Unlocking Creativity: Free Sketchbooks for Young Artists!

As an elementary art educator, I’m always looking for ways to nurture creativity, build foundational skills, and spark imagination in young artists. That’s why I’m so excited to share my free sketchbooks—resources designed to set young artists up for success while making the creative process fun and engaging. Choose which pages work best for your artists. 

Free Sketchbooks for All Ages

I have created a variety of sketchbook resources tailored to different age groups.

• Kinder Pages are designed to support our youngest artists in developing fine motor skills, building confidence, and creating through structured yet open-ended activities.
• Grades 1-2 focus on foundational skill-building with simplified activities that prepare students for more advanced artistic exploration in upper grades.
• Grades 3-5 feature a robust collection of 40+ pages, introducing students to the Studio Habits of Mind, essential artistic skills, and reflective practices to deepen their creative journey. These resources continue to evolve as I refine and adapt them to meet my students’ needs.

Lessons Learned: A Year Without Sketchbooks

This year, I experimented by not using sketchbooks. I know, I know... But with fewer materials to manage, our studio bins were lighter, we saved some paper, and I didn’t have to spend as much time front-loading skills. However, the trade-off was significant—Without sketchbooks, I found that students lacked immediate access to key visual references and language supporting their understanding as individual artists.

Honestly, I found myself creating more skill building resources than refining skills. That realization, combined with a noticeable decline in students’ understanding of Studio Habits of Mind (SHOM) and learning targets, made me rethink my approach. Sketchbooks provided students with the visual and linguistic tools they needed to engage deeply with SHOM, and I truly missed that integration.

So, after reflecting on this past year, I’m bringing sketchbooks back next school year—back to the BASICS!

Why Sketchbooks Matter

Sketchbooks had always been a vital tool in our studio. They provided students with a space to visually and linguistically engage with SHOM, helping them develop deeper connections with their artistic thinking. Without them, I realized we were missing a crucial step in the creative process—one that encouraged exploration, reflection, and skill-building in a meaningful way.

As I rethink my approach, my focus is on simplifying basic skills while fostering more opportunities for exploration and reflection. Instead of overly structured assignments, I want sketchbooks to become a space where students can experiment freely, make connections, and develop a habit of thinking like artists.

Sketchbooks offer students a safe space for experimentation, self-expression, and growth. They encourage young artists to:

• Develop problem-solving skills
• Build perseverance and creative confidence
• Think and work like artists

By reintroducing sketchbooks, I’m ensuring that students have opportunities to explore, reflect, and develop their artistic voices. 

What’s Inside a Sketchbook? 

These sketchbooks serve multiple purposes:

🖌 Warm-up or Lesson Response Activities – Quick exercises to get creative juices flowing.

🎨 Guest or Sub Plans – Many of the activities align with videos on our channel, making them perfect for substitute teachers.

✨ Studio Habits of Mind – Engaging students with SHOM language, our district curriculum and learning targets and proficiencies, like envision, engage & persist and reflecting on their creative process.
📚 Independent Work – Great for early finishers or self-directed learners.
🎭 Studio Skill-Building – Helping students develop strong artistic habits that translate into larger projects and focus on technique, composition, and craftsmanship.

✨ Creative Prompts – Open-ended tasks designed to spark imagination and innovation.
✨ Reflection Pages – Encouraging students to assess their own growth and artistic choices.

Grab Your Free Copies!

✅ Click [here] for Kinder resources!
✅ Click [here] for 1-2 resources!
✅ Click [here] for Grades 3-5!

I’m thrilled to offer these resources to fellow art educators and parents who want to inspire creativity in young learners. Whether you’re looking for structured skill-building activities or open-ended creative prompts, these sketchbooks are perfect tools to support young artists!

➡️ Download your copies and share your students’ creations with me! Tag me on Instagram @wildcats.create so I can celebrate their artwork with you! 🎨✨

Architecture Studio

  

Free Studio Printables for Setting Up Architecture Studio

Looking to bring creativity and SHOM into your Architecture studio? Whether you're introducing students to architectural design or reinforcing Studio Habits of Mind, I have some FREE printables that may help you set clear expectations, build accountability, and guide students in documenting their work.

The Evolution of Architecture Studio

For more than a decade, I have been teaching in a personalized setting using Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) pedagogy. I love advocating for student agency and allowing children to explore art through their own creative choices. As a mom of five children, I see in my childrens' need for voice and choice. 

Over time, the architecture studio has evolved alongside my students’ needs. I have added different materials and minimized choices. The studio has inspired basic building to dynamic structures.

One of the biggest updates for Wildcats is how we organize our in our mobile tower—a movable vertical storage system that houses a variety of architecture materials in clear containers.  This allows students easy access and keeping things organized.

Children know that building with architecture materials is ephemeral. Students build on black poster board and manipulate their builds for easy photographing and publishing. They keep their builds small and focus on ingenuity.  In special circumstances, I do allow children to continue their builds into additional studio sessions. For example, a group of boys wanted to build a brick organ garden, they filled out a plan sheet and communicated their ideas. We even used their final project photograph in an art show. I have a closet that children can keep their work on, or some where high up where younger artists can't get to it.

Free Printables?

