I first went through our school calendar and figured out which days corresponded to holidays or other days of note. Such as Columbus Day or Arbor Day. Finding crafts to correspond to specific days is rather easy. If you are doing unit studies you can find crafts that go along with those. Anything patriotic could be used for Memorial Day or Veterans Day, Presidents Day, etc. Some art lessons can be used to make useful things around the house. You could give them a task of using the recycling to create organized desks or lockers for Earth Day. Make your own decorations for a holiday or a party instead of buying. Remember to keep some art for a portfolio if you have older children who will be applying to colleges soon.
I filled in the rest of the days with Art related to a specific artist or art style. I ended up realizing I wanted to do way more than one craft a week. But my file box only held enough for a craft a week. So I put some in my filing cabinet under 'extras'. That way if we have more time or someone gets bored, viola a craft is instantly available.
For older kids you can add in more elements. The city collage one for instance, ask them to do only half a page and paint the other half as a reflection. For projects too involved for younger kids simplify it for them by cutting out all the pieces, having the picture already drawn or like in the post it note craft, draw an outline of a simple picture on graph paper, something they recognize and ask them to color in the squares.
Here is how I organized mine. All set and ready to go.
Heres my list for the year: (remember to click on the links for pictures and directions)
