushroom, a flower, or a pumpkin. They draw freehand or use a tracer on the BACK of their painted papers, cut out their shapes, and glue everything together. Drawing on the back keeps pencil marks off those beautiful painted surfaces! Then come the dots. Different sizes of sponge pouncers make this part especially satisfying. A little paint and a straight up-and-down press help keep the dots crisp. This elementary art lesson brings together color theory, painting, patterns, collage, contemporary art, and student choice. Same skills, plenty of room for their own ideas. And through all of it, we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • Painting paper • Primary-color tempera paint and neon paints • Paintbrushes, palettes, and water cups • Black construction paper • Black tempera paint sticks • Pencils, scissors, and glue • Sponge pouncers in assorted sizes • Tempera paint for dots • Mushroom, flower, and pumpkin tracers, optional • Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn’t Sorry My PDF tracer packet is available for purchase on my Pensight landing page through the link in my bio. Save this for your next color mixing lesson, and send it to an art teacher who loves a project with choices! #ElementaryArt #ArtTeacher #KidsArt #ArtEducation #YayoiKusama

One leaf. A whole lot of pattern. And a chance to break out the good stuff. For this third grade fall art project, students draw or trace a leaf, then repeat its shape outward until they reach the edges of their paper. We trace the lines with Sharpie and leave the center leaf the original construction paper color. Then the choices begin! Students fill each surrounding band with a different pattern, switching between crayons, colored pencils, markers, tempera sticks, and tempera paint. Stripes, dots, zigzags… there’s plenty of room to try something new. This elementary art lesson brings together concentric shapes, repetition, line, pattern, and mixed media while giving students practice choosing their own art materials. Same starting point, so many possibilities. And as always, we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • Colored construction paper • Pencils • Leaves or leaf tracers • Sharpies • Crayons • Colored pencils • Markers • Tempera paint sticks • Tempera paint • Paintbrushes and water cups Save this leaf art lesson for a fall day when your students need a little room to experiment! #ElementaryArt #FallArt #ArtTeacher #ArtForKids #ArtEducation

A remnant roll of Yard fencing and a pile of donated finds have officially become art supplies. Honestly, that was probably inevitable. 😂 This candy corn weaving project puts donated craft scraps to work! My second graders will weave with white, orange, and yellow materials, exploring texture and practicing that over, under rhythm. Then we’ll string their finished candy corn flags together into a swag banner. So much texture. So much personality. So stinking cute. I love an elementary art lesson that gives leftover materials another purpose. This fall art project brings together fiber art, weaving for kids, fine motor practice, and a little creative problem solving. And as always, we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • Yard fencing to use as a weaving base • White, orange, and yellow craft scraps, such as yarn, ribbon, and fabric strips • Scissors • String or twine for hanging the finished flags Save this weaving tutorial for your next fall art lesson, and go give that bin of donated supplies another look! #ElementaryArt #ArtTeacher #Weaving #FallCrafts #HalloweenCrafts

Tiny acorns. Big personalities. A whole lot of kindergarten art skills tucked into one fall art project. My kindergartners created these painted paper acorn collages while practicing watercolor routines, printmaking, cutting, gluing, and drawing different kinds of lines. We start with watercolor paper for the bottom of the acorn. For the cap, students color another paper with brown Kwik Stix, then stamp shapes and texture with cookie cutters dipped in metallic tempera paint. A little sparkle never hurt an acorn. While those papers dry, we make plaid backgrounds by overlapping horizontal and vertical lines with fall colored paint sticks. Then we cut, arrange, and glue our acorns together. My favorite little teaching trick? Outline with a dot, dot, dash pattern. It helps students slow down and follow the edges more carefully. Add a permanent marker face and optional rosy cheeks, and suddenly everyone’s acorn has something to say. This mixed media fall art lesson brings together painting, patterns, texture, and fine motor practice. Save it for your kindergarten art classroom, homeschool art lesson, or an autumn art activity with your favorite little artists. As always, we are practicing, not perfect. Supplies: • White paper for painted papers and backgrounds • Watercolor paints • Paintbrushes and water cups • Brown and fall colored Kwik Stix • Metallic tempera paints • Cookie cutters • Paint trays or plates • Scissors • Glue • Permanent markers • Colored pencils or crayons for rosy cheeks #KindergartenArt #FallArtProjects #AcornCraft #ElementaryArt #FallCrafts

I love a project that takes over the classroom for a while and then goes home with every artist who helped make it. For this cobblestone street, students work together to stamp organic stone shapes with bingo daubers. They mix neutral paint colors for the stones, then use toothbrushes to splatter on little speckles. The next week, they paint the spaces between the stones black and dark brown and dab on green paint with a scouring pad for moss. Once everything is dry, each student draws or traces fall leaves on their half of the street. Oil pastels add color and shadows. We’ll display the whole street together first, then cut the work in half so everyone takes home the leaves they made. We are practicing, not perfect, and this one gives us plenty of room to play with texture. Supplies: large paper, bingo daubers, neutral tempera paints, black, dark brown and green paint, brushes, toothbrushes, scouring pads, leaf tracers if you’d like them, and oil pastels. Would your students be more excited about the splatter painting or the moss? #ElementaryArt #ArtTeacher #CollaborativeArt #FallArtProjects #ArtProjectsForKids