✨ Architecture Studio Expectations Poster – A visually engaging guide outlining how to work responsibly in the studio, respect materials, and take ownership of the creative process.

🛠 SHOM Integration – This printable connects architectural thinking with studio habits, from Developing Craft to Reflection, encouraging students to approach projects like real-world designers.

📸 How to Photograph Your Work Guide – A step-by-step tutorial on how to properly capture student work, set-up to presentation for documentation since block work is ephemeral.

💡 Reflection Prompts – Questions to help students reflect on their work and engage in meaningful critiques.

How These Printables Help Your Art Studio Thrive

🎨 Supports Personalized and Choice-Based Learning – Encourages student-directed exploration while reinforcing problem-solving and critical thinking.

🏗 Promotes Professional Studio Practices – Helps students learn the importance of organization, responsibility, and documentation.

📷 Elevates Student Work Presentation – Teaches students how to showcase their projects with confidence and clarity.

Setting up an architecture studio in your art room has never been easier! Download these FREE printables and watch your students thrive as they build, create, and document their work with intention.

📥 Click here to download now!

Tag me on Instagram [@Wildcats.create] when you use these in your studio—I’d love to see how you bring architectural creativity to life in your classroom! 🚀🏗🎨. Have more questions? Message me your questions, I love to help!

Have more questions? Message me your questions, I love to help!

Schumacher Obsessed! Budget friendly look-alikes...

I am obsessed with pattern and compulsively addicted to Schumacher's Instagram feed.  As a mom of 5, I can not justify $185 a yard for the most beautiful fabric... but I do have an eye for look-alikes and wanted to share them with you.

If you Love Schumacher's Anniversary revival of Josef Frank's Citrus Garden, then you may have fell in love with Pottery Barn's Jocelyn print of lemon trees.

OR...

If you Love Lansdale Bouquet you may have had a liking to Pottery Barn's Bettina line.  Since Pottery Barn's bedding is no longer available, you may give Waverly's Portobello Vase from their Williamsburg collection a look.

OR if you love Chenoiserie, Mary McDonald's beautiful Chinois Palais matches well with Duralee's Tweedbank Green.

I have a thing for butterflies and if you do... you may have had a liking to Butterfly by Schumacher...

well, Dena Designs has a beautiful version titled Butterfly Garden.

It is an understatement to say that I am obsessed with Schumacher.  Their beautiful designs don't match my budget, but they still inspire me.  Good luck finding your favorites... and share good matches you may know of!

Beauty and the Beast!

We were really excited to see the live action Beauty and the Beast released from Disney! To celebrate, Springs Creative sent me single yard cuts of their latest B&B prints.  I love sewing for B. With the fleece, I sewed a comfy poncho and embellished it with a felt flower pin.  This poncho has a hood was the perfect transition piece from Winter to Spring.

The tutorial from the poncho is from here. So easy to create - 3 seams and it is complete.

You can purchase the smocked dress fabric by the yard which makes a quick dress with ties. A big rose from red fabric was perfect.

I love this big bow front dress that I call the Brooke top. The white is so crisp and accents the fun Beauty and the Beast print.

Hav-A-Hank Bandanna Sewathon!

Feeling blessed to be a Springs Creative Brand Ambassador! We had a lot of fun creating this month!

I had a lot of creative freedom this October with our most recent project. We were asked to design and sew using the Hav-A-Hank Bandannas in honor of football season! We were to create crafts that could be used for tailgating events, sporting events, and parties at home! We got to peek through the catalog and choose a color scheme.

Those who know me can appreciate my love for throwing children-themed party! Planning for Fall seemed appropriate! The only problem was keeping up with all the fun ideas that started brewing once I started working! There must be a stopping point.

Whenever I start "pinnning" Pinterest ideas, the board becomes full... it seems overwhelming at first and then you weed out the ideas that won't work within a time frame. I had a few ideas while working with the bandannas, but ideas really started flowing once I got into the process. The only factors are time and how quickly I can work!
 
 I really love how the apron turned out. Brooke is wearing an apron with a fleece flower and button center.  The serged peplum was a perfect fit. She enjoyed this little frock so much, she wore it to our church Fall Festival and to school!

The quilt is so comfy. The backing is 12 brown bandannas sewn together.

I love how the placemats turned out. They are backed with felt, which was just enough padding to quilt over the top.

The garland is so festive and great for all of Fall until our Christmas decor goes up! Bandannas and felt worked out great for this project too!

Springs Creative Brand Ambassador... Vote for your favorite...

I was blessed to be chosen as a Springs Creative Brand Ambassador!  Our first project was to create anything using Mary Fons beautiful Small Wonders Collection!  Visit Springs Creative on Facebook to vote for your favorite project!

Fun Announcement! I have been selected as a Brand Ambassador for Springs Creative!!

I feel really blessed to be grouped with such amazing and talented sewing enthusiasts... Read more about our Ambassador family here.

In our first project, we were able to select fabrics from Mary Fons collections. She focuses on small prints and the fabrics are beautiful quality.  The fabrics arrived in a beautiful bundle wrapped in a bow with personalized stationary.

We have a baby boy on the way, so I made these quilted baby bibs with him in mind.

Girl things are too fun to create.  Piping frames the buttoned big and straps will tie in the back.