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Lesson Plans for Grades K – 4
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NEW! Anaglyph Artistry Make a composition for viewing with 3-D glasses! Turn an original drawing into a three-dimensional anaglyph using red and blue transfer paper with red and blue markers. Then, make the 3-D glasses necessary to make it pop! |
2 – 12 |
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NEW! Artist’s Challenge Coins (ACC’s) Challenge Coins are specially designed and minted for service personnel to recognize an achievement, enhance morale, or to signify membership in (or experience on) a particular mission. Create a personal Artist's Challenge Coin (ACC) by making a small print, collage, stamp, or photo appliqué one side of a coin-shaped wooden disk, and a challenge or message on the reverse. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Decalcomania: Glue Paint Symmetry Prints “Decalcomania” was a techique was used by Surrealists to create impromptu paintings controlled largely by chance. Much like a Rorschach Ink-Blot test, they would search for hidden imagery and develop it into a finished painting. This tidy and highly interactive process uses Glue Paint in a finger painting-style of application — without actually touching it. Looking for hidden images and contour lines in the print will fuel the imagination of a young Surrealist! |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Lessons on Lascaux Create a cave wall that crackles with authenticity! Using a paste made with powdered tempera and a Dura-Lar stencil, make a beautiful 3-D cave creation. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Muslin Masterpiece Create a beautiful textile design using dye sticks and block printing. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! The Secret Life of your Pet! Disquise your pet or favorite animal in a fantasy environment with easy photo manipulation. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Easy-Outline Botanical Illustration Prints Although photography and modern printing processes have replaced the need for cataloguing plant life with detailed drawn and painted illustrations, botanical illustration is still a beloved art. To make an accurate rendering of a plant, students can create an impression in plaster, then trace the shape and details with colored pencil, ink, or watercolor. Mixing and shading for color accuracy and identifying the plant are some of the skills that will be learned in this exercise. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! “Gawu” — African Inspired Tapestry Ghana-born artist El Anatsui is known internationally for his large-scale sculptures called “Gawu,” a composite of the words “ga,” meaning something made of metal and 'wu,” meaning a fashioned garment. In this lesson, students create their own tapestries as a response to El Anatsui's art, using African kente to discover rhythm and pattern in art. Recycled materials can be used, including folded papers and labels. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Glue Paint Symmetry Prints Finger Painting has never been so fun — or so very tidy! This project incorporates glue paint — basic white glue tinted with any shade of watercolor. It dries with a beautiful transparency that is enhanced when applied to a clear sheet. When the sheet is folded, the colors can be blended and moved about the page, without actually touching it! |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Burroughs on Burlap Printmaking on burlap results in a beaufitul rusticity. |
3 – 12 |
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Stain painting was a successful technique employed by Color Field artists Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis. They poured diluted acrylic color over large canvases to form “veils” of brilliant color. In this lesson, students will first learn a simple process for creating their own drawing pad, then stain and design a canvas cover for it. 
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3 – 12 |
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Roll up a felted masterpiece! Students easily create beautiful wool paintings using soap, water, and a little elbow grease.
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K – 12 |
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Prairie-Style Stained Glass Clings Frank Lloyd Wright referred to his stained glass windows as “light screens” because they interacted with the view behind them, rather than covering or obscuring it. Here, students use geometry and repeating patterns to create a vinyl window cling that incorporates the ideals of Prairie-Style Design.
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K – 12 |
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Printmaking — starring textures and shapes! A collagraph printing plate is created on a canvas panel using textures found in the classroom, textured gel mediums, or even textures from nature! After a final coat of gel medium is applied, the plate and paper are run through a printing press.
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3 – 6 |
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Practice the ancient art of sumi-e painting with a modern twist! Paint with diluted wax resist, then reveal your masterpiece by applying black sumi-e ink over the top. The addition of watercolor gives the painting even more interest.
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K – 12 |
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This lesson plan introduces wool roving, which is the raw, washed wool from the sheep that is then dyed a variety of beautiful colors. The wool strands will be used to "paint" onto a canvas of felt. The wool is very easily "felted" or punched into the background with a felting needle. |
K – 12 |
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With this fun project, facial features become puzzle pieces that can be changed over and over again. It's a light and humorous way to examine the endless variety found in human faces and skin tones. |
K – 8 |
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Quilling is also known as paper filligree, paper rolling, mosaic or paper folding (even though the paper is really curled). In this project, students will try their hand at quilling in a truly sculptural way. By using much larger, thicker strips of paper, the finished product "pops" out in a very optical way. By using black on white, the effect is even further emphasized. |
3 – 12 |
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The stitching together of layers of padding and fabric may date as far back as ancient Egypt. In America, quilt-making was common beginning in the late 18th century. A paper memory quilt is a fun way to keep ephemera (paper items) that have significance. This project will teach important design skills as pieces of paper are cut apart and reassembled. Insight into pattern, rhythm and repetition is gained. |
2 – 12 |
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Inspired by Huichol Nierikas — beautiful paintings made from yarn pressed onto beeswax — this is a simple way for students to experience the color, geometric linework and symbolism of this Native American art form. Using colorful string applied to an adhesive-backed piece of felt, students create their designs without messy glue or sharp cutting tools.
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3 – 12 |
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Tibetan wish or prayer flags traditionally are used to promote peace, compassion, strength and wisdom. Tibetans do not believe that the flags carry prayers to the gods, but rather that their messages and wishes will be blown by the wind to spread goodwill and compassion into all-pervading space. In this project, students will use a liquid wax resist that will be painted onto silk rectangles and need not be removed. Vibrant color and a final gold embellishment finish the piece. |
2 – 12 |
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WonderFoam is familiar to almost everyone who has ever presented a craft project to children — but, if you'd like to move beyond the "foamies" to a real art technique, incorporate WonderFoam into printmaking! “Collagraph” is a process in which materials are arranged collage-style on a rigid surface, coated with tempera paint and then transferred to paper. Students learn to make repeating patterns with shapes. |
K – 6 |
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The wealthy Byzantine Empire had a huge influence on personal ornamentation. Characterized by extensive iconography, pendants and medallions were widely produced to denote faith, office or rank. For this project, students use air-dry clay and colorful rhinestones to create their own Byzantine-style medallions. Gilded with gold powder and finished with a gloss coating, they can be used as ornaments or placed outdoors as mini stepping stones. |
K – 12 |
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Impressionistic Marker Painting You won't believe what these markers can do! The juicy, alcohol-based ink reacts with itself or with hand-sanitizer to make painterly drawings on clear plastic film.
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3 – 12 |
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This project utilizes acrylic paint, but in a totally unique way...dried! Acrylic paint "skins" are easily created just by brushing paint on a non-stick palette or baker's parchment and letting it dry. You can use this plastic, flexible paint in a number of ways to create mosaics, mixed media collage, stained glass-like effects, jewelry, book covers and more!
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K – 12 |
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Functioning as both a painting and a print, a Monotype is unique and irreproducible. The “hoop-la” over Monotype can be experienced in your classroom with this simplified, safely water-based process using acrylic paint, printing foam and fabric. The technique builds the print a layer at a time and tools are used to remove or “subtract” color between layers. Stretch the finished print ona gold macramé ring for an instant frame.
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3 – 12 |
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Students create their own “fossil bed” by modeling three-dimensional shapes of animals, plants or insects, then “burying” them beneath layers of tissue paper. Add earth-tone pastels to make them look as if they just came from an excavation site.
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K – 12 |
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The practice of illumination — decoration of pages with ornate lettering, luminous color and precious metals, was developed during the middle ages when literacy was rare and books were even more so. With this process, students design one of their own initials on reflective board and add transparent color — it appears to glow with reflective light from within. |
3 – 8 |
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Egg-stra Easy Watercolor “Crunch” Traditionally, eggshell mosaics are made by first dying then positioning each shard individually — a time-consuming and delicate process. This project introduces a new way to crush and color eggshells, creating intricate veining and texture all at once without pre-dying or arranging each fragment. The simple glue-and-paint process and satisfying “crunch!” of breaking eggshells will delight children of all ages and skill levels.
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K – 12 |
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A lesson plan from AMACO®. Students select their favorite photo and design a custom picture frame to display it. After the bisque firing, the picture frames will be painted and decorated using the new AMACO® Teacher's Choice and Teacher's Palette low-fire glazes. |
K – 6 |
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Peace Windows: in the style of Marc Chagall’s stained glass Late in his career, artist Marc Chagall produced a number of paintings in glass with colorful, dream-like images symbolizing peace, love, tolerance and faith. In reality, Marc Chagall’s life was filled with tragic events and the world he lived in was anything but peaceful. In light of this fact, students can begin to understand an artist’s ability to share healing, inspiration and encouragement, using “peace” as a theme.
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K – 8 |
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Printing creative T-shirts and fabrics doesn’t always require stencils and screens — students can easily design their own giant stamps and paint them any way they want. Even if each shirt displays the same message, each will be a completely unique work of art! This process is perfect for group settings — schools, camps, daycare centers, clubs, family reunions and special events — but it is also ideal for countless home decorating and craft projects. |
K – 8 |
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Stencils and repeated patterns have been used in painting as long ago as 9,000 years, when early humans placed their hands against cave walls and outlined them in charcoal or paint. In this lesson, even a stencil made of basic shapes can be effective. Each stencil can be used repeatedly, and by changing oil pastel color, overlapping images, or using only a part of an image, the result is a cohesive composition that has depth and color fusion. |
4 – 12 |
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Molding, casting, sculpting, painting and monoprinting — this simple project pulls all of these together into one low-relief sculpture that demonstrates the elements of texture and color. Texture is defined in clay by pressing objects in or sculpting with tools. Next, the clay is painted with watercolor and covered with papier mâché, which lifts the color as it dries, absorbing it directly into the casting.
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3 – 12 |
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In the 1960’s, Frank Stella became known for his minimal geometric paintings of concentric squares that used color to create visual movement. Each concentric square of color related to the next, whether they were harmonic or contrasting colors. In this lesson plan, students consider color relations and “paint” a Stella-style work with colored masking tape, |
4 – 12 |
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Encourage students to design a personal and stylized signature or “tag.” The tag can be a given name, a nickname or something they’ve made up to represent themselves. This school version of graffiti shows students that lettering is not only important in communicating, but that it can also be an artistic expression. |
1 – 6 |
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Itajime Shibori is a technique for folding, clamping and dyeing paper or fabric resulting in beautiful designs – very similar to tie-dye. The folds and clamps keep the dye or ink from penetrating fully in certain areas making patterns and giving a dimensional appearance on a flat surface. This project is a great way to teach students the scientific concept of diffusion and color mixing. |
3 – 12 |
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Drawing on the reverse side of a matte sheet of acetate, students create “windows” into the work of a chosen artist, using similar colors, subject matter and style to describe the artist’s focus. See if the class can guess which artists are represented on each student’s “palette.” |
K – 6 |
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Students select a commercial business and consider images, symbols and colors that will best represent the company. The repeated “wallpaper” patterns are made with a stamp designed and carved by the students. This fun project will help children understand how simple images communicate a message, whether in business or elsewhere. |
4 – 6 |
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Spanish painter Joan Miró is known for his playful art. Although he was a world renowned artist, his work gives the impression it could have been created by a child. Miró was interested in reducing characters to their simplest forms and using very basic, bright colors. He felt some of the best ideas were inspired by the simplest things. In this project, students attach and weave Chenille Stems onto stitchery canvas to make simple shapes and designs. |
K – 6 |
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Inspired by the sequinned banners of Haiti, students will make a banner of their own design using a variety of glittery, sparkly, shiny materials and brilliant colors. Use this opportunity to learn about the art and history of Haiti, a unique blend of African, French, Spanish and Native Caribbean cultures. |
K – 8 |
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Making Elemental Drawing Materials Blick Art Materials was not around to provide art supplies 32,000 years ago, but, somehow, the earliest humans found a way to draw and paint on cave walls using materials made from basic elements all around them. Similar to the Paleolithic era, students will make their own drawing tools by transforming simple materials from the classroom, and then using them to communicate through images. |
K – 12 |
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Beginning in the early 1880s, the “Art Nouveau” style flourished in all forms of art. Beautiful pottery was mass-produced during this era, especially in the form of decorative tiles. Tube lining — a technique in which a design outline was created first and then filled in with color — is the definitive look of Art Nouveau. If kiln-glazed ceramics are not an option for your environment, this project is a way to produce glossy, hand-painted tiles that look like the real thing.
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K – 8 |
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In the 1800s, many homes were decorated with “Penny Carpets”, made from miss-matched fabric cut into circles by tracing around a penny. Patches were then layered and stitched together to make a large piece. Students create a Penny Carpet with fabric that they design themselves using monoprinting techniques and fabric paint. Each section is sewed to felt swatches, then joined to make a larger piece of art.
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3 – 12 |
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Students of all ages can mimic mosaic artisans throughout history with these easy tile-making and “grouting” techniques. Clay tiles are glued to a firm backboard and grouted with acrylic paint. This project is safe and simple enough for younger students and those with special needs.
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K – 12 |
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The magic is in the color! Wax Pastels adhere to the slick surface of tooling foil and stay there. Students explore tools and texture plates to create designs in lightweight metal, then, using simple page-binding techniques, assemble a lovely hardcover book to use for notes, sketches, journaling, scrapbooking or photos. |
3 – 8 |
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Geometric patterns occur in rich profusion throughout Islamic Cultures. This lesson is an invitation to look at the history and meaning behind patterns and view the work of a contemporary Iranian artist. Students design and assemble a reflective mosaic pattern using metallic papers on adhesive film. Easy and tidy...no glue! |
K – 12 |
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What we think of as “quilts” today — pieces of fabric sewn together to form blocks that collectively make a whole — did not become popular until the mid 19th century. Making quilts was a means of “recycling” fabric from clothing that was no longer usable. In this lesson plan, students make a quilt block using paper and glue rather than fabric and stitching. It’s a great way to recycle materials and illustrate a number of design principles — rhythm, pattern, balance and unity. |
3 – 12 |
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Quilt-making spans multiple centuries and cultures. It can teach math skills, record history, recycle cast-off materials and encourage cooperative efforts within a group...just for a few ideas! This lesson looks at the story quilts of Faith Ringgold. She surrounds her narrative paintings with a quilted border, creating stories in color, texture, and pattern. Students select their own story to illustrate, then paint fabric using watersoluble pastels and watercolor.