These crayons have been through a lot. A little cutting, a little ripping, a little gluing… and suddenly they have feelings. After reading Frankencrayon by Michael Hall, my students used construction paper scraps to create and reassemble their own Frankencrayons. Then we went back through the illustrations to look closely at how eyebrows, eyes, and mouths can show emotion. Each student chose an expression for their crayon, and the personalities that came out of this were so good. It’s a fun picture book art lesson for practicing collage, facial expressions, and visual literacy. And when a piece gets ripped somewhere unexpected? We are practicing, not perfect. That might be the best part of a Frankencrayon. Supplies: construction paper, scissors, and glue. What emotion would your Frankencrayon have? #ElementaryArtTeacher #ArtTeachersOfInstagram #KidsArt #ArtEducation #ElementaryArtLesson

Have you ever seen this before? 🤣 @Crayola my students were not convinced this was yellow orange! 😆 #crayola #elementaryart #artsupplies #artteachersofinstagram #coloredpencils

When my kindergartners make penguin sculptures, we always start with Penguinaut by Marcie Colleen. Not because we’re using the illustrations as a how-to. But because it’s silly. It begs for different voices. And it pulls kids all the way in. By the end, the story shifts into something really special. It’s a sweet reminder about friendship, belonging, and appreciating the people right next to you. Exactly the kind of message I want floating around the room while we create. Sometimes the best art books aren’t about technique at all. They’re about heart. Save this one for your next penguin project and tag me if you try it!   #artteacherlife #elementaryart #kindergartenart #classroomlibrary #picturebooksinart

Go ahead and play with some art materials! Sometimes we get so caught up in our business that we forget to slow down enough to create. I don’t always have the time to heat up my encaustics, but even a few minutes to sketch or doodle goes a long way! What is your favorite way to create on a busy schedule? #encaustic #mixedmedia #artteachersoftiktok #artist #paintingprocess

My newest encaustic painting is finally finished, and you can see it this weekend at Cali Commons in Omaha! Hope to see you there! #artteachersofinstagram #painting #paintingart #encaustic #formymom

Wait, What?! I’m actually painting? It’s been a solid minute since I’ve made art for the sake of creating. Feels good. Here’s some progress on my work! #artteachersoftiktok #artteacherspainttoo #wip #elementaryartteacher #formymom #mixedmedia #cardinal #birdpainting #putabirdonit #painting #paintinginprogress #artteacherlife #summerbreak #artoftheday #letsmakeart #artteachersofig #letspaint #watchmepaint #encausticart #encausticpainting #artteachertok #teachertok #teachersoftiktok

Honestly, who allowed us to run errands together? 🤣🤣🤣 #weirddad #familytime #teachersinthesummer #teacherlife #vintagefinds #dadanddaughter #dad #embarrassingdad #antiques #schoolsoutforsummer #schoolsout #olddolls #artteachersoftiktok #artteachertok #artteacherlife

Cinnamon Clay “Gingerbread Cookie” Ornaments (don’t eat it🤣) You will need 1/4C Elmer’s Glue 3/4C unsweetened apple sauce 1 1/2 C ground Cinnamon Paint Ribbon, string, or raffia #easycraft #easycrafts #kidsartideas #kidscrafts #kidscraftideas #christmasornaments #christmasornament #homemadeclay #easyart #artactivitiesforkids #artactivitiesforchildren #craftactivitiesforkids #artactivity #craftactivity #homeschoolart #artteachertok #artteachersoftiktok #teachertok #teachersoftiktok #letscreate #christmas #homemadeornaments #cinnamon #holidayactivities #christmasactivities #christmasactivitiesforkids #familyactivities #familycrafts #familycraft #holidayfun #christmasfun #craftingwithkids

The Floor Is Lava Treasure Maps Coffee Watercolor Paper Pencils Permanent Markers “Harry and the Hot Lava,” by Chris Robertson Floor is Lava PDF (link in my bio) #artideas #artideasforkids #arttutorial #elementaryteacher #elementaryart #primaryart #artteachersoftiktok #artteacher #summeractivitiesforkids #easycraft #easyart #thefloorislava #artideasforkids #kidsartsandcrafts #artactivities #kidsart #homeschoolartproject #treasuremap #artdiy #diy #artoftiktok #howto #teacherresources #crosscurricular #art #artandliterature

Summer Fun: Collaboative Model Magic Minions #arttutorial #summerfun #despicableme #despicableme4 #easyart #easycraft #modelmagic #artteachersoftiktok #teachertok #artactivities #summeractivities #mommyandme #homeschoolactivities #letsmakeart #art #clay #clayforkids #elementaryart

#fall #falldecor #artteacher #artteachersoftiktok #diycrafts #howtocrafts #crafting @mm_customwoodworks #craft #glitter #woodsign #fallsign

My son loves Minions, so in honor of the upcoming Minions movie, we made a family collaborative minion sculpture. I used to do this project with my 4th graders for years. It might be time to bring it back, right?! #artteachersoftiktok #artteachers #minions #minionsriseofgru @universalpictures @minions #fourthgradeart #elementaryart #primaryart #familyart #kidsartideas #artideasforkids #summeractivities #summeractivitiesforkids #summeractivity #diy #familycraft #despicableme #banana @crayola

Making a mess with some encaustics and @Crayola supplies. #encaustic #encausticart #artteacher #artteachersoftiktok #mixedmedia #art #creativity #creativeplay #artteachers #painting #collage

Let’s draw some cupcakes. #artteachersoftiktok #diyartandcraft #crafting #artontiktok #elementaryart #elementaryartteacher #drawing #howtodraw

Yes you. . #artteachersoftiktok #diyartandcraft #artist #crafting #homedecor #classroomdecor