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A Lifetime of Colour
Ignore the irritating presence of a fluorescent reptile named Carmine and use this site as a source of teaching ideas and, for parents, art games. Although it's tied to the US National Visual Arts Standards, it is useful for teaching practical techniques.

Artchive: Theory and Criticism
Extensive selection of art history writings from the greatest writers on art, including Gombrich, Moir, Schapiro, Clark. Artists under discussion include Bosch, Beckmann, Cezanne, and Gris.

Art History Resources on the Web
A provider of links with an extensive and comprehensive list of sites that are conveniently arranged into art history periods. Each period is sub-divided into movements and key artists are named. Alternative sites in the same period are given and provide a useful cross-reference to interpretations and choice of images available. The website is particularly useful in providing extensive non-European links. In addition, there are lists of research resources and country-based lists of museums and galleries. The site is useful to teachers who want to provide in-depth information on particular aspects of art with some interesting and otherwise obscure links to images and information. Also useful for directed student work at KS3/4 and for 'A' level art history research allowing some flexibility within a controlled area. Some of the linked sites are well beyond KS5 and are very academic.

Art Studio Chalkboard
GCSE and A-level teachers should find the Chalkboard - which concentrates on technical skills and life drawing - a good resource to recommend to their students.

Art Safari
There's an almost quaint feel to Art Safari, but its very effective in getting response from children. They are invited to send in their reactions to paintings (always featuring animals) from The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Their submissions are meant to be instinctive and observational - no prior knowledge of the history of art is required or even wanted.

Colourcube
Colourcube is an educational toy and is useful for teaching colour theory and the concepts of RGB and CMYK colour systems. The associated web site is absolutely fascinating comprising a screen-saver which demonstrates aspects of colour theory through animation and includes a range of well referenced colour illusions with high quality downloadable images. There is an extensive range of informative and well illustrated articles on a variety of topics including: An Introduction to Colour, Digital Colour Basics and Mixing Colours. These articles in turn are hyperlinked to other web resources including shops, companies, bookshops and general suppliers of resources related to colour.

Computer Art Museum
You probably won't have heard of Lichty, Mickelsen or Vysniauskas, but they may prove an unintimidating introduction to art for KS3 children who are indifferent to the established canon. Some of these pictures, all of which were created with the help of a computer, are reminiscent of Play Station landscapes or Cubist paintings; others develop patterns that have a mathematical element.

Crayola
Whatever your child has been doing with crayons - scribbling, eating them, or scrawling on the wall - he or she can't have tried all the activities here. While there are plenty of pictures to colour in and decorate, the card creator and learning activities are just as useful for KS1 teachers. Whines of 'I don't know what to do...' can probably be silenced by the Inspiring Ideas section.

Eyes On Art
Eyes On Art is divided into six branches with tasks designed to make students focus on the visual language in the chosen paintings. There is a chance to assemble your own gallery from a selection of works and the No Fear O'Eras section covers Byzantine art through to Abstract Expressionism. Suitable for Key Stage 3 and 4.

Gateway to Art History
An essential resource for teachers of art history, this site is for use with a series of books from Harcourt Brace College Publishers, dealing with the history of art for specialists and non-specialists. It comprises a comprehensive list of links to other web sites covering six periods of art history: The Ancient World, The Middle Ages, The World Beyond Europe, The Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, The Modern and Postmodern World. Each of these sections is subdivided into themes leading to more specialised links. Teachers could set a wide range of research and support activities based on the hundreds of links from this gateway.

Great Buildings
Architecture is, of course, not a hands-on subject and it's frequently ignored in schools for that reason. But Great Buildings still deserves a mention, because it catalogues buildings from all over the world systematically,cross-referencing and sometimes providing digital 3D models.You can search by architect, place and the building's name, although the site is also fun to browse.

Hands-on art
All about art! Hands-on activities include making 3-D architectural models, nature notebooks and abstract portraits. You can add your artwork to the student gallery, and travel back in time with Dr N Ventor to visit Leonardo da Vinci's workshop in 1550.

National Curriculum (Art and Design)
Outlines the National Curriculum requirements for art at all key stages.

National Society for Education in Art & Design
The National Society for Education in Art and Design is the leading national authority on art, craft and design in education in the United Kingdom. Explore their art education website which contains a bookshop where you can order from an extensive catalogue of books about art education. Details of how to join and membership benefits are also available.

New York graffiti
Games, kid's art, projects and stories, all in primary colours, from the site of New York graffiti artist Keith Haring, who died in 1988. A site which brings subway art to life, with a kids colouring book and lesson plans to print out.

Virtual art gallery
Take a tour around a virtual art gallery, learning about Vincent Van Gogh along the way. Look at his paintings and take part in an interactive quiz.