Donating to the Schools in Detroit, Michigan with Ruth Post

During the Art of Ed Conference in Detroit, MI, we came across a lovely teacher who not only understands the importance of art but makes it her life mission to bring art to underfunded schools. Because Doodle Hog strongly believes in making art accessible to all kids, we donated dauber markers to all her schools. In return, we have received some amazing lesson plans for teachers, parents, and homeschoolers!

About Ruth Post

Ruth Post is an elementary art teacher in Michigan. During her nearly 30-year teaching career, she has taught art to students in grade K-12 and college. Ruth brings a lot of enthusiasm and energy to her teaching and was awarded Teacher of the Year after her first year in the classroom. She shares her knowledge about teaching online at the art education conferences held through the website The Art of Ed. Ruth is currently developing her own website which is called LittleBuddingArtist.com Ruth also loves to make whimsical paintings with rich visual textures and patterns in her art studio in Sedona, Arizona.

How Ruth Has Incorporated Dauber Markers in Her Lessons

Dauber Markers not only bring the love of art into the classroom, but they can be used to create and enjoy various styles of art with your kids. Here are just a few ways Ruth Post has incorporated our dauber markers into her art lessons and ways you can too!

Create Expressive Suns:

Dauber Markers are perfect for little hands that are learning to use their fine motor skills. Making circles can be challenging for young learners, but dauber markers make it fun with Expressive Suns.

1. Begin by drawing a circle with a black crayon in the center of a white piece of paper.
2. Next add rays coming out from the circle using either straight, curvy or zigzag lines.
3. Add an expressive face.
4. Use the Dab and Dot Markers around the drawn sun to create a sky-blue background.
5. Add the warm colors: yellow, orange and red to the sun’s face using watercolor paints. The crayon lines will resist the watercolors and stay black.

Dot Animals:

Kids love to dab and dot circles all over with dauber markers. Transform their love for dabbing and dotting into silly little animal critters. Here’s how:

1. Begin by sharing artist Ed Emberly’s Great Thumbprint Drawing Book with the children. Show them how Emberly uses dots as the basis for creating animals.
2. Next, have them dab circles on their paper for their animal’s head and body using the different colored Dab and Dot markers.
3. Then add the animal’s smaller features like the legs and face using a pencil or ballpoint pen.
4. Finish by having the children draw or dot in their desired background like the sun, trees, water, grass, etc. for their landscape design.

Give Peas a Chance:

This fun little lesson teaches kids not to judge a book by its cover. As gross as peas may look, to some they are delicious. Just as you can’t judge a vegetable before you try it, you can’t judge a person before you get to know them. Here’s a great lesson on peace, harmony, and getting along!

1. Begin by reading the book Peas on Earth by Todd Doodler. This story uses a simple play on words to portray the basic concepts of peace, harmony and getting along with all kinds of people.
2. Next have the children dab two or more green dots on their white paper.
3. Then change the dots into characters by using a pen or marker to add a face, arms, and legs. Plus, add other items to dress up the peas so that they become cartoon characters.
4. Finish up by adding speech bubbles with text about how to get along with others.

Radiating Designs:

Making designs, shapes, and putting them all together is a fun way to make art. You would be surprised how many different geometrical patterns you can make with a circle. Here’s how to make some breathtaking radiating designs!

1. Begin by reading the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. This book is filled with many dots designed artworks.
2. Next draw several circles on a white piece of paper in a radiating design - Think a Target store sign.
3. Then add dot patterns or lines to the circle's rings using the Dab and Dot markers.
4. Cut around your radiating design so that you end up with a circular artwork.

Abstract Designs:

Making abstract art doesn’t have to be a hard concept. In fact, dab and dot markers make creating abstract art a blast! Here’s how to do it!

1. Begin by cutting out several size circles using brightly colored construction paper.
2. Next glue the paper circles to a piece of white paper randomly or in a radiating design.
3. Then add dots around the paper circles using the Dab and Dot markers to fill in the white areas of the paper.
4. Add lines with a black marker to enhance the design.

What other creative lessons have you come up with for Doodle Hog’s Dab and Dot Markers? Share some ideas in the comments!