The GREEN Thumb!

Every time we do someting good for the environment in the art room, I want my students to feel GREAT! We're reducing the waste of paper and water, reusing and recyling all kinds of materials, and generally trying to stay conscious of the way we treat our environment. I'm so proud of how my students have taken this mission to heart!

I wanted the students to be able to take something with them to show everyone their great GREEN efforts during the class period. I decided it would be fun to let everyone stamp their thumb GREEN at the end of class if they did a good job being eco-friendly that day. That way, when someone sees a student's green thumb, they can ask about it, and the student can share what they did that day to help the earth stay healthy while making art!

I thought a green thumb would be a good analogy for our green efforts. Plus, it;s a thumbs up, which is always a good thing! The term "green thumb" usually refers to a person who is good with plants. Well, when we take care of our environment we're helping plants to continue growing and helping animals to live healthy lives. So giving the students a green thumb seems to make sense!

Here is the ink pad we are using. It's washable and non-toxic. I keep a paper towel handy for allowing student to blot the extra ink off their thumb. Otherwise, green would be everywhere!

When you see a BG student with a green thumb, ask them to share with you what they did that day to keep the art room Green!

Reduce, Reduce, Reduce!

Two things seem to be wasted MOST in the art room - paper towels and water! We have got to get into better habits if we are really going to go green.

I put one of these signs at every paper towel dispenser to help us remember what to do. I will also keep out a bin of sponges for table-wiping, and put out rags and old towels on days when we are painting (to clean up possible spills.)

The rule for sponges is to get them wet a little, not a lot. Here's a bad habit we are all guilty of sometimes: bringing sopping wet sponges to the tables to clean with, then wiping up the water with loads of paper towels! That habit is wasteful! If there is too much water on a sponge, squeeze it out!

Don't forget, it's okay if our hands get a little messy in the art room. We only need to wash them if they are germy, sticky, painty, or really dirty.

Did you know you can get Elmer's glue off of your hands by simply rubbing your fingers together really hard? The friction causes the glue to dry and then it just crumbles right off of your skin! Pretty cool - and we won't have to use any paper towels or water getting clean!