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K – 12 |
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This project demonstrates the physical process of osmosis. Water-based markers are diluted by filtering water through an ordinary wet wipe. The flow of the color is slowed and channeled by the presence of oil and alchohol in the wipe, creating random and interesting tie-dye-type patterns. Educational...and really fun to watch! |
K – 5 |
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The inside of the Earth holds hidden secrets very close to us, so dig a hole to uncover layers of mystery! A hole just 1" deep will show a very small example of soil strata or layers – including rocks, shells, fossils, geodes, water, oil and coal. This art project is based on geology but need not be scientifically accurate as students creatively incorporate texture and line. |
1 – 6 |
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Persian and Navajo Rug Bookmarks This lesson plan explains two diverse and beautiful style of textiles: Persian carpets and Navajo rugs. Similar colors and geometric shapes are two common elements of both. |
4 – 8 |
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Turn a black and white photo into a "riot" of color! Tinting is a simple technique that challenges students of all ages to pay attention to detail, and even young children can do it with success. In this project, class pictures are enlarged, printed in black-and-white and tinted. The use of non-traditional colors is encouraged. |
K – 6 |
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Collect and recycle product wrappers for a "green" art project worthy of good-citizen attention! Students save and trade wrappers to make a paper background, then choose words and phrases related to their "rapper" collage and cut them from thin foam to create a printing plate. "Rapper" Art is an easy process for making posters, book covers and signs in multiples. |
K – 6 |
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This is a whimsical introduction to nutrition and graphic design that invites students to make up an imaginary soup. National studies indicate that children eat about anything if the advertising is "crazy" or attractive to them, including vitamins and vegetables. Now its students' turn to entice peers to "buy" their soup! Anyone for Alligator Soup? |
K – 6 |
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This easily constructed project offers an exploration of texture, line and color – key elements of design. Younger children may take a more abstract approach with emphasis on texture and color. Older students will find the burlap easy to pull and the weave easy to manipulate, creating holes and lines. Subject matter such as buildings, landscapes and abstract designs are adaptable to varying grade levels. |
K – 6 |
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This game puts a new "twist" on an old favorite, and provides an enjoyable way for students to learn color-mixing. |
K – 4 |
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This is a great project for teaching recycling and renewal. Using a plastic stencil and screen, students make a shaped piece of handmade paper from cast-off scraps. Flower and vegetable seeds are added to the pulp. When dry, the rough-textured paper can be decorated with paint or drawing materials and glued to the front of a card. When planting season arrives, place the shape in the soil to make a beautiful garden.
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K – 8 |
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This lesson plan is designed to celebrate fine artists by honoring them with a "commemorative stamp." This project also introduces students to philately, the study and collection of stamps. |
3 – 6 |
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A "cyanotype" is a photographic print made when UV light is exposed to a photo-sensitive paper. This lesson plan is a simple new process involving two safe and familiar classroom favorites — Nature Print Paper and Scratch Art. The finished arwork has the appearance of a linoleum block print — without the use of cutting tools or ink.
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3 – 8 |
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During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a State of the Union speech in which he spoke of four basic freedoms he dreamed of being available to everyone in the world. Artist Norman Rockwell interpreted these freedoms in a series of popular paintings published by the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. This lesson plan challenges students to consider the concept of freedom: what it meant to a president, an artist and what it means to them today. |
3 – 6 |
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Exercise for art is as important as exercise for sports or rehearsal for theatre, as it fosters a continual pursuit of excellence. In this lesson, to exercise their artistic creativity, students keep a day-by-day art journal. Each page should be a simple statement of a different idea or small thought for the day. |
K – 12 |
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This project starts with a 12" x 12" piece of muslin upon which a variety of papers, fabrics, colors and textures are added. Paper Cloth can be sewn with a sewing machine, cut with scissors, folded and reused. It is hard to tear! The finished and dry material may be wrinkled, or placed between two sheets of paper and ironed to flatten. Color can be added using different mediums.
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K – 12 |
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Students monoprint images of their faces onto a piece of flat clay, then "morph" it to look like the face in Edvard Munch's famous portrait "The Scream". |
K – 4 |
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Rather than allowing more plastic to end up in a landfill, raise your students' level of social conscience and demonstrate the art elements of line, shape and texture with this lesson in "green" art. Twist and form recycled plastic into coils and shapes on a piece of adhesive-backed film and view in reverse. It's a tidy way to create a collage — no glue or paint required. |
3 – 12 |
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Where standard painting builds an image from the background forward, a reverse painting is created in a backward fashion — foreground first — with each phase applied so the background finishes the painting. A backing of metallic foil reflects light through the pastel in the same manner as gilding.
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3 – 12 |
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The traditional folk craft of straw appliqué — using various shades of dry straw adhered to a rigid surface — has been practiced in many nations. Students can create their own appliqué designs with a very modern medium: bright, vinyl craft lacing — familiar for making lanyards and bracelets — easily cut in pieces and laid side-by-side on an adhesive surface to form colorful designs. |
K – 6 |
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Suminagashi is a process in which Sumi ink is floated on the surface of plain water, then transferred to a sheet of paper. Each monoprint is like a fingerprint — unique and unreproducible.
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3 – 12 |
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Based on the scientific concepts of insolubility and density, this technique seals water-based paint and mineral oil inside a laminating pouch. The different densities cause the liquids to repel one another in an ever-changing and interactive piece that continually flows and responds to touch.
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K – 12 |
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This project is a simple, tidy way to create the look of pulp painting without the mess of a blender or even the use of adhesive. Non-bleeding tissue paper is combined with water and agitated (torn) so that the paper fibers separate and make a rough pulp. Pressing the paper onto an absorbent (canvas) surface causes the fibers to re-bond with one another and, when dry, form a thicker, stronger paper.
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K – 12 |
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Molas are the brightly colored applique panels made only in the San Blas region of Panama by the Kuna Indians. Once the paper Molas are completed, have the children discuss their importance to the Kuna Indian women and their culture. |
4 – 6 |
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The Kuna culture flourishes today in the San Blas Islands with the vibrant trade of native Molas — brightly colored cotten panels that have been hand-sewn for many decades. Kuna women use both appliqué and reverse appliqué sewing techniques. These easy “no sew” Molas are made with felt and glue, rather than stitching. |
K – 8 |
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Simple Perspective with the Artist’s Grid Canvas For a first lesson in one-point linear perspective, a grid is a perfect tool for beginning painters. It eliminates time spent measuring and marking, allowing students to achieve perfect accuracy on their first try. |
4 – 12 |
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Neo-Impressionistic artists of the late 1800s developed a pictorial technique in which they placed specific brushstrokes of pure color directly on their canvas instead of mixing colors first on a palette. In this lesson plan, students will create balls of air dry clay and attach them collage-style to a self-adhesive board to recreate the Divisionism approach to painting. |
2 – 6 |
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This project is quick and inexpensive but big on creativity. In addition to the wood shapes, all that is needed is a little glue, paint, marker and enough imagination for embellishment. Add a pin back or magnet for function. |
2 – 8 |
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The fine art of weaving is explored using acrylic felt. This lesson also offers an opportunity to discuss fabric used for clothing, blankets and other items found in various cultures |
3 – 12 |
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This lesson plan uses intensely colorful, easy-to-use Model Magic air-dry clay in place of yarn to create paintings similar to the art of the Huichol tribe. Students create “strings” of clay and press them together on a rigid surface. to create symbolic images and designs. |
3 – 8 |
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This simple bookmaking project can achieve great results with a wide variety of ages. Using nature as a theme, it's a perfect place to record nature sketches, foliage collections and personal observations of the world around us. |
K – 12 |
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Art history is an excellent discipline to accompany this lesson plan, as students become familiar with masterpieces by various artists. Students will choose an artwork that inspires them from a specifictime, genre or culture, and paint their own version on a cardboard frame. |
3 – 8 |
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Using a single large screen divided into multiple small square window panes, a class of 15-20 students create their own individual art project that becomes part of the whole. A lesson plan from Speedball. |
3 – 12 |
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Design a “big” storybook.Children can write the story and choose something in the story to be the book cover. The Story Paper can be cut to the shape of the book cover. |
K – 3 |
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Everyone has something unique and wonderful to share with the world, as illustrated in the sparkling story of the “The Rainbow Fish”, by Marcus Pfister. This is a simple and tidy art project with a special surprise for students — what they think are “ugly” scales are revealed to be sparkly, holographic ones! |
K – 5 |
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Stencil City is a place that only exists on paper. It is created by cutting stencils in shapes of buildings and then using them to create areas of color against a black background. The end result is a nightglow cityscape. |
2 – 8 |
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Oaxacan woodcarvings of animals are decorated with whimsical color and loaded with all-over designs. This project lets students explore simple shapes and textures by drawing an outline shape of an animal then filling it in with as many textures and patterns as they can think of. |
2 – 8 |
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An easy bookmaking lesson that works across the entire curriculum. Students make books to use as journals or scrapbooks and fill with personnel stories or poetry, sketches or photos. |
3 – 12 |
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This project lets students work without scissors, using their fingers as tools. Papers are torn into shapes and then used to create an image that is a clearly defined and recognizable subject. The lesson also includes the collage technique of overlapping papers to unify the pieces of the design. |
K – 4 |
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This lesson plan gives students the opportunity to learn about the concept of architecture, particularly towers and turrets.Using watercolor painting techniques and tracing, cutting, and gluing skills,students create lines, patterns and textures while understanding the concept of near being larger, far being smaller. |
3 – 6 |
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Painting on a transparent medium not only allows the interaction of light within the painted surface, it also projects colorful cast light and shadow onto walls, floors and surrounding objects. |
3 – 12 |
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Very, Very Simple Decorative Papers Gathering flowers, leaves, fiber, ribbons and newspapers can expand children’s awareness of their environment. Results are awesome! Make printmaking papers, cards, book covers, picture frames and photo mats. |
K – 4 |
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Students will learn basic drawing and painting skills through monotype using Akua inks and a variety of brushes, sponges or even fingers to apply and modify their drawings — it’s safe and easy to clean up. |
3 – 8 |
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A simple lesson to explore the basic concepts of weaving. |
3 – 8 |
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Minimal resources, great results! This lesson promotes an awareness of shape and space. |
K – 8 |
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These paper dolls are wonderful to combine with the Global Village Paper. They can easily be turned into old-fashioned paper dolls, displayed in chains and hung. Or create a globe and arrange dolls around the total outside edge. |
K – 5 |
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Adaptable for almost any age level, the basis for this lesson is very simple: define a space and fill it with a repetition of color, line and shape to make what we define as a Pattern. |
3 – 8 |
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This drawing project gives creativity a nudge by having children select a photo to start the drawing and then expanding it with related subject matter drawn all around it. |
K – 3 |
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Examples of intricately-designed stained glass can be found around the world: from gothic and medieval cathedral glass, to the art of Louis Tiffany and John La Farge. This project creates the look of stained glass in a simple process using Scratch-Art® Clear-Scratch™ film and permanent Sharpie® markers. |
3 – 8 |
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Teach your students how to make paper with this project. |
3 – 8 |
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The new metallic paints are beautiful. Mix with different types of paints and "Glitter It" mediums to make paper tiles. |
K – 6 |
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Explore the beauty of Braille |
3 – 8 |
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Explore the beauty of fabric batik without the danger of hot wax or dyes. Simply trace a design onto muslin with washable glue and add brilliant color.
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3 – 8 |
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As they create maps of their route between their homes and their schools, students learn about distance, signs, symbols, landmarks and safety. |
K – 6 |
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In painting, color can be used to describe emotions, feelings and ideas. Students select a color and paint a monochromatic theme of their choosing. |
K – 12 |
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This project uses pastels; a favored medium of Impressionist artists – drawn onto matte surface Shrink Film. The chalk of the pastels doesn't actually shrink, it simply condenses along with the film to form rich, intense areas of color.
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3 – 10 |
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Monoprinting with Watercolor Markers A simple project that introduces students to printing. |
1 – 8 |
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Develop an awareness of natural lines from unlikely sources. It’s an active lesson that incorporates math, art — and giggles! |
K |
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"Secco" is the term used for applying color to dry plaster, the manner Da Vinci used in his famed "The Last Supper." Using Plaster of Paris, students create drawings then purposefully add stress fractures.
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1 – 12 |
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"Paper, paint and ribbon are used to develop a pattern with contrasting textures and colors." |
K – 6 |
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"A beginning lesson in one-point linear perspective. Grid Canvas eliminates time spent measuring and marking, allowing students to achieve perfect accuracy on their first try." |
4 – 12 |
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First seen in Persian fabric design, the signature floral kidney and tear shapes of Paisley prints are a great lesson in pattern and rhythm. French curves and colored pencils are used to draw colorful versions on construction paper. |
3 – 12 |
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Introduce students to calligraphy, ink, folding and dyeing techniques. The end result is a beautiful banner they will be proud to hang up! |
3 – 8 |
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Artist Trading Cards are a fascinating pastime for a great number of professional artists. The cards are always 2½" × 3½", a size that fits into standard baseball card storage sleeves |
K – 7 |
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This lesson will spark students’ creativity as they use an unconventionalmaterial — French bread — to enhance their pastel paintings |
K – 6 |
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This lesson plan encourages students to explore shape and color by creating original and whimsical insects from brightly-colored, torn paper. |
K – 4 |
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Explore the history of carnival masks from various cultures. Ornate and colorful masks are easy to create with Scratch Art Film and permanent markers. |
K – 8 |
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Oven baked water-based acrylic paint on glazed tile looks like kiln fired glazed tile. The paint is available in a wide range of colors and can be layered and blended to make other colors. |
K – 12 |
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A very creative and experimental form of printmaking, collagraphs can be made with cardboard, yarn, fabric, leaves, tape and more. |
2 – 8 |
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Students will enjoy exploring the wide variety of textures they can create with acrylic modeling paste on a rigid surface.
