Great Art Sites for Kids— Build Your Wild Self

Build Your Wild Self is a site sponsored by the New York Zoological Society, which allows children to create a self portrait Using attributes from a variety of wild animals.

First you create an avatar based on your human self, a fun exercise self portraiture. The you choose features from different animals to create your "wild self." As you work, you hear the sounds each animal makes and your final result lets you read about the attributes you've chosen.

This would be a great exercise to combine with a "Where the Wild Things Are" art lesson. It could also be a cross-curricular themed project with wildlife sciences. Here is the wild self I created:

Calaveras Portraits Inspired by José Posada

My fourth graders are learning about the works of José Posada, an artist from Mexico who illustrated political cartoons which poked fun at the members if High Society. He was also influenced by Dia de los Muertos, hence his portraits rendered as calaveras (skulls).

My amazing family of artists helped me to create some sample pieces for my classes. Here are our creations. Students' work to come soon!