Red Ted Art

Red Ted Art has been another very reliable art site I have continuously gone back to over the years for may great art ideas, projects and activities.  It is constantly being updated with new content, ideas and themes so there is no shortage of ideas there. One of the great things I have always enjoyed about this resource is that it always follows holidays and themes and events throughout the school year such as Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Days and so on. What I have also particularly liked about this site is it goes beyond its scope and brings other quality classroom activities and ideas to light. For example, you can find various  STEM activities, which is something I have been making a more conscious effort in my classroom to teach. I have found two fantastic STEM activities that I continue to use as the start of the year activities. The two I have used are “paper helicopters” and “paper gliders”.  What is awesome about these two activities is it requires very little resources and and are very easy to make. In addition, after a couple of tries students have no problem finding the resources at home to do it own their own or remembering how to create them again. In addition, these STEM activities are an excellent gateway for experimenting but using different materials and changing various aspects such as the type of paper or adding weight. I have found this has helped with my students observational skills.

Another great feature that I particularly enjoy about this resource is that many of the activities and crafts you find on here come with a video tutorial. This is useful if you are able to display the video on a smart board or piece of technology that the students can see.  If you are able to show the class, it is still quite valuable as a prep tool for you, so you are able to see all the steps and think of the areas students might have trouble with in advance.  Although most resources that you will come across on other pages do have video step by step tutorials I have found the videos on Red Ted Art to be a bit more detailed and thorough.  If no video tutorial is available then a good step by step visual with pictures and instruction is usually available as well to help you understand the process of that particular activity.

Moving from crafts and activities that require prep and time to organize and get going, Red Ted Art also offers  a wide range of activities that you can just print and go. These printables are all free and ready to go. There is a lot of focus on simple paper sculptures that students will colour in. After, all that is required are a few simple folds, some glue, tape or staples and it is complete. What I really like about this idea of paper sculptures is that it goes beyond just handing out a colouring sheet. It is a neat way to introduce without much effort sculpting art work, that is low resource and low cost, and can eventually be moved towards other sculpting activities that are a bit more costly in materials and more advanced in skill.

This is a tremendous art resource that continuously keeps building up a vast list of activities. What I also like is they are not afraid to bring in other activities that from outside sources and share it on their site. I have found this to be an extremely valuable asset because they are searching for new and fun activities otherwise you might have had to go and look for on your own. I find this all to be quite valuable because as teachers we all have our own personality and with that comes art activities that we choose based on what we think we might like. By Red Ted Art creating their own fun activities and pulling in outside ones really helps to diversify the amount and quality of what they have to offer and hopefully stuff that you like to try with your students.

Overall this is a fantastic site that I have enjoyed. If there is any downside, it is that it can be overwhelming at times sorting through the resources as already mentioned there is quite a catalog of activities built up over the years. In addition despite having a site search bar, it appears the resources are not tagged very well. I have noticed this when I am searching up the STEM activities it can be a bit tricky but obviously not impossible to find, so tagging of their activities could be a bit better. However, do not let that bit of negativity distract you from the fact that this is a completely free resource, which require no paid membership, or any type of payment for additional benefits.

LINK:  https://www.redtedart.com/

Site Break Down:

PROS:

• no membership
• wide range of activities – difficulty, resources, prep,
• free and quick printables in a pinch
• one of the most active resources I have come across

CONS:

• finding resources in search bar can be difficult
• does add a lot of content at one time site can get easily flooded quickly

OVERALL RATINGS:

Membership: 5/5

• no membership required

Easy to Navigate: 4/5

• overall could be better

Site usefulness: 5/5

• activities for almost all ages
• keeps up with themes throughout the school year
• fully active resource

Prep needed for Materials: 5/5

• offers activities that require no prep just a quick print off
• offers activities that do require resources

Active Webpage: 5/5

• always adding new content

Overall: 4.8 / 5