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3 – 8 |
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"Drawing with Thread" is an interpretation of work by Wassily Kandinski in 1913. Kandinski is called the first totally abstract artist. Free flowing water color and line suggests but does not define images. |
K – 8 |
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The Native American tribes of the plains tanned and prepared buffalo hides, then painted them with symbols and story-telling pictures that told their tribal history and honored the spirits. |
K – 4 |
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Create classroom fun with magnetic puzzles, a great exercise for classroom art history discussions. Each student can take home a masterpiece for their refrigerator. |
K – 4 |
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The stenciled hand print and aboriginal style drawings help children to relate to the man from the Australian Aboriginal Culture, while helping them to understand the use of line in art. |
K – 4 |
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Even young students can achieve beautiful results — without the use of chemicals or special materials. |
K – 12 |
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3 Dimensional |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Anaglyph Artistry Make a composition for viewing with 3-D glasses! Turn an original drawing into a three-dimensional anaglyph using red and blue transfer paper with red and blue markers. Then, make the 3-D glasses necessary to make it pop! |
2 – 12 |
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In Japan, Children's Day on May 5th is heralded by the appearance of flying fish: carp-shaped windsocks known as “Koinobori”. In this lesson, students design a “scale”-shaped block from soft block printing material and apply it repetitively to outdoor-safe fabric that has been cut in the shape of a fish. Add details like eyes, fins, and a tail using metallic and sparkle paint, and the Koinobori is ready to hang and “swim” through the breeze! |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Butterfield Horse Construct a high-relief horse using Activa Fast Mache and found objects. Combine a painted and collaged background with a horse made of quick mache, sticks, pine needles, leaves, and shredded papers in the style of Debra Butterfield. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Concentric Kirigami A variation on Japanese Origami, Kirigami is created by folding paper and cutting portions away. This surprisingly uncomplicated relief sculpture is assembled with “rings” cut from double-sided sheets of colorful cardstock. The edges of the rings are folded, cut, unfolded, and layered concentrically (placed around the same center point) to make modern-day Kirigami designs. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Convertible “Canned” Sculpture Composition — the way the elements of a piece of art are arranged and relate to each other — can be difficult to grasp. This lesson plan presents an easy, forgiving way to see the effects of composition while using the dimensional works of Frank Stella as an example. The sculpture is assembled with magnets on a metal can so it can be taken apart and rearranged to see how the composition is affected — what works and what doesn’t. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Flower Garden Tiles Easily make flower tiles by carving clay, filling with plaster, and finishing with liquid watercolors. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! The Walls are Watching You! Form a whimsical and functional "pocket" to animate a wall. This project combines the wall pocket with a face jug, creating a fun and whimsical (or scary) face pocket out of clay. |
2 – 12 |
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NEW! Upcycled "Wild Thing" Mittens An outgrown sweater becomes a fun pair of costume mittens! Use a recycled wool sweater, shrink film, and other adornments to create a fun and functional "Wild Thing" mitten. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Books that POP! Paper engineering meets the principles of design! This procces breaks pop-up designs into three very basic techniques - spirals, zig-zags, and boxes - and focuses on design elements: color, form, shape, and space. A simple hinging technique using the ever-popular, colorfully patterned DuckTape allows the book to open and lie flat for the most eye-popping and paper-popping look! |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! All Aglow Chinese Lantern An origami "Chinese Lantern" that glows in the dark! Using Dura-Lar film, markers, and glow-in-the dark paint, create a hanging lantern, and learn a basic origami shape. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Coral Reef Creation Brilliantly replicate thousands of years of oceanic evolution in just a few hours. Using clay, paint, and pearlescent mixing medium, along with handmade clay stamps, create a beautiful coral sculpture. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Dancing Houses Part cartoonist and part Picasso, the art of Brooklyn-born James Rizzi is highly recognizable. His playful, brilliant images created a style he described as “Urban Primitive.” Students will enjoy making a classroom cityscape of fun and fabulous construction paper buildings. A simple wire armature beneath allows the structure to be playfully positioned -— almost as if it were dancing. This project provides a lesson in movement as design principle. |
K – 9 |
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NEW! Monet's Water Lilies In the last 30 years of his life, French Impressionist Claude Monet produced a series of paintings depicting the flowers and pond in his garden at Giverny. He especially loved painting his water lilies and the reflections of the sky and trees floating in the water around them. In honor of Monet, here's an easy, elegant and inexpensive way to make a tissue paper lily that has the misty, atmospheric qualities an Impressionist would have loved. |
K – 8 |
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NEW! My Daruma A traditional Japanese weighted toy, Daruma always return to an upright position. This project reveals how to weight the bottom of a plastic egg and cover with instant maché to make these symbols of success, determination, and overcoming adversity. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Sound Sculpture Inspired by Jean Tinguely Swiss artist Jean Tinguely created whimsical machine-like contraptions of found metal parts, known as “metamechanics”. In this lesson plan, students create a kinetic sculpture with repurposed metal hardware, found objects, and wire placed so that they deliberately move against one another. Much like Tinguely’s machines, some of the noises may be pleasant — others may not— but each will have a very unique metallic, mechanical “voice.” |
3 – 12 |
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New Guinean “Plant Paste” Doll Make a hand-built ritual doll with only three simple materials! Knead together clay, instant papier mâché and burlap fibers to create an intriguing art doll. Add body paint and embellish by adding seed bead teeth, a shell necklace, or clothing made of burlap. |
4 – 12 |
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Learn the anatomy of one of nature’s most fascinating creatures and make a model from some of the very materials that threaten their habitat — plastic bags and fast food containers. These colorful, sparkling jellies are even water-resistant!
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K – 5 |
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Create a textured clay mold to use again and again! Carve a design into a slab and bisque fire it. After coating it with kiln wash, this mold can be used many times to impart unique textures to slumped glass pieces.
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3 – 12 |
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Originating in ancient India, Mehndi is the artistic application of designs to the hands and feet. Students can enjoy the practice of Mehndi without staining their skin by creating radial designs in marker while wearing a glove. The sense of touch while creating the design is an important part of the process.
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K – 12 |
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Mehndi, tatau, and modern "ink" - the history of art is incomplete without including the practice of creating decoration on human skin. In this lesson plan, students create a jointed clay marionette and use fine-line markers to cover it with expressive designs. |
3 – 12 |
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Quilling is also known as paper filligree, paper rolling, mosaic or paper folding (even though the paper is really curled). In this project, students will try their hand at quilling in a truly sculptural way. By using much larger, thicker strips of paper, the finished product "pops" out in a very optical way. By using black on white, the effect is even further emphasized. |
3 – 12 |
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Have a Ball! with distorted self-portraits Observing and reproducing the distortion caused by a concave reflection is the topic of this lesson plan, as students make self-portraits inspired by M.C. Escher's “Hand with Reflecting Globe.” The canvas is a vinyl bouncing ball. Elementary ages can be challenged to create a continuous painting — with no beginning or end — then “Have a Ball!” playing with their own artwork.
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K – 12 |
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Joseph Cornell's (1903-1972) most characteristic art works were boxed assemblages created from found objects. These were simple boxes in which he arranged surprising collections of photgraphs or bric-a-brac in a way that combines the formality of Constructivism with the lively fantasy of Surrealism. Students will gather pieces of nostalgia or found objects to embed in plaster within an arrangement of mini canvas "boxes". |
K – 12 |
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Glazing isn't the only way to create beautiful surfaces! Agateware pottery features swirling marbelized colors and was probably first developed to imitate the qualities of agate, a semiprecious stone with striated patterning. These swirling effects can be created by working with thin slabs of colored clay that has been layered to create patterns. This technique allows for both precise patterns and free, random effects.
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3 – 12 |
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In this project, students explore the beauty of texture found in a surprising place... on the soles of their shoes! Texture is all around us, and oftentimes exists right under our noses.
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K – 3 |
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The Italian word “volto” translates as “face”. These full-face masks were known as “citizen’s masks” because they were originally worn by common people during the Carnival of Venice. By draping acrylic felt over a reusable form and using Rice Paste (a gluten-free maché alternative) to stiffen, students create a sculptural mask that can be decorated with paint, glitter, feathers, rhinestones, etc.
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3 – 12 |
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This project utilizes acrylic paint, but in a totally unique way...dried! Acrylic paint "skins" are easily created just by brushing paint on a non-stick palette or baker's parchment and letting it dry. You can use this plastic, flexible paint in a number of ways to create mosaics, mixed media collage, stained glass-like effects, jewelry, book covers and more!
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K – 12 |
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This beginning project introduces early elementary students to basic clay construction skills. Employing both fine and gross motor skills, students assign a unique personality to their pet, then bisque fire and add the definition of spots and color with glazes. |
K – 3 |
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Picasso-Inspired Soft Sculpture By looking through the vast array of figurative paintings done by Picasso during his cubist phase, students may find many possibilities for soft sculpture adaptations. Fine art, sculpture and textiles combine to make this eye-catching piece!
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K – 12 |
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Les Fauves (translation: “The Wild Beasts”) were a group of artists whose work was characterized by seemingly wild brush work and strident colors. The colors the Fauves used are also favored by wild birds. Hummingbirds like red, orange and pink. Songbirds prefer colors that mimic trees and bushes. To see which species of birds are attracted to these “beastly” colors, students create a painted, hanging birdfeeder from a stretched canvas or “upcycled” wooden frame. |
K – 12 |
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Rattles are the only musical instrument found throughout the world. While their physical forms vary, their uses are very consistent. Many cultures give infants rattles as a toy. In rituals and ceremonies, rattles are used prominently and often believed to possess supernatural powers. Students explore texture and clay construction as they form a rattle inspired by natural shapes: seed pods, shells, gourds, rain-sticks, etc.
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K – 12 |
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Upcycled Leather and “Turquoise” Cuffs Worn as protection in battle, support for heavy labor and to identify status, leather cuffs have shielded wrists throughout mankind’s history. To the Pueblo and Navajo, turquoise is considered sacred and powerful, the perfect adornment. This project invites students to design a cuff from an old leather belt. Embellish with “turquoise” beads fashioned from polymer clay or with stamping, lacing and marker designs. |
3 – 12 |
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Navajo-Inspired Bottles - 2 Projects by Mayco® Colors Navajo pottery tended towards functional ware and minimalist design and decoration. Pinch, slab and coil construction methods were used to make bowls and bottles, for carrying water and food consumption. In these projects students will use their knowledge of Navajo symbols to create Navajo inspired designs on a clay bottles. |
4 – 8 |
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Polynesia is a large area in the central and southern Pacific Ocean containing more than 1,000 scattered islands. Many of these islands share cultural similarities among the various groups of people who live on them, especially in terms of their mythologies. Stories often include gods or deities that rule nature. In addition to the oral tradition, "god sticks" are made to represent these deities, usually in the form of a human face or figure wrapped in bark cloth or cord. |
3 – 8 |
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The first thing children learn when learning to draw a face or a figure is to view each part as a basic shape. This project approaches sculpture in the same way. Using geometric Styrofoam shapes, students build a bust or torso. The finished result resembles a simplified version of something you might have seen from Picasso or one of the other Cubist painters, only in three dimensions. This project is a good introduction to sculpture for young students. |
K – 6 |
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Unlock the secrets of an ancient Egyptian pyramid with this easy-to-construct box that opens to reveal “treasure” inside. When closed, the outside walls are held in place with a clay disk. Remove the disk and open the pyramid to reveal what's inside. Younger students can make artifacts from clay to place inside. Older students may be challenged to learn the inner parts of the pyramids and add paper pages to write about and illustrate their discoveries. |
3 – 8 |
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A stilt house is constructed on posts above water, allowing people to live in areas that have very little dry land. Found in many coastal and wetland regions of the world, stilt houses can be ultra modern or very basic. In this lesson, students build a stilt house while being mindful of the area where the house might exist and the lifestyle of its inhabitants. |
3 – 7 |
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A few simple geometry skills and a little time spent making paper rolls is all that goes into this eye-catching art paper bowl. It's a great way to recycle materials or use up scrap paper, and your students will learn about repeating patterns and design rhythm as they place each tube of paper on a piece of self-adhesive film. |
3 – 12 |
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The easiest way to make colorful, three-dimensional paper flowers! Even young children will enjoy painting carnation-like blooms and creating full bouquets for Mother’s Day gifts, May Day celebrations, a Cinco de Mayo fiesta or a Hawaiian Luau. Each flower costs just pennies to make. Because the watercolors blend together and form new hues, painting each bloom is a good way to illustrate color mixing. |
K – 8 |
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There's more to "deconstructing" a book than just altering the pages. In this project, deconstructing means changing the object from a book to a sculpture. The tools are very basic — scissors, glue, paper punches and a desire to experiment! |
3 – 12 |
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The production and commerce of decorated silk fabrics began thousands of years ago in China. This project introduces fine-mesh polyester as a silk-like fabric for painting. Form a wire shape as a support and paint with transparent liquid acrylic color. Finished pieces are flexible and may be heat-set for outdoor display. |
3 – 12 |
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Exercising the imagination helps children develop problem-solving skills. This lesson incorporates students’ artistic skills to sculpt finger puppets out of clay and to use their imaginations to make up a story for their characters. The stories do not have to be written but can be told freely. Create a theatre in the classroom — a table with a cloth over it makes a great stage for Wee Puppets. This project is a wonderful interactive classroom event. |
K – 6 |
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Art 2 Infinity: Two projects incorporating Mirror Board Artists through the ages have used reflective surfaces to define and alter perspective, create symmetry and "bend" reality. Mirrors have been a tool for creating art, the subject matter and the art itself. Here are two project ideas for using metallic film to capture light and create intriguing illusions: “Kaleidoscope Paintings” and “Infinity Boxes”. |
K – 12 |
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Rather than traditional pages, the interior of these “books” will hold objects collected by students. An “art box” book could contain samples of texture, color, form, and line or other examples of design elements or styles. Or a more personalized box “about me” could hold a collection of tiny photos, poems and small keepsakes. |
3 – 12 |
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Button Bracelets allow children to design a wearable piece of art with lots of color and texture — a new twist on craft bracelets! A leather wristband is used as a base and takes on a very different look when buttons and colorful wire are added. |
3 – 6 |
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Native American Story Necklaces One of the many rich crafts produced within the Native American culture is a "fetish," or story necklace, designed to illustrate history and legend with carved creatures representing spirits, animals or ancestors. |
K – 6 |
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Tissue Vases from Recycled Containers Turn recycled bottles or cups into "frosted glass" vases! This project allows students to work in three-dimensional designs as they build high-relief mini-murals "in the round." Younger students may create simplified and abstract work with white tissue paper and watercolors. Older students may achieve very sophisticated and detailed vases. Materials are quite inexpensive! |
K – 8 |
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From the outside, this Storybook Theater looks like a simply constructed book, but open it and a puppet stage unfolds! Children make their favorite stories come to life with puppets, props and scenery. There's even built-in pockets for holding craft stick puppets. |
K – 6 |
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Students will hand-build dwellings for forest animals and birds, beginning with flat clay slabs and using slump molds (and even a soda can!) to shape the slabs into three dimensional forms. They will use sprig and press molds to texture and embellish their structures to simulate trees, leaves, knot holes and burrows reminiscent of natural habitats found in woodlands. |
4 – 8 |
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In this lesson plan, students design and construct a 3-dimensional letter using one of their initials. The surface can be decorated with descriptive words and images that are personally meaningful and unique to the student's identity. Instead of wet, messy adhesive, this process uses paper packing tape to create papier mâché. This tape is inexpensive, easy, and tidy to use, and the finished letters are hard and durable.
