WildcatsCreate

10/15/2026

Wildcats Clean up routine!

10/08/2026

Our Creative Process

In our art studio, artists take ownership of their learning by following a creative process that encourages independence, responsibility, and reflection.

IDEA – Imagine It! Think about what you want to create. Find inspiration and explore possibilities.

PLAN – Think It Through! Sketch your idea, choose materials, and decide how to bring your vision to life.

SET UP SPACE – Get Ready! Gather your supplies and organize a workspace where you can create safely and successfully.

CREATE – Make It Happen! Bring your idea to life! Practice skills, solve problems, experiment, and make changes along the way.

CLEAN UP – Care for Our Studio! Put materials away, clean your workspace, and take responsibility for our shared studio.

REFLECT – Grow as an Artist! Look at your artwork and creative choices. What worked? What challenges did you overcome? What might you try next?

Our goal isn't just to create artwork. It's to develop creative thinkers, independent problem-solvers, and responsible artists!

10/08/2026

This cactus collage lesson is a fun introduction to creating art with recycled paper! Through a simple demonstration, children explore cutting, layering, overlapping, and arranging shapes to create colorful cacti. While some artists may choose to give cacti a try, the real goal is to inspire creativity and encourage children to transform recycled materials into their own unique works of art! Find the link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Creative-Cacti-with-Collage-16365832

10/06/2026

What if your classroom organization could actually teach independence? 🧶

That’s one of the reasons I love our yarn cart.

Instead of hiding materials inside bins and cabinets, the colors are visible. Children can SEE their options before they ever make a choice.

And that little shift supports so much more than organization:

✨ independent decision-making
✨ creative confidence
✨ visual inspiration
✨ fewer unnecessary transitions
✨ less “What can I use?”
✨ more ownership of the creative process

Sometimes a creative art studio is about designing an environment that quietly tells children:

You can make a choice.
You can solve this.
You can be responsible for your materials.
Your ideas belong here.

That’s the kind of classroom organization I want more of.

Would your students love having their yarn choices this visible? 🧶👇

10/05/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q02gEzwD5w

Create colorful fall leaf art with a simple, kid-friendly process! ...

10/05/2026

I designed a collection of simple prompts and classroom connections to help educators spark observation, conversation, experimentation, and creative thinking.

It connects perfectly to my Studio Spark philosophy—sometimes children don’t need a step-by-step project. They just need a small spark that helps an idea begin. 💡🎨

10/05/2026

The collaborative artwork that never made it onto the wall. 🐝🎨

When a new administrative team arrived, I had the opportunity to lead professional development for more than 70 colleagues.

But I didn’t want to stand in front of everyone and simply TALK about student choice, creativity and personalized learning.

I wanted them to experience it.

So I created more than 100 ceramic hexagon tiles and prepared carts filled with possibilities.

🎨 Acrylic paint
💧 Watercolor
🖌️ Glaze
🖍️ Crayons + oil pastels
🧶 Even tiles with holes for weaving

Everyone received the same basic starting point—a ceramic hexagon—but chose how they wanted to finish it.

And the results?

Completely different.

Colorful. Unexpected. Personal.

My biggest surprise was watercolor. The bisque absorbed it beautifully, creating these wonderfully soft, vibrant surfaces.

The plan was for all of our tiles to come together as one giant honeycomb—a visual reminder that individually we create something unique, but together we become part of something larger.

Except they never made it onto the wall.

Construction happened.

Leadership changed.

And the installation was lost somewhere in everything that followed.

For a long time, I thought that meant the project was unfinished.

Now I see it differently.

The installation was the product.

But the experience was the lesson.

My colleagues experienced the same things I want children to experience in my studio:

Choice.
Agency.
Experimentation.
Problem solving.
Creative confidence.
Connection.

No two people needed the same materials or created the same result to belong to the same collaborative experience.

And maybe that was the most important part all along.

Sometimes the process really is the product.

Art teachers: Have you ever created something meaningful that never actually made it on display?

10/04/2026