Party in the Art Room with Amanda Koonlaba

09/18/2026

Want to encourage students to think more creatively? 💡🎨

Sometimes, the right question is all it takes to open the door to new ideas, deeper thinking, and creative exploration.

Try asking:

💡 “What else could you try?” 🎨 “What would happen if…?” 🔍 “What do you notice?” 🧠 “Why did you make that choice?” ✨ “How could you change it?”

These simple questions give students space to explore possibilities, explain their thinking, and make creative choices. ❤️

👉 Save these questions for your next class!

09/16/2026

Here’s something I wish every teacher knew about arts integration: 🎨

You don’t have to redesign your entire curriculum.

Start with **one lesson.**

Ask yourself:

💡 “How could students show what they know creatively?”

That’s it.

Start small, experiment, and build from there. Arts integration doesn’t have to mean adding more to your plate—it can start with one simple creative opportunity. ✨

👉 Save this for your next planning session!

09/14/2026

Looking for a simple way to combine art and literacy? 📚🎨

Try giving students an opportunity to show what they understand through art!

They can:
🖼️ Illustrate a favorite scene
👤 Create a character portrait
🎨 Design a new book cover
💭 Create artwork inspired by the story

Art gives students another way to process ideas, make connections, and show their understanding of what they’ve read. ✨

You don’t need a complicated project—just a good story and an opportunity to create!

👉 Save this idea for your next ELA lesson!

09/11/2026

Want to make your lessons a little more creative? 🎨💡

You don’t need to completely change your curriculum—sometimes, **one small creative change can make a big difference.**

Try these 3 simple ideas:
🎨 Let students draw what they learned.
💡 Ask them to create more than one solution.
🗣️ Give them opportunities to explain their creative choices.

Small changes can give students more opportunities to think, explore, and express what they know.

👇 Which one will you try this week?

09/07/2026

Art isn't just an extra activity—it can be another way for students to learn, communicate, and think. 🎨💡

From expressing ideas to practicing observation and building problem-solving skills, art gives students opportunities to engage with learning in meaningful ways.

✨ Express ideas
👀 Practice observation
🧩 Develop problem-solving skills
🎨 Communicate visually
💭 Reflect on learning

Creative learning can happen across the curriculum!

👉 Save this post for your next lesson-planning session!

09/04/2026

Think you have to be an artist to teach creatively? Think again. ❤️🎨

You don’t need to be an expert artist or have fancy supplies to give your students meaningful creative experiences.

Start simple:
✨ Try easy art activities
✨ Ask open-ended questions
✨ Give students choices
✨ Use everyday materials

Creativity isn’t about making perfect art—it’s about giving students space to think, explore, experiment, and create. 💡

Know a teacher who needs this reminder? ❤️

👉 Share this with a teacher who thinks they're “not artistic.”

09/02/2026

Let me know if you can relate!

08/18/2026

Such a fun mixed media piece that I got to create with Mrs. Jenny Studio Creative Kids

08/09/2026

I have a guest post up on the blog for
Growing Minds Consulting, LLC, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

It’s called **Let Students See the Math**, and it came from something I still remember way too clearly: making a zero on a percentages test.

Not a “you almost had it” kind of grade. A zero.

And what I remember most is that I didn’t understand what I had missed. The class moved on, but percentages stayed one of those math things that felt locked up somewhere I couldn’t get to.

Now that I’ve taught both general education and visual art, I think about that a lot. I don’t think I needed the math watered down. I think I needed another way to see it.

That’s what this post is about.

Arts integration is not “do the math, then color when you’re done.” It’s not decoration. It’s not a cute extra.

When it’s done well, students are learning the academic content and the art form at the same time. So in a math and art lesson, students might be working with fractions, percentages, symmetry, or part-whole relationships, but they’re also learning vocabulary like line, shape, color, pattern, contrast, balance, and composition.

Both parts matter.

Art can help students see the math, talk about the math, and remember the math. And for some students, that visual, hands-on pathway is the way the concept finally starts to make sense.

You can read the post here:

Guest post from Amanda Koonlaba on using arts integration to help students understand math concepts like fractions, percentages, and part-whole relationships.

08/06/2026

Enjoying the Elementary Art Summit with Tarbet Education Network