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3 – 12 |
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Learn leaf anatomy by recreating the patterns and structure of the original. Because the clay is paper-based, it accepts watercolors, which may be reworked and blended on the surface. Watercolors enhance the veining in the leaves, pulling out their natural characteristics. |
K – 12 |
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Low relief sculpture with design in mind. Layer by layer, piece by piece, this three-dimensional collage is assembled with repetitious shapes and elements, illustrating the principles of rhythm, balance and movement.
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3 – 12 |
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This lesson plan combines the processes of repoussé and chasing to design a piece that looks as if it may have been crafted by an ancient silversmith. Objects are fixed to a cardboard box before the metal is applied so that the design is embossed into the metal in the style of repoussé. With tools, students then chase the metal around the objects to further define the texture.
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K – 12 |
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In the Philippines, during the Festival of Lights, parol (puh-roll), or star-shaped lanterns, symbolize the victory of light over darkness as well as hope and goodwill. These simple parol are created with natural reed, translucent rice paper and liquid watercolor. Displayed in a window or hanging from a light fixture, they make colorful, festive decorations for any season.
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3 – 8 |
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This lesson plan is inspired by the brightly colored pottery of Mexico. This simple papier mâché version casts paper pulp into a textured bowl using an existing plastic or ceramic bowl as a mold. |
K – 4 |
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Make your own tools for stamping image impressions, creating raised designs and adding textures to a variety of artworks. They can be pressed into clay prior to firing, polymer clay before baking and air-dry clay while still moist. Tools can also be used for creating patterns in metal foil or making texture rubbings on paper. |
K – 12 |
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This High-Low Relief Sculpture is a variation on the popular three-dimensional pin sculpture toy that can be molded into familiar shapes as pressure is applied from underneath. These sculptures will be stationary with a few other variations, as students use their imaginations to create rolling landscapes, faces, flowers or other images out of different lengths of colorfully painted craft picks. |
4 – 6 |
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In Namibia, ostrich eggshells are broken and used in many contemporary art forms. The shapes are often sanded or painted This lesson plan uses small pieces of wood and cardstock to closely resemble the thick shell pieces. |
K – 12 |
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Textile Painting with Mayco Colors "Students use unconventional “tools” such as lace and yarn to create new textures and designs." |
2 – 8 |
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Students will research the painting style of a famous artist of their choice, then design a pair of painted shoes reminiscent of that artist’s design sense and choices of subjects and colors. |
K – 6 |
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The purpose of this lesson plan is not to make replicas of Egyptian jewelry but to design jewelry that is dramatic using Egyptian jewelry as a reference. |
K – 12 |
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Great for special occasions and gifts, these thought-filled boxes are created by bringing together two art forms: Calligraphy, which means “beautiful writing” and Origami, which translates as “folded paper”. |
3 – 8 |
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Students create a freestanding 3-dimensional sculpture using wire and modeled "clay" pieces. An exciting introductory lesson in balance, spatial relationships, color, shape and form. |
K – 6 |
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As young students learn the value and structure of our monetary system, they can make their own coins for trade or to save. This lesson plan allows students to design and “mint” coins bearing their own symbols. |
K – 4 |
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According to a pre-Columbian legend, each person shares a common destiny with an animal that matches their personality and their life experiences called a “Tona”. Students identify with an animal and create a mask that will retain some human features as well. This project linka with personal identification and Mexican Folk Art cultural studies. |
K – 4 |
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Wonderful, colorful flowers are created with a transparent, flexible paint called “Arti’Stick”. To link with botanical studies, have students study the anatomy of a flower, create and identify its parts. |
3 – 8 |
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Native Americans in the Southwest left messages on stones that still speak to us today. Some of these pictures were actually carvings called "petroglyphs".This lesson uses air-dry clay to make symbolic drawings on “stone.” |
2 – 5 |
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Math and science create visual forms and establish structure.“Three Prisms” uses equilateral triangles and parallelograms. The shapes are combined and repeated for a sculpture that makes additional equilateral triangles. |
K – 8 |
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The Huichol tribe use yarn to decorate gourds, clothing and other items, appliing it in adjacent rows of varying colors and patterns. Bottles are a 3-D surface that offers endless design possibilities. |
K – 6 |
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Students construct a 3-dimensional form and fill it with rice to make gentle, percussive sounds. |
K – 8 |
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This page offers a few suggestions for creative art projects that support mathematical instruction on chart and graph reading. |
3 – 8 |
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This easy, kid-friendly project creates ornaments that sparkle and shine using Crayola Crayons and Sculpey III oven-bake polymer clay. |
K – 6 |
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Early experiment with construction of slab clay techniques. An excellent introduction to the use of materials in a responsible manner. |
K – 4 |
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Punched tin and metal is an old, traditional craft that involves creating holes in metal with sharp tools to form a design. Original designs were abstract patterns. This safe and colorful version is also abstract. |
K – 6 |
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This lesson plan celebrates the Chinese tradition of passing along good fortune or "Fu" to others. |
K – 8 |
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Children have many family members and pets and friends who are "honorary" family. Have students discuss their family and describe how they look. |
K – 4 |
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Experience an archeological dig, right in your own classroom! Students create fossils the way that nature does - by making impressions and filling them |
K – 12 |
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Listed are colorful samples of simple fans. Discuss the importance of fans and how they were used to keep people comfortable for years. |
K – 6 |
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Combining clay beadmaking with basic pinch and coil pot construction, students make a musical piece of art. |
K – 12 |
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Beads can be made from a variety of materials, including Wonderfoam, chenille stems and Woodsies |
K – 5 |
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Students explore Native American pottery traditions and discover the purpose behind the animal imagery and geometric patterns used to decorate various pottery forms. Students with kiln access will learn how to use underglazes and glazes to transform their bowls into functional ware |
3 – 8 |
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"Marc Chagall, is known for his paintings of floating, dream-like people, animals and objects. Students design “Float People” to display their understanding of colorful imaginary images." |
K – 6 |
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"Create a fully posable hand to help students learn to communicate in sign language." |
3 – 5 |
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Martin Puryear-Inspired Basketry Students learn the importance of negative space while creating a non-traditional basket by focusing on it as a sculptural element rather than a functional object. Being a non-representational form, these abstract baskets draw attention to volume and space and redefine what a basket is intended for. |
3 – 12 |
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Over the centuries and across many cultures, lockets have been worn as tiny, portable treasure chests. Students paint the front of a mini canvas and use the back to display a small photo or something with meaning and value. |
K – 12 |
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These papier mâché dishes are an example of utilitarian items that can also be used as décor. |
3 – 8 |
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There is a rich history in dollmaking techniques throughout the centuries. These soft dolls are painted, stuffed and glued together — so the construction is easy and safe. |
4 – 6 |
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This project teaches free-form weaving in the round. The sticks are extremely bright and pretty when finished and look great in a vase or potted plant. |
2 – 6 |
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This step-by-step project from Mayco Colors demonstrates how to make insect-themed Wind Catchers from bisqueware pieces. |
3 – 8 |
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From Mayco Colors, this lesson gives students the opportunity to explore the history and function of masks in various cultures and times. Students will be able to learn and master basic hand building and sculpting techniques using either self-hardening clay or clay requiring kiln firing. |
K – 6 |
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Decorate small wooden blocks with symbols, letters, numbers, patterns or images to create dice and a colorful "shaker" jar. Scorecard included in lesson plan. |
K – 6 |
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Students will study works of stained glass as a one dimensional art form and adapt what they learn to a three dimensional sculpture — a brilliantly-colored transparent mobile. |
2 – 6 |
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Using Tee Juice® Fabric Markers, students design a pair of painted shoes reminiscent of a famous artist's style and choices of subjects and colors. |
K – 6 |
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A full skeleton illustrates movement during a wide range of activities. The addition of a background turns this project into a more complete artwork. |
3 – 6 |
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This book-making and collage project uses small matchboxes as drawers to tuck away secrets, supporting a variety of literary and historical studies, such as “The Hiding Place” (Anne Frank) or the Underground Railroad. |
3 – 12 |
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Students will learn how each of the architectural elements of a castle was designed for the purpose of protection and design their own fortress by making a “pop-out” from construction paper. |
3 – 8 |
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Give students an opportunity to enjoy creating random organic forms with color and transparency similar to actual glass.
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2 – 12 |
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Egyptian Relief Sculpture by Amaco Students should research hieroglyphs and find a hieroglyphic symbol that has meaning to them. They might choose their initial as a their symbol, or create a figure in the style of an Egyptian Queen or Pharaoh. |
4 – 6 |
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Topiary is the art of turning living plants into sculptures that are constantly growing and changing — a form of landscape art. In this project, an art topiary is made of a wire base, green tissue paper and twine. Although this Tissue Topiary will require some initial sculpting, no care will be needed after construction! |
4 – 12 |
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Art History |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Butterfield Horse Construct a high-relief horse using Activa Fast Mache and found objects. Combine a painted and collaged background with a horse made of quick mache, sticks, pine needles, leaves, and shredded papers in the style of Debra Butterfield. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Convertible “Canned” Sculpture Composition — the way the elements of a piece of art are arranged and relate to each other — can be difficult to grasp. This lesson plan presents an easy, forgiving way to see the effects of composition while using the dimensional works of Frank Stella as an example. The sculpture is assembled with magnets on a metal can so it can be taken apart and rearranged to see how the composition is affected — what works and what doesn’t. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Decalcomania: Glue Paint Symmetry Prints “Decalcomania” was a techique was used by Surrealists to create impromptu paintings controlled largely by chance. Much like a Rorschach Ink-Blot test, they would search for hidden imagery and develop it into a finished painting. This tidy and highly interactive process uses Glue Paint in a finger painting-style of application — without actually touching it. Looking for hidden images and contour lines in the print will fuel the imagination of a young Surrealist! |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Lessons on Lascaux Create a cave wall that crackles with authenticity! Using a paste made with powdered tempera and a Dura-Lar stencil, make a beautiful 3-D cave creation. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! The Walls are Watching You! Form a whimsical and functional "pocket" to animate a wall. This project combines the wall pocket with a face jug, creating a fun and whimsical (or scary) face pocket out of clay. |
2 – 12 |
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NEW! Easy-Outline Botanical Illustration Prints Although photography and modern printing processes have replaced the need for cataloguing plant life with detailed drawn and painted illustrations, botanical illustration is still a beloved art. To make an accurate rendering of a plant, students can create an impression in plaster, then trace the shape and details with colored pencil, ink, or watercolor. Mixing and shading for color accuracy and identifying the plant are some of the skills that will be learned in this exercise. |
K – 12 |
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Stain painting was a successful technique employed by Color Field artists Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis. They poured diluted acrylic color over large canvases to form “veils” of brilliant color. In this lesson, students will first learn a simple process for creating their own drawing pad, then stain and design a canvas cover for it.
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3 – 12 |
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New Guinean “Plant Paste” Doll Make a hand-built ritual doll with only three simple materials! Knead together clay, instant papier mâché and burlap fibers to create an intriguing art doll. Add body paint and embellish by adding seed bead teeth, a shell necklace, or clothing made of burlap. |
4 – 12 |
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Prairie-Style Stained Glass Clings Frank Lloyd Wright referred to his stained glass windows as “light screens” because they interacted with the view behind them, rather than covering or obscuring it. Here, students use geometry and repeating patterns to create a vinyl window cling that incorporates the ideals of Prairie-Style Design.
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K – 12 |
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Practice the ancient art of sumi-e painting with a modern twist! Paint with diluted wax resist, then reveal your masterpiece by applying black sumi-e ink over the top. The addition of watercolor gives the painting even more interest.
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K – 12 |
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Originating in ancient India, Mehndi is the artistic application of designs to the hands and feet. Students can enjoy the practice of Mehndi without staining their skin by creating radial designs in marker while wearing a glove. The sense of touch while creating the design is an important part of the process.
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K – 12 |
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Mehndi, tatau, and modern "ink" - the history of art is incomplete without including the practice of creating decoration on human skin. In this lesson plan, students create a jointed clay marionette and use fine-line markers to cover it with expressive designs. |
3 – 12 |
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The wealthy Byzantine Empire had a huge influence on personal ornamentation. Characterized by extensive iconography, pendants and medallions were widely produced to denote faith, office or rank. For this project, students use air-dry clay and colorful rhinestones to create their own Byzantine-style medallions. Gilded with gold powder and finished with a gloss coating, they can be used as ornaments or placed outdoors as mini stepping stones. |
K – 12 |
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Impressionistic Marker Painting You won't believe what these markers can do! The juicy, alcohol-based ink reacts with itself or with hand-sanitizer to make painterly drawings on clear plastic film.
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3 – 12 |
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Picasso-Inspired Soft Sculpture By looking through the vast array of figurative paintings done by Picasso during his cubist phase, students may find many possibilities for soft sculpture adaptations. Fine art, sculpture and textiles combine to make this eye-catching piece!
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K – 12 |
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The practice of illumination — decoration of pages with ornate lettering, luminous color and precious metals, was developed during the middle ages when literacy was rare and books were even more so. With this process, students design one of their own initials on reflective board and add transparent color — it appears to glow with reflective light from within. |
3 – 8 |
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Upcycled Leather and “Turquoise” Cuffs Worn as protection in battle, support for heavy labor and to identify status, leather cuffs have shielded wrists throughout mankind’s history. To the Pueblo and Navajo, turquoise is considered sacred and powerful, the perfect adornment. This project invites students to design a cuff from an old leather belt. Embellish with “turquoise” beads fashioned from polymer clay or with stamping, lacing and marker designs. |
3 – 12 |
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In the 1960’s, Frank Stella became known for his minimal geometric paintings of concentric squares that used color to create visual movement. Each concentric square of color related to the next, whether they were harmonic or contrasting colors. In this lesson plan, students consider color relations and “paint” a Stella-style work with colored masking tape, |
4 – 12 |
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The first thing children learn when learning to draw a face or a figure is to view each part as a basic shape. This project approaches sculpture in the same way. Using geometric Styrofoam shapes, students build a bust or torso. The finished result resembles a simplified version of something you might have seen from Picasso or one of the other Cubist painters, only in three dimensions. This project is a good introduction to sculpture for young students. |
K – 6 |
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Drawing on the reverse side of a matte sheet of acetate, students create “windows” into the work of a chosen artist, using similar colors, subject matter and style to describe the artist’s focus. See if the class can guess which artists are represented on each student’s “palette.” |
K – 6 |
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Unlock the secrets of an ancient Egyptian pyramid with this easy-to-construct box that opens to reveal “treasure” inside. When closed, the outside walls are held in place with a clay disk. Remove the disk and open the pyramid to reveal what's inside. Younger students can make artifacts from clay to place inside. Older students may be challenged to learn the inner parts of the pyramids and add paper pages to write about and illustrate their discoveries. |
3 – 8 |
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Spanish painter Joan Miró is known for his playful art. Although he was a world renowned artist, his work gives the impression it could have been created by a child. Miró was interested in reducing characters to their simplest forms and using very basic, bright colors. He felt some of the best ideas were inspired by the simplest things. In this project, students attach and weave Chenille Stems onto stitchery canvas to make simple shapes and designs. |
K – 6 |
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Making Elemental Drawing Materials Blick Art Materials was not around to provide art supplies 32,000 years ago, but, somehow, the earliest humans found a way to draw and paint on cave walls using materials made from basic elements all around them. Similar to the Paleolithic era, students will make their own drawing tools by transforming simple materials from the classroom, and then using them to communicate through images. |
K – 12 |
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Beginning in the early 1880s, the “Art Nouveau” style flourished in all forms of art. Beautiful pottery was mass-produced during this era, especially in the form of decorative tiles. Tube lining — a technique in which a design outline was created first and then filled in with color — is the definitive look of Art Nouveau. If kiln-glazed ceramics are not an option for your environment, this project is a way to produce glossy, hand-painted tiles that look like the real thing.
|
K – 8 |
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Art 2 Infinity: Two projects incorporating Mirror Board Artists through the ages have used reflective surfaces to define and alter perspective, create symmetry and "bend" reality. Mirrors have been a tool for creating art, the subject matter and the art itself. Here are two project ideas for using metallic film to capture light and create intriguing illusions: “Kaleidoscope Paintings” and “Infinity Boxes”. |
K – 12 |
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Students of all ages can mimic mosaic artisans throughout history with these easy tile-making and “grouting” techniques. Clay tiles are glued to a firm backboard and grouted with acrylic paint. This project is safe and simple enough for younger students and those with special needs.
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K – 12 |
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Geometric patterns occur in rich profusion throughout Islamic Cultures. This lesson is an invitation to look at the history and meaning behind patterns and view the work of a contemporary Iranian artist. Students design and assemble a reflective mosaic pattern using metallic papers on adhesive film. Easy and tidy...no glue! |
K – 12 |
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Native American Story Necklaces One of the many rich crafts produced within the Native American culture is a "fetish," or story necklace, designed to illustrate history and legend with carved creatures representing spirits, animals or ancestors. |
K – 6 |
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This lesson plan is designed to celebrate fine artists by honoring them with a "commemorative stamp." This project also introduces students to philately, the study and collection of stamps. |
3 – 6 |
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Where standard painting builds an image from the background forward, a reverse painting is created in a backward fashion — foreground first — with each phase applied so the background finishes the painting. A backing of metallic foil reflects light through the pastel in the same manner as gilding.
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3 – 12 |
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This lesson plan uses interactive floating layers and windows to create depth within the artwork.
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3 – 12 |
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Students will research the painting style of a famous artist of their choice, then design a pair of painted shoes reminiscent of that artist’s design sense and choices of subjects and colors. |
K – 6 |
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Neo-Impressionistic artists of the late 1800s developed a pictorial technique in which they placed specific brushstrokes of pure color directly on their canvas instead of mixing colors first on a palette. In this lesson plan, students will create balls of air dry clay and attach them collage-style to a self-adhesive board to recreate the Divisionism approach to painting. |
2 – 6 |
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The purpose of this lesson plan is not to make replicas of Egyptian jewelry but to design jewelry that is dramatic using Egyptian jewelry as a reference. |
K – 12 |
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Art history is an excellent discipline to accompany this lesson plan, as students become familiar with masterpieces by various artists. Students will choose an artwork that inspires them from a specifictime, genre or culture, and paint their own version on a cardboard frame. |
3 – 8 |
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This lesson plan gives students the opportunity to learn about the concept of architecture, particularly towers and turrets.Using watercolor painting techniques and tracing, cutting, and gluing skills,students create lines, patterns and textures while understanding the concept of near being larger, far being smaller. |
3 – 6 |
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Introduce students to Pop-Art while creating fun, colorful ties. |
K – 12 |
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"Marc Chagall, is known for his paintings of floating, dream-like people, animals and objects. Students design “Float People” to display their understanding of colorful imaginary images." |
K – 6 |
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Martin Puryear-Inspired Basketry Students learn the importance of negative space while creating a non-traditional basket by focusing on it as a sculptural element rather than a functional object. Being a non-representational form, these abstract baskets draw attention to volume and space and redefine what a basket is intended for. |
3 – 12 |
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This project uses pastels; a favored medium of Impressionist artists – drawn onto matte surface Shrink Film. The chalk of the pastels doesn't actually shrink, it simply condenses along with the film to form rich, intense areas of color.
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3 – 10 |
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"Secco" is the term used for applying color to dry plaster, the manner Da Vinci used in his famed "The Last Supper." Using Plaster of Paris, students create drawings then purposefully add stress fractures.
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1 – 12 |
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"Drawing with Thread" is an interpretation of work by Wassily Kandinski in 1913. Kandinski is called the first totally abstract artist. Free flowing water color and line suggests but does not define images. |
K – 8 |
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Egyptian Relief Sculpture by Amaco Students should research hieroglyphs and find a hieroglyphic symbol that has meaning to them. They might choose their initial as a their symbol, or create a figure in the style of an Egyptian Queen or Pharaoh. |
4 – 6 |
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Book And Paper Arts |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Concentric Kirigami A variation on Japanese Origami, Kirigami is created by folding paper and cutting portions away. This surprisingly uncomplicated relief sculpture is assembled with “rings” cut from double-sided sheets of colorful cardstock. The edges of the rings are folded, cut, unfolded, and layered concentrically (placed around the same center point) to make modern-day Kirigami designs. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Books that POP! Paper engineering meets the principles of design! This procces breaks pop-up designs into three very basic techniques - spirals, zig-zags, and boxes - and focuses on design elements: color, form, shape, and space. A simple hinging technique using the ever-popular, colorfully patterned DuckTape allows the book to open and lie flat for the most eye-popping and paper-popping look! |
3 – 12 |
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Stain painting was a successful technique employed by Color Field artists Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis. They poured diluted acrylic color over large canvases to form “veils” of brilliant color. In this lesson, students will first learn a simple process for creating their own drawing pad, then stain and design a canvas cover for it.
|
3 – 12 |
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Printmaking — starring textures and shapes! A collagraph printing plate is created on a canvas panel using textures found in the classroom, textured gel mediums, or even textures from nature! After a final coat of gel medium is applied, the plate and paper are run through a printing press.
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3 – 6 |
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Quilling is also known as paper filligree, paper rolling, mosaic or paper folding (even though the paper is really curled). In this project, students will try their hand at quilling in a truly sculptural way. By using much larger, thicker strips of paper, the finished product "pops" out in a very optical way. By using black on white, the effect is even further emphasized. |
3 – 12 |
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Unlock the secrets of an ancient Egyptian pyramid with this easy-to-construct box that opens to reveal “treasure” inside. When closed, the outside walls are held in place with a clay disk. Remove the disk and open the pyramid to reveal what's inside. Younger students can make artifacts from clay to place inside. Older students may be challenged to learn the inner parts of the pyramids and add paper pages to write about and illustrate their discoveries. |
3 – 8 |
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A few simple geometry skills and a little time spent making paper rolls is all that goes into this eye-catching art paper bowl. It's a great way to recycle materials or use up scrap paper, and your students will learn about repeating patterns and design rhythm as they place each tube of paper on a piece of self-adhesive film. |
3 – 12 |
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The easiest way to make colorful, three-dimensional paper flowers! Even young children will enjoy painting carnation-like blooms and creating full bouquets for Mother’s Day gifts, May Day celebrations, a Cinco de Mayo fiesta or a Hawaiian Luau. Each flower costs just pennies to make. Because the watercolors blend together and form new hues, painting each bloom is a good way to illustrate color mixing. |
K – 8 |
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There's more to "deconstructing" a book than just altering the pages. In this project, deconstructing means changing the object from a book to a sculpture. The tools are very basic — scissors, glue, paper punches and a desire to experiment! |
3 – 12 |
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The magic is in the color! Wax Pastels adhere to the slick surface of tooling foil and stay there. Students explore tools and texture plates to create designs in lightweight metal, then, using simple page-binding techniques, assemble a lovely hardcover book to use for notes, sketches, journaling, scrapbooking or photos. |
3 – 8 |
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Rather than traditional pages, the interior of these “books” will hold objects collected by students. An “art box” book could contain samples of texture, color, form, and line or other examples of design elements or styles. Or a more personalized box “about me” could hold a collection of tiny photos, poems and small keepsakes. |
3 – 12 |
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From the outside, this Storybook Theater looks like a simply constructed book, but open it and a puppet stage unfolds! Children make their favorite stories come to life with puppets, props and scenery. There's even built-in pockets for holding craft stick puppets. |
K – 6 |
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This is a great project for teaching recycling and renewal. Using a plastic stencil and screen, students make a shaped piece of handmade paper from cast-off scraps. Flower and vegetable seeds are added to the pulp. When dry, the rough-textured paper can be decorated with paint or drawing materials and glued to the front of a card. When planting season arrives, place the shape in the soil to make a beautiful garden.
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K – 8 |
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This lesson plan is designed to celebrate fine artists by honoring them with a "commemorative stamp." This project also introduces students to philately, the study and collection of stamps. |
3 – 6 |
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During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a State of the Union speech in which he spoke of four basic freedoms he dreamed of being available to everyone in the world. Artist Norman Rockwell interpreted these freedoms in a series of popular paintings published by the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. This lesson plan challenges students to consider the concept of freedom: what it meant to a president, an artist and what it means to them today. |
3 – 6 |
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Exercise for art is as important as exercise for sports or rehearsal for theatre, as it fosters a continual pursuit of excellence. In this lesson, to exercise their artistic creativity, students keep a day-by-day art journal. Each page should be a simple statement of a different idea or small thought for the day. |
K – 12 |
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Suminagashi is a process in which Sumi ink is floated on the surface of plain water, then transferred to a sheet of paper. Each monoprint is like a fingerprint — unique and unreproducible.
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3 – 12 |
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This project is a simple, tidy way to create the look of pulp painting without the mess of a blender or even the use of adhesive. Non-bleeding tissue paper is combined with water and agitated (torn) so that the paper fibers separate and make a rough pulp. Pressing the paper onto an absorbent (canvas) surface causes the fibers to re-bond with one another and, when dry, form a thicker, stronger paper.
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K – 12 |
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Molas are the brightly colored applique panels made only in the San Blas region of Panama by the Kuna Indians. Once the paper Molas are completed, have the children discuss their importance to the Kuna Indian women and their culture. |
4 – 6 |
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In the Philippines, during the Festival of Lights, parol (puh-roll), or star-shaped lanterns, symbolize the victory of light over darkness as well as hope and goodwill. These simple parol are created with natural reed, translucent rice paper and liquid watercolor. Displayed in a window or hanging from a light fixture, they make colorful, festive decorations for any season.
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3 – 8 |
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This lesson plan is inspired by the brightly colored pottery of Mexico. This simple papier mâché version casts paper pulp into a textured bowl using an existing plastic or ceramic bowl as a mold. |
K – 4 |
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"Toro Nagashi", the Japanese Festival of Floating Lanterns is a beautiful event involving floating paper lanterns. Using YUPO paper and multiple mediums, students make lanterns for indoor or outdoor use. |
K – 12 |
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Great for special occasions and gifts, these thought-filled boxes are created by bringing together two art forms: Calligraphy, which means “beautiful writing” and Origami, which translates as “folded paper”. |
3 – 8 |
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This simple bookmaking project can achieve great results with a wide variety of ages. Using nature as a theme, it's a perfect place to record nature sketches, foliage collections and personal observations of the world around us. |
K – 12 |
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Design a “big” storybook.Children can write the story and choose something in the story to be the book cover. The Story Paper can be cut to the shape of the book cover. |
K – 3 |
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An easy bookmaking lesson that works across the entire curriculum. Students make books to use as journals or scrapbooks and fill with personnel stories or poetry, sketches or photos. |
3 – 12 |
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Very, Very Simple Decorative Papers Gathering flowers, leaves, fiber, ribbons and newspapers can expand children’s awareness of their environment. Results are awesome! Make printmaking papers, cards, book covers, picture frames and photo mats. |
K – 4 |
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Use two pieces of construction paper, scissors, and glue to explore pattern and repetition. |
3 – 8 |
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A simple lesson to explore the basic concepts of weaving. |
3 – 8 |
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Introduce students to Pop-Art while creating fun, colorful ties. |
K – 12 |
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This page offers a few suggestions for creative art projects that support mathematical instruction on chart and graph reading. |
3 – 8 |
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Minimal resources, great results! This lesson promotes an awareness of shape and space. |
K – 8 |
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Kente is the name for the beautifully colored, traditional woven fabric of West Africa. Like most African art forms, Kente expresses more than just visual appeal — it represents history, status, religion and social values. |
2 – 5 |
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This interactive torn-paper collage creates pockets for watercolor fish to swim in and may be linked to the study of pond life (science) and Japanese culture. |
2 – 5 |
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Native American Medicine Shields Teach students about the unique symbolism of Native American culture while they learn valuable design and drawing skills. |
K – 4 |
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Children will create their own journals, sketchbooks, or scrapbooks with this project. |
K – 12 |
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Every child is a flower! Their self portraits are fun and make a beautiful garden in the classroom. Oil pastels and wiggly eyes brighten the flowers. |
K – 4 |
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These paper dolls are wonderful to combine with the Global Village Paper. They can easily be turned into old-fashioned paper dolls, displayed in chains and hung. Or create a globe and arrange dolls around the total outside edge. |
K – 5 |
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This lesson plan celebrates the Chinese tradition of passing along good fortune or "Fu" to others. |
K – 8 |
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Children have many family members and pets and friends who are "honorary" family. Have students discuss their family and describe how they look. |
K – 4 |
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Teach your students how to make paper with this project. |
3 – 8 |
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Listed are colorful samples of simple fans. Discuss the importance of fans and how they were used to keep people comfortable for years. |
K – 6 |
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These papier mâché dishes are an example of utilitarian items that can also be used as décor. |
3 – 8 |
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There is a rich history in dollmaking techniques throughout the centuries. These soft dolls are painted, stuffed and glued together — so the construction is easy and safe. |
4 – 6 |
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Japanese homes have interior walls that are actually large, movable screens constructed of thin wooden strips and very strong paper — allowing light to shine through. In this lesson plan, three small Shoji screens are created to hang on a wall or stand upright on the floor. |
4 – 6 |
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Introduce students to calligraphy, ink, folding and dyeing techniques. The end result is a beautiful banner they will be proud to hang up! |
3 – 8 |
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Artist Trading Cards are a fascinating pastime for a great number of professional artists. The cards are always 2½" × 3½", a size that fits into standard baseball card storage sleeves |
K – 7 |
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This book-making and collage project uses small matchboxes as drawers to tuck away secrets, supporting a variety of literary and historical studies, such as “The Hiding Place” (Anne Frank) or the Underground Railroad. |
3 – 12 |
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This lesson plan encourages students to explore shape and color by creating original and whimsical insects from brightly-colored, torn paper. |
K – 4 |
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Students will learn how each of the architectural elements of a castle was designed for the purpose of protection and design their own fortress by making a “pop-out” from construction paper. |
3 – 8 |
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The stenciled hand print and aboriginal style drawings help children to relate to the man from the Australian Aboriginal Culture, while helping them to understand the use of line in art. |
K – 4 |
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Even young students can achieve beautiful results — without the use of chemicals or special materials. |
K – 12 |
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Clay |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Flower Garden Tiles Easily make flower tiles by carving clay, filling with plaster, and finishing with liquid watercolors. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! The Walls are Watching You! Form a whimsical and functional "pocket" to animate a wall. This project combines the wall pocket with a face jug, creating a fun and whimsical (or scary) face pocket out of clay. |
2 – 12 |
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NEW! Coral Reef Creation Brilliantly replicate thousands of years of oceanic evolution in just a few hours. Using clay, paint, and pearlescent mixing medium, along with handmade clay stamps, create a beautiful coral sculpture. |
K – 12 |
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Create a textured clay mold to use again and again! Carve a design into a slab and bisque fire it. After coating it with kiln wash, this mold can be used many times to impart unique textures to slumped glass pieces.
|
3 – 12 |
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Mehndi, tatau, and modern "ink" - the history of art is incomplete without including the practice of creating decoration on human skin. In this lesson plan, students create a jointed clay marionette and use fine-line markers to cover it with expressive designs. |
3 – 12 |
|
|
Glazing isn't the only way to create beautiful surfaces! Agateware pottery features swirling marbelized colors and was probably first developed to imitate the qualities of agate, a semiprecious stone with striated patterning. These swirling effects can be created by working with thin slabs of colored clay that has been layered to create patterns. This technique allows for both precise patterns and free, random effects.
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3 – 12 |
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In this project, students explore the beauty of texture found in a surprising place... on the soles of their shoes! Texture is all around us, and oftentimes exists right under our noses.
|
K – 3 |
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The wealthy Byzantine Empire had a huge influence on personal ornamentation. Characterized by extensive iconography, pendants and medallions were widely produced to denote faith, office or rank. For this project, students use air-dry clay and colorful rhinestones to create their own Byzantine-style medallions. Gilded with gold powder and finished with a gloss coating, they can be used as ornaments or placed outdoors as mini stepping stones. |
K – 12 |
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This beginning project introduces early elementary students to basic clay construction skills. Employing both fine and gross motor skills, students assign a unique personality to their pet, then bisque fire and add the definition of spots and color with glazes. |
K – 3 |
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Rattles are the only musical instrument found throughout the world. While their physical forms vary, their uses are very consistent. Many cultures give infants rattles as a toy. In rituals and ceremonies, rattles are used prominently and often believed to possess supernatural powers. Students explore texture and clay construction as they form a rattle inspired by natural shapes: seed pods, shells, gourds, rain-sticks, etc.
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K – 12 |
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A lesson plan from AMACO®. Students select their favorite photo and design a custom picture frame to display it. After the bisque firing, the picture frames will be painted and decorated using the new AMACO® Teacher's Choice and Teacher's Palette low-fire glazes. |
K – 6 |
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Navajo-Inspired Bottles - 2 Projects by Mayco® Colors Navajo pottery tended towards functional ware and minimalist design and decoration. Pinch, slab and coil construction methods were used to make bowls and bottles, for carrying water and food consumption. In these projects students will use their knowledge of Navajo symbols to create Navajo inspired designs on a clay bottles. |
4 – 8 |
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Polynesia is a large area in the central and southern Pacific Ocean containing more than 1,000 scattered islands. Many of these islands share cultural similarities among the various groups of people who live on them, especially in terms of their mythologies. Stories often include gods or deities that rule nature. In addition to the oral tradition, "god sticks" are made to represent these deities, usually in the form of a human face or figure wrapped in bark cloth or cord. |
3 – 8 |
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Beginning in the early 1880s, the “Art Nouveau” style flourished in all forms of art. Beautiful pottery was mass-produced during this era, especially in the form of decorative tiles. Tube lining — a technique in which a design outline was created first and then filled in with color — is the definitive look of Art Nouveau. If kiln-glazed ceramics are not an option for your environment, this project is a way to produce glossy, hand-painted tiles that look like the real thing.
|
K – 8 |
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Exercising the imagination helps children develop problem-solving skills. This lesson incorporates students’ artistic skills to sculpt finger puppets out of clay and to use their imaginations to make up a story for their characters. The stories do not have to be written but can be told freely. Create a theatre in the classroom — a table with a cloth over it makes a great stage for Wee Puppets. This project is a wonderful interactive classroom event. |
K – 6 |
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Students of all ages can mimic mosaic artisans throughout history with these easy tile-making and “grouting” techniques. Clay tiles are glued to a firm backboard and grouted with acrylic paint. This project is safe and simple enough for younger students and those with special needs.
|
K – 12 |
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The inside of the Earth holds hidden secrets very close to us, so dig a hole to uncover layers of mystery! A hole just 1" deep will show a very small example of soil strata or layers – including rocks, shells, fossils, geodes, water, oil and coal. This art project is based on geology but need not be scientifically accurate as students creatively incorporate texture and line. |
1 – 6 |
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Native American Story Necklaces One of the many rich crafts produced within the Native American culture is a "fetish," or story necklace, designed to illustrate history and legend with carved creatures representing spirits, animals or ancestors. |
K – 6 |
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Students will hand-build dwellings for forest animals and birds, beginning with flat clay slabs and using slump molds (and even a soda can!) to shape the slabs into three dimensional forms. They will use sprig and press molds to texture and embellish their structures to simulate trees, leaves, knot holes and burrows reminiscent of natural habitats found in woodlands. |
4 – 8 |
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Students monoprint images of their faces onto a piece of flat clay, then "morph" it to look like the face in Edvard Munch's famous portrait "The Scream". |
K – 4 |
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Learn leaf anatomy by recreating the patterns and structure of the original. Because the clay is paper-based, it accepts watercolors, which may be reworked and blended on the surface. Watercolors enhance the veining in the leaves, pulling out their natural characteristics. |
K – 12 |
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Make your own tools for stamping image impressions, creating raised designs and adding textures to a variety of artworks. They can be pressed into clay prior to firing, polymer clay before baking and air-dry clay while still moist. Tools can also be used for creating patterns in metal foil or making texture rubbings on paper. |
K – 12 |
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This High-Low Relief Sculpture is a variation on the popular three-dimensional pin sculpture toy that can be molded into familiar shapes as pressure is applied from underneath. These sculptures will be stationary with a few other variations, as students use their imaginations to create rolling landscapes, faces, flowers or other images out of different lengths of colorfully painted craft picks. |
4 – 6 |
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Neo-Impressionistic artists of the late 1800s developed a pictorial technique in which they placed specific brushstrokes of pure color directly on their canvas instead of mixing colors first on a palette. In this lesson plan, students will create balls of air dry clay and attach them collage-style to a self-adhesive board to recreate the Divisionism approach to painting. |
2 – 6 |
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Students create a freestanding 3-dimensional sculpture using wire and modeled "clay" pieces. An exciting introductory lesson in balance, spatial relationships, color, shape and form. |
K – 6 |
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As young students learn the value and structure of our monetary system, they can make their own coins for trade or to save. This lesson plan allows students to design and “mint” coins bearing their own symbols. |
K – 4 |
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This lesson plan uses intensely colorful, easy-to-use Model Magic air-dry clay in place of yarn to create paintings similar to the art of the Huichol tribe. Students create “strings” of clay and press them together on a rigid surface. to create symbolic images and designs. |
3 – 8 |
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According to a pre-Columbian legend, each person shares a common destiny with an animal that matches their personality and their life experiences called a “Tona”. Students identify with an animal and create a mask that will retain some human features as well. This project linka with personal identification and Mexican Folk Art cultural studies. |
K – 4 |
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Native Americans in the Southwest left messages on stones that still speak to us today. Some of these pictures were actually carvings called "petroglyphs".This lesson uses air-dry clay to make symbolic drawings on “stone.” |
2 – 5 |
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Leather Shields Native American Wall Hanging Students learn to work with leather in the manner of Native American craftsmen. |
K – 6 |
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There are 20 Pueblo villages left in the Southwest; there were at one time in history 200. Each of the 20 Pueblos is famous for art and/or crafts, such as pottery. Students will learn about the Pueblo Indian arts and crafts, and emulate the famous pottery of Maria Martinez, who lived in a Pueblo. |
2 – 4 |
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This easy, kid-friendly project creates ornaments that sparkle and shine using Crayola Crayons and Sculpey III oven-bake polymer clay. |
K – 6 |
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Early experiment with construction of slab clay techniques. An excellent introduction to the use of materials in a responsible manner. |
K – 4 |
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The expressive qualities of clay are perfect for creating many different types of face masks, from Mardi Gras glitter to Japanese Kabuki to African ceremonial masks. |
K – 8 |
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A very easy mosaic project that is enjoyable for all ages. Even very young children will enjoy pressing objects into the moist clay. |
K – 4 |
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Combining clay beadmaking with basic pinch and coil pot construction, students make a musical piece of art. |
K – 12 |
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Students explore Native American pottery traditions and discover the purpose behind the animal imagery and geometric patterns used to decorate various pottery forms. Students with kiln access will learn how to use underglazes and glazes to transform their bowls into functional ware |
3 – 8 |
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From Mayco Colors, this lesson gives students the opportunity to explore the history and function of masks in various cultures and times. Students will be able to learn and master basic hand building and sculpting techniques using either self-hardening clay or clay requiring kiln firing. |
K – 6 |
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A full skeleton illustrates movement during a wide range of activities. The addition of a background turns this project into a more complete artwork. |
3 – 6 |
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Collage |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Artist’s Challenge Coins (ACC’s) Challenge Coins are specially designed and minted for service personnel to recognize an achievement, enhance morale, or to signify membership in (or experience on) a particular mission. Create a personal Artist's Challenge Coin (ACC) by making a small print, collage, stamp, or photo appliqué one side of a coin-shaped wooden disk, and a challenge or message on the reverse. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Butterfield Horse Construct a high-relief horse using Activa Fast Mache and found objects. Combine a painted and collaged background with a horse made of quick mache, sticks, pine needles, leaves, and shredded papers in the style of Debra Butterfield. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! The Secret Life of your Pet! Disquise your pet or favorite animal in a fantasy environment with easy photo manipulation. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! “Gawu” — African Inspired Tapestry Ghana-born artist El Anatsui is known internationally for his large-scale sculptures called “Gawu,” a composite of the words “ga,” meaning something made of metal and 'wu,” meaning a fashioned garment. In this lesson, students create their own tapestries as a response to El Anatsui's art, using African kente to discover rhythm and pattern in art. Recycled materials can be used, including folded papers and labels. |
K – 12 |
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This project utilizes acrylic paint, but in a totally unique way...dried! Acrylic paint "skins" are easily created just by brushing paint on a non-stick palette or baker's parchment and letting it dry. You can use this plastic, flexible paint in a number of ways to create mosaics, mixed media collage, stained glass-like effects, jewelry, book covers and more!
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K – 12 |
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Peace Windows: in the style of Marc Chagall’s stained glass Late in his career, artist Marc Chagall produced a number of paintings in glass with colorful, dream-like images symbolizing peace, love, tolerance and faith. In reality, Marc Chagall’s life was filled with tragic events and the world he lived in was anything but peaceful. In light of this fact, students can begin to understand an artist’s ability to share healing, inspiration and encouragement, using “peace” as a theme.
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K – 8 |
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Geometric patterns occur in rich profusion throughout Islamic Cultures. This lesson is an invitation to look at the history and meaning behind patterns and view the work of a contemporary Iranian artist. Students design and assemble a reflective mosaic pattern using metallic papers on adhesive film. Easy and tidy...no glue! |
K – 12 |
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What we think of as “quilts” today — pieces of fabric sewn together to form blocks that collectively make a whole — did not become popular until the mid 19th century. Making quilts was a means of “recycling” fabric from clothing that was no longer usable. In this lesson plan, students make a quilt block using paper and glue rather than fabric and stitching. It’s a great way to recycle materials and illustrate a number of design principles — rhythm, pattern, balance and unity. |
3 – 12 |
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Rather than traditional pages, the interior of these “books” will hold objects collected by students. An “art box” book could contain samples of texture, color, form, and line or other examples of design elements or styles. Or a more personalized box “about me” could hold a collection of tiny photos, poems and small keepsakes. |
3 – 12 |
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Quilt-making spans multiple centuries and cultures. It can teach math skills, record history, recycle cast-off materials and encourage cooperative efforts within a group...just for a few ideas! This lesson looks at the story quilts of Faith Ringgold. She surrounds her narrative paintings with a quilted border, creating stories in color, texture, and pattern. Students select their own story to illustrate, then paint fabric using watersoluble pastels and watercolor.
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K – 12 |
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Collect and recycle product wrappers for a "green" art project worthy of good-citizen attention! Students save and trade wrappers to make a paper background, then choose words and phrases related to their "rapper" collage and cut them from thin foam to create a printing plate. "Rapper" Art is an easy process for making posters, book covers and signs in multiples. |
K – 6 |
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Tissue Vases from Recycled Containers Turn recycled bottles or cups into "frosted glass" vases! This project allows students to work in three-dimensional designs as they build high-relief mini-murals "in the round." Younger students may create simplified and abstract work with white tissue paper and watercolors. Older students may achieve very sophisticated and detailed vases. Materials are quite inexpensive! |
K – 8 |
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Rather than allowing more plastic to end up in a landfill, raise your students' level of social conscience and demonstrate the art elements of line, shape and texture with this lesson in "green" art. Twist and form recycled plastic into coils and shapes on a piece of adhesive-backed film and view in reverse. It's a tidy way to create a collage — no glue or paint required. |
3 – 12 |
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Low relief sculpture with design in mind. Layer by layer, piece by piece, this three-dimensional collage is assembled with repetitious shapes and elements, illustrating the principles of rhythm, balance and movement.
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3 – 12 |
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In Namibia, ostrich eggshells are broken and used in many contemporary art forms. The shapes are often sanded or painted This lesson plan uses small pieces of wood and cardstock to closely resemble the thick shell pieces. |
K – 12 |
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Everyone has something unique and wonderful to share with the world, as illustrated in the sparkling story of the “The Rainbow Fish”, by Marcus Pfister. This is a simple and tidy art project with a special surprise for students — what they think are “ugly” scales are revealed to be sparkly, holographic ones! |
K – 5 |
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An easy bookmaking lesson that works across the entire curriculum. Students make books to use as journals or scrapbooks and fill with personnel stories or poetry, sketches or photos. |
3 – 12 |
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This project lets students work without scissors, using their fingers as tools. Papers are torn into shapes and then used to create an image that is a clearly defined and recognizable subject. The lesson also includes the collage technique of overlapping papers to unify the pieces of the design. |
K – 4 |
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Preserving Flowers and Other Organics in Acrylic Recycle garden trimmings by preserving them in acrylic and creating artwork collages with acrylic mediums and paint. |
K – 12 |
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This interactive torn-paper collage creates pockets for watercolor fish to swim in and may be linked to the study of pond life (science) and Japanese culture. |
2 – 5 |
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This simple lesson plan encourages students to create patterns by overlapping and defining lines on a canvas panel, and add dimension by incorporating more canvases or objects. |
K – 12 |
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This drawing project gives creativity a nudge by having children select a photo to start the drawing and then expanding it with related subject matter drawn all around it. |
K – 3 |
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Artist Trading Cards are a fascinating pastime for a great number of professional artists. The cards are always 2½" × 3½", a size that fits into standard baseball card storage sleeves |
K – 7 |
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A full skeleton illustrates movement during a wide range of activities. The addition of a background turns this project into a more complete artwork. |
3 – 6 |
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This lesson plan encourages students to explore shape and color by creating original and whimsical insects from brightly-colored, torn paper. |
K – 4 |
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Students will learn how each of the architectural elements of a castle was designed for the purpose of protection and design their own fortress by making a “pop-out” from construction paper. |
3 – 8 |
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Crafts |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Artist’s Challenge Coins (ACC’s) Challenge Coins are specially designed and minted for service personnel to recognize an achievement, enhance morale, or to signify membership in (or experience on) a particular mission. Create a personal Artist's Challenge Coin (ACC) by making a small print, collage, stamp, or photo appliqué one side of a coin-shaped wooden disk, and a challenge or message on the reverse. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Upcycled "Wild Thing" Mittens An outgrown sweater becomes a fun pair of costume mittens! Use a recycled wool sweater, shrink film, and other adornments to create a fun and functional "Wild Thing" mitten. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Monet's Water Lilies In the last 30 years of his life, French Impressionist Claude Monet produced a series of paintings depicting the flowers and pond in his garden at Giverny. He especially loved painting his water lilies and the reflections of the sky and trees floating in the water around them. In honor of Monet, here's an easy, elegant and inexpensive way to make a tissue paper lily that has the misty, atmospheric qualities an Impressionist would have loved. |
K – 8 |
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NEW! My Daruma A traditional Japanese weighted toy, Daruma always return to an upright position. This project reveals how to weight the bottom of a plastic egg and cover with instant maché to make these symbols of success, determination, and overcoming adversity. |
3 – 12 |
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Prairie-Style Stained Glass Clings Frank Lloyd Wright referred to his stained glass windows as “light screens” because they interacted with the view behind them, rather than covering or obscuring it. Here, students use geometry and repeating patterns to create a vinyl window cling that incorporates the ideals of Prairie-Style Design.
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K – 12 |
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Learn the anatomy of one of nature’s most fascinating creatures and make a model from some of the very materials that threaten their habitat — plastic bags and fast food containers. These colorful, sparkling jellies are even water-resistant!
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K – 5 |
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Quilling is also known as paper filligree, paper rolling, mosaic or paper folding (even though the paper is really curled). In this project, students will try their hand at quilling in a truly sculptural way. By using much larger, thicker strips of paper, the finished product "pops" out in a very optical way. By using black on white, the effect is even further emphasized. |
3 – 12 |
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The stitching together of layers of padding and fabric may date as far back as ancient Egypt. In America, quilt-making was common beginning in the late 18th century. A paper memory quilt is a fun way to keep ephemera (paper items) that have significance. This project will teach important design skills as pieces of paper are cut apart and reassembled. Insight into pattern, rhythm and repetition is gained. |
2 – 12 |
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In this project, students explore the beauty of texture found in a surprising place... on the soles of their shoes! Texture is all around us, and oftentimes exists right under our noses.
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K – 3 |
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The Italian word “volto” translates as “face”. These full-face masks were known as “citizen’s masks” because they were originally worn by common people during the Carnival of Venice. By draping acrylic felt over a reusable form and using Rice Paste (a gluten-free maché alternative) to stiffen, students create a sculptural mask that can be decorated with paint, glitter, feathers, rhinestones, etc.
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3 – 12 |
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The wealthy Byzantine Empire had a huge influence on personal ornamentation. Characterized by extensive iconography, pendants and medallions were widely produced to denote faith, office or rank. For this project, students use air-dry clay and colorful rhinestones to create their own Byzantine-style medallions. Gilded with gold powder and finished with a gloss coating, they can be used as ornaments or placed outdoors as mini stepping stones. |
K – 12 |
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This project utilizes acrylic paint, but in a totally unique way...dried! Acrylic paint "skins" are easily created just by brushing paint on a non-stick palette or baker's parchment and letting it dry. You can use this plastic, flexible paint in a number of ways to create mosaics, mixed media collage, stained glass-like effects, jewelry, book covers and more!
|
K – 12 |
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Picasso-Inspired Soft Sculpture By looking through the vast array of figurative paintings done by Picasso during his cubist phase, students may find many possibilities for soft sculpture adaptations. Fine art, sculpture and textiles combine to make this eye-catching piece!
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K – 12 |
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Les Fauves (translation: “The Wild Beasts”) were a group of artists whose work was characterized by seemingly wild brush work and strident colors. The colors the Fauves used are also favored by wild birds. Hummingbirds like red, orange and pink. Songbirds prefer colors that mimic trees and bushes. To see which species of birds are attracted to these “beastly” colors, students create a painted, hanging birdfeeder from a stretched canvas or “upcycled” wooden frame. |
K – 12 |
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Upcycled Leather and “Turquoise” Cuffs Worn as protection in battle, support for heavy labor and to identify status, leather cuffs have shielded wrists throughout mankind’s history. To the Pueblo and Navajo, turquoise is considered sacred and powerful, the perfect adornment. This project invites students to design a cuff from an old leather belt. Embellish with “turquoise” beads fashioned from polymer clay or with stamping, lacing and marker designs. |
3 – 12 |
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Egg-stra Easy Watercolor “Crunch” Traditionally, eggshell mosaics are made by first dying then positioning each shard individually — a time-consuming and delicate process. This project introduces a new way to crush and color eggshells, creating intricate veining and texture all at once without pre-dying or arranging each fragment. The simple glue-and-paint process and satisfying “crunch!” of breaking eggshells will delight children of all ages and skill levels.
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K – 12 |
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A lesson plan from AMACO®. Students select their favorite photo and design a custom picture frame to display it. After the bisque firing, the picture frames will be painted and decorated using the new AMACO® Teacher's Choice and Teacher's Palette low-fire glazes. |
K – 6 |
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A great collaborative art project. Each student weaves a colorful pot holder then stitches it with the class pieces for a quilt or wall hanging. The project is bright, colorful and fun. It is also a great exercise in dexterity and cooperation. |
2 – 6 |
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A few simple geometry skills and a little time spent making paper rolls is all that goes into this eye-catching art paper bowl. It's a great way to recycle materials or use up scrap paper, and your students will learn about repeating patterns and design rhythm as they place each tube of paper on a piece of self-adhesive film. |
3 – 12 |
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Beginning in the early 1880s, the “Art Nouveau” style flourished in all forms of art. Beautiful pottery was mass-produced during this era, especially in the form of decorative tiles. Tube lining — a technique in which a design outline was created first and then filled in with color — is the definitive look of Art Nouveau. If kiln-glazed ceramics are not an option for your environment, this project is a way to produce glossy, hand-painted tiles that look like the real thing.
|
K – 8 |
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What we think of as “quilts” today — pieces of fabric sewn together to form blocks that collectively make a whole — did not become popular until the mid 19th century. Making quilts was a means of “recycling” fabric from clothing that was no longer usable. In this lesson plan, students make a quilt block using paper and glue rather than fabric and stitching. It’s a great way to recycle materials and illustrate a number of design principles — rhythm, pattern, balance and unity. |
3 – 12 |
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|
Rather than traditional pages, the interior of these “books” will hold objects collected by students. An “art box” book could contain samples of texture, color, form, and line or other examples of design elements or styles. Or a more personalized box “about me” could hold a collection of tiny photos, poems and small keepsakes. |
3 – 12 |
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Quilt-making spans multiple centuries and cultures. It can teach math skills, record history, recycle cast-off materials and encourage cooperative efforts within a group...just for a few ideas! This lesson looks at the story quilts of Faith Ringgold. She surrounds her narrative paintings with a quilted border, creating stories in color, texture, and pattern. Students select their own story to illustrate, then paint fabric using watersoluble pastels and watercolor.
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K – 12 |
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Button Bracelets allow children to design a wearable piece of art with lots of color and texture — a new twist on craft bracelets! A leather wristband is used as a base and takes on a very different look when buttons and colorful wire are added. |
3 – 6 |
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This project demonstrates the physical process of osmosis. Water-based markers are diluted by filtering water through an ordinary wet wipe. The flow of the color is slowed and channeled by the presence of oil and alchohol in the wipe, creating random and interesting tie-dye-type patterns. Educational...and really fun to watch! |
K – 5 |
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Persian and Navajo Rug Bookmarks This lesson plan explains two diverse and beautiful style of textiles: Persian carpets and Navajo rugs. Similar colors and geometric shapes are two common elements of both. |
4 – 8 |
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Tissue Vases from Recycled Containers Turn recycled bottles or cups into "frosted glass" vases! This project allows students to work in three-dimensional designs as they build high-relief mini-murals "in the round." Younger students may create simplified and abstract work with white tissue paper and watercolors. Older students may achieve very sophisticated and detailed vases. Materials are quite inexpensive! |
K – 8 |
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This is a great project for teaching recycling and renewal. Using a plastic stencil and screen, students make a shaped piece of handmade paper from cast-off scraps. Flower and vegetable seeds are added to the pulp. When dry, the rough-textured paper can be decorated with paint or drawing materials and glued to the front of a card. When planting season arrives, place the shape in the soil to make a beautiful garden.
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K – 8 |
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This project starts with a 12" x 12" piece of muslin upon which a variety of papers, fabrics, colors and textures are added. Paper Cloth can be sewn with a sewing machine, cut with scissors, folded and reused. It is hard to tear! The finished and dry material may be wrinkled, or placed between two sheets of paper and ironed to flatten. Color can be added using different mediums.
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K – 12 |
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Learn leaf anatomy by recreating the patterns and structure of the original. Because the clay is paper-based, it accepts watercolors, which may be reworked and blended on the surface. Watercolors enhance the veining in the leaves, pulling out their natural characteristics. |
K – 12 |
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The traditional folk craft of straw appliqué — using various shades of dry straw adhered to a rigid surface — has been practiced in many nations. Students can create their own appliqué designs with a very modern medium: bright, vinyl craft lacing — familiar for making lanyards and bracelets — easily cut in pieces and laid side-by-side on an adhesive surface to form colorful designs. |
K – 6 |
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In the Philippines, during the Festival of Lights, parol (puh-roll), or star-shaped lanterns, symbolize the victory of light over darkness as well as hope and goodwill. These simple parol are created with natural reed, translucent rice paper and liquid watercolor. Displayed in a window or hanging from a light fixture, they make colorful, festive decorations for any season.
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3 – 8 |
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The Kuna culture flourishes today in the San Blas Islands with the vibrant trade of native Molas — brightly colored cotten panels that have been hand-sewn for many decades. Kuna women use both appliqué and reverse appliqué sewing techniques. These easy “no sew” Molas are made with felt and glue, rather than stitching. |
K – 8 |
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In Namibia, ostrich eggshells are broken and used in many contemporary art forms. The shapes are often sanded or painted This lesson plan uses small pieces of wood and cardstock to closely resemble the thick shell pieces. |
K – 12 |
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Great for special occasions and gifts, these thought-filled boxes are created by bringing together two art forms: Calligraphy, which means “beautiful writing” and Origami, which translates as “folded paper”. |
3 – 8 |
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This project is quick and inexpensive but big on creativity. In addition to the wood shapes, all that is needed is a little glue, paint, marker and enough imagination for embellishment. Add a pin back or magnet for function. |
2 – 8 |
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The fine art of weaving is explored using acrylic felt. This lesson also offers an opportunity to discuss fabric used for clothing, blankets and other items found in various cultures |
3 – 12 |
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Wonderful, colorful flowers are created with a transparent, flexible paint called “Arti’Stick”. To link with botanical studies, have students study the anatomy of a flower, create and identify its parts. |
3 – 8 |
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Very, Very Simple Decorative Papers Gathering flowers, leaves, fiber, ribbons and newspapers can expand children’s awareness of their environment. Results are awesome! Make printmaking papers, cards, book covers, picture frames and photo mats. |
K – 4 |
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The Huichol tribe use yarn to decorate gourds, clothing and other items, appliing it in adjacent rows of varying colors and patterns. Bottles are a 3-D surface that offers endless design possibilities. |
K – 6 |
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Button art is an inexpensive, creative project that's easy to do with a group, and produces great results. |
K – 12 |
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Students construct a 3-dimensional form and fill it with rice to make gentle, percussive sounds. |
K – 8 |
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This project gives new life to second-hand shoes by turning them into "Robots," sculptural assemblages created with metallic paint, wire and found objects. |
K – 8 |
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This lesson plan will help students relate to and understand a Native American Culture as well as helping them learn geographical directions. |
3 – 8 |
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Beads can be made from a variety of materials, including Wonderfoam, chenille stems and Woodsies |
K – 5 |
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Explore the beauty of fabric batik without the danger of hot wax or dyes. Simply trace a design onto muslin with washable glue and add brilliant color.
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3 – 8 |
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Martin Puryear-Inspired Basketry Students learn the importance of negative space while creating a non-traditional basket by focusing on it as a sculptural element rather than a functional object. Being a non-representational form, these abstract baskets draw attention to volume and space and redefine what a basket is intended for. |
3 – 12 |
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Over the centuries and across many cultures, lockets have been worn as tiny, portable treasure chests. Students paint the front of a mini canvas and use the back to display a small photo or something with meaning and value. |
K – 12 |
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There is a rich history in dollmaking techniques throughout the centuries. These soft dolls are painted, stuffed and glued together — so the construction is easy and safe. |
4 – 6 |
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This project teaches free-form weaving in the round. The sticks are extremely bright and pretty when finished and look great in a vase or potted plant. |
2 – 6 |
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This step-by-step project from Mayco Colors demonstrates how to make insect-themed Wind Catchers from bisqueware pieces. |
3 – 8 |
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Decorate small wooden blocks with symbols, letters, numbers, patterns or images to create dice and a colorful "shaker" jar. Scorecard included in lesson plan. |
K – 6 |
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Students will study works of stained glass as a one dimensional art form and adapt what they learn to a three dimensional sculpture — a brilliantly-colored transparent mobile. |
2 – 6 |
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Using Tee Juice® Fabric Markers, students design a pair of painted shoes reminiscent of a famous artist's style and choices of subjects and colors. |
K – 6 |
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Drawing |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Anaglyph Artistry Make a composition for viewing with 3-D glasses! Turn an original drawing into a three-dimensional anaglyph using red and blue transfer paper with red and blue markers. Then, make the 3-D glasses necessary to make it pop! |
2 – 12 |
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NEW! Artist’s Challenge Coins (ACC’s) Challenge Coins are specially designed and minted for service personnel to recognize an achievement, enhance morale, or to signify membership in (or experience on) a particular mission. Create a personal Artist's Challenge Coin (ACC) by making a small print, collage, stamp, or photo appliqué one side of a coin-shaped wooden disk, and a challenge or message on the reverse. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Decalcomania: Glue Paint Symmetry Prints “Decalcomania” was a techique was used by Surrealists to create impromptu paintings controlled largely by chance. Much like a Rorschach Ink-Blot test, they would search for hidden imagery and develop it into a finished painting. This tidy and highly interactive process uses Glue Paint in a finger painting-style of application — without actually touching it. Looking for hidden images and contour lines in the print will fuel the imagination of a young Surrealist! |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Easy-Outline Botanical Illustration Prints Although photography and modern printing processes have replaced the need for cataloguing plant life with detailed drawn and painted illustrations, botanical illustration is still a beloved art. To make an accurate rendering of a plant, students can create an impression in plaster, then trace the shape and details with colored pencil, ink, or watercolor. Mixing and shading for color accuracy and identifying the plant are some of the skills that will be learned in this exercise. |
K – 12 |
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Prairie-Style Stained Glass Clings Frank Lloyd Wright referred to his stained glass windows as “light screens” because they interacted with the view behind them, rather than covering or obscuring it. Here, students use geometry and repeating patterns to create a vinyl window cling that incorporates the ideals of Prairie-Style Design.
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K – 12 |
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Originating in ancient India, Mehndi is the artistic application of designs to the hands and feet. Students can enjoy the practice of Mehndi without staining their skin by creating radial designs in marker while wearing a glove. The sense of touch while creating the design is an important part of the process.
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K – 12 |
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With this fun project, facial features become puzzle pieces that can be changed over and over again. It's a light and humorous way to examine the endless variety found in human faces and skin tones. |
K – 8 |
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Mehndi, tatau, and modern "ink" - the history of art is incomplete without including the practice of creating decoration on human skin. In this lesson plan, students create a jointed clay marionette and use fine-line markers to cover it with expressive designs. |
3 – 12 |
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Impressionistic Marker Painting You won't believe what these markers can do! The juicy, alcohol-based ink reacts with itself or with hand-sanitizer to make painterly drawings on clear plastic film.
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3 – 12 |
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Encourage students to design a personal and stylized signature or “tag.” The tag can be a given name, a nickname or something they’ve made up to represent themselves. This school version of graffiti shows students that lettering is not only important in communicating, but that it can also be an artistic expression. |
1 – 6 |
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Drawing on the reverse side of a matte sheet of acetate, students create “windows” into the work of a chosen artist, using similar colors, subject matter and style to describe the artist’s focus. See if the class can guess which artists are represented on each student’s “palette.” |
K – 6 |
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Making Elemental Drawing Materials Blick Art Materials was not around to provide art supplies 32,000 years ago, but, somehow, the earliest humans found a way to draw and paint on cave walls using materials made from basic elements all around them. Similar to the Paleolithic era, students will make their own drawing tools by transforming simple materials from the classroom, and then using them to communicate through images. |
K – 12 |
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Persian and Navajo Rug Bookmarks This lesson plan explains two diverse and beautiful style of textiles: Persian carpets and Navajo rugs. Similar colors and geometric shapes are two common elements of both. |
4 – 8 |
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Turn a black and white photo into a "riot" of color! Tinting is a simple technique that challenges students of all ages to pay attention to detail, and even young children can do it with success. In this project, class pictures are enlarged, printed in black-and-white and tinted. The use of non-traditional colors is encouraged. |
K – 6 |
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This is a whimsical introduction to nutrition and graphic design that invites students to make up an imaginary soup. National studies indicate that children eat about anything if the advertising is "crazy" or attractive to them, including vitamins and vegetables. Now its students' turn to entice peers to "buy" their soup! Anyone for Alligator Soup? |
K – 6 |
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This lesson plan is designed to celebrate fine artists by honoring them with a "commemorative stamp." This project also introduces students to philately, the study and collection of stamps. |
3 – 6 |
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During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a State of the Union speech in which he spoke of four basic freedoms he dreamed of being available to everyone in the world. Artist Norman Rockwell interpreted these freedoms in a series of popular paintings published by the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. This lesson plan challenges students to consider the concept of freedom: what it meant to a president, an artist and what it means to them today. |
3 – 6 |
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This lesson plan uses interactive floating layers and windows to create depth within the artwork.
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3 – 12 |
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Design a “big” storybook.Children can write the story and choose something in the story to be the book cover. The Story Paper can be cut to the shape of the book cover. |
K – 3 |
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Stencil City is a place that only exists on paper. It is created by cutting stencils in shapes of buildings and then using them to create areas of color against a black background. The end result is a nightglow cityscape. |
2 – 8 |
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Oaxacan woodcarvings of animals are decorated with whimsical color and loaded with all-over designs. This project lets students explore simple shapes and textures by drawing an outline shape of an animal then filling it in with as many textures and patterns as they can think of. |
2 – 8 |
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This lesson plan gives students the opportunity to learn about the concept of architecture, particularly towers and turrets.Using watercolor painting techniques and tracing, cutting, and gluing skills,students create lines, patterns and textures while understanding the concept of near being larger, far being smaller. |
3 – 6 |
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Rubbings from Relief Sculpture The rubbings in this lesson plan are made with images foound in cemeteries, embellished with patterns from texture plates. Plan the art activity as a field trip or as homework with parental guidance. |
K – 6 |
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Students learn a nontraditional art process with this project. |
K – 12 |
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Native American Medicine Shields Teach students about the unique symbolism of Native American culture while they learn valuable design and drawing skills. |
K – 4 |
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Every child is a flower! Their self portraits are fun and make a beautiful garden in the classroom. Oil pastels and wiggly eyes brighten the flowers. |
K – 4 |
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Gouache and Wood-Burned Designs Discover wood burning craft techniques and the traditional paint medium of gouache. |
3 – 12 |
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Adaptable for almost any age level, the basis for this lesson is very simple: define a space and fill it with a repetition of color, line and shape to make what we define as a Pattern. |
3 – 8 |
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This drawing project gives creativity a nudge by having children select a photo to start the drawing and then expanding it with related subject matter drawn all around it. |
K – 3 |
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Children have many family members and pets and friends who are "honorary" family. Have students discuss their family and describe how they look. |
K – 4 |
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Examples of intricately-designed stained glass can be found around the world: from gothic and medieval cathedral glass, to the art of Louis Tiffany and John La Farge. This project creates the look of stained glass in a simple process using Scratch-Art® Clear-Scratch™ film and permanent Sharpie® markers. |
3 – 8 |
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This project is impressionistic in technique and does not require detail. |
K – 4 |
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"Marc Chagall, is known for his paintings of floating, dream-like people, animals and objects. Students design “Float People” to display their understanding of colorful imaginary images." |
K – 6 |
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As they create maps of their route between their homes and their schools, students learn about distance, signs, symbols, landmarks and safety. |
K – 6 |
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This project uses pastels; a favored medium of Impressionist artists – drawn onto matte surface Shrink Film. The chalk of the pastels doesn't actually shrink, it simply condenses along with the film to form rich, intense areas of color.
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3 – 10 |
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Monoprinting with Watercolor Markers A simple project that introduces students to printing. |
1 – 8 |
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Develop an awareness of natural lines from unlikely sources. It’s an active lesson that incorporates math, art — and giggles! |
K |
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"Secco" is the term used for applying color to dry plaster, the manner Da Vinci used in his famed "The Last Supper." Using Plaster of Paris, students create drawings then purposefully add stress fractures.
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1 – 12 |
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Japanese homes have interior walls that are actually large, movable screens constructed of thin wooden strips and very strong paper — allowing light to shine through. In this lesson plan, three small Shoji screens are created to hang on a wall or stand upright on the floor. |
4 – 6 |
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First seen in Persian fabric design, the signature floral kidney and tear shapes of Paisley prints are a great lesson in pattern and rhythm. French curves and colored pencils are used to draw colorful versions on construction paper. |
3 – 12 |
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Using Tee Juice® Fabric Markers, students design a pair of painted shoes reminiscent of a famous artist's style and choices of subjects and colors. |
K – 6 |
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Artist Trading Cards are a fascinating pastime for a great number of professional artists. The cards are always 2½" × 3½", a size that fits into standard baseball card storage sleeves |
K – 7 |
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This lesson will spark students’ creativity as they use an unconventionalmaterial — French bread — to enhance their pastel paintings |
K – 6 |
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Explore the history of carnival masks from various cultures. Ornate and colorful masks are easy to create with Scratch Art Film and permanent markers. |
K – 8 |
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The stenciled hand print and aboriginal style drawings help children to relate to the man from the Australian Aboriginal Culture, while helping them to understand the use of line in art. |
K – 4 |
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Fiber Art |
Grade Level |
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In Japan, Children's Day on May 5th is heralded by the appearance of flying fish: carp-shaped windsocks known as “Koinobori”. In this lesson, students design a “scale”-shaped block from soft block printing material and apply it repetitively to outdoor-safe fabric that has been cut in the shape of a fish. Add details like eyes, fins, and a tail using metallic and sparkle paint, and the Koinobori is ready to hang and “swim” through the breeze! |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Upcycled "Wild Thing" Mittens An outgrown sweater becomes a fun pair of costume mittens! Use a recycled wool sweater, shrink film, and other adornments to create a fun and functional "Wild Thing" mitten. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Muslin Masterpiece Create a beautiful textile design using dye sticks and block printing. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! “Gawu” — African Inspired Tapestry Ghana-born artist El Anatsui is known internationally for his large-scale sculptures called “Gawu,” a composite of the words “ga,” meaning something made of metal and 'wu,” meaning a fashioned garment. In this lesson, students create their own tapestries as a response to El Anatsui's art, using African kente to discover rhythm and pattern in art. Recycled materials can be used, including folded papers and labels. |
K – 12 |
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Roll up a felted masterpiece! Students easily create beautiful wool paintings using soap, water, and a little elbow grease.
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K – 12 |
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This lesson plan introduces wool roving, which is the raw, washed wool from the sheep that is then dyed a variety of beautiful colors. The wool strands will be used to "paint" onto a canvas of felt. The wool is very easily "felted" or punched into the background with a felting needle. |
K – 12 |
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Inspired by Huichol Nierikas — beautiful paintings made from yarn pressed onto beeswax — this is a simple way for students to experience the color, geometric linework and symbolism of this Native American art form. Using colorful string applied to an adhesive-backed piece of felt, students create their designs without messy glue or sharp cutting tools.
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3 – 12 |
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Picasso-Inspired Soft Sculpture By looking through the vast array of figurative paintings done by Picasso during his cubist phase, students may find many possibilities for soft sculpture adaptations. Fine art, sculpture and textiles combine to make this eye-catching piece!
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K – 12 |
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Printing creative T-shirts and fabrics doesn’t always require stencils and screens — students can easily design their own giant stamps and paint them any way they want. Even if each shirt displays the same message, each will be a completely unique work of art! This process is perfect for group settings — schools, camps, daycare centers, clubs, family reunions and special events — but it is also ideal for countless home decorating and craft projects. |
K – 8 |
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A great collaborative art project. Each student weaves a colorful pot holder then stitches it with the class pieces for a quilt or wall hanging. The project is bright, colorful and fun. It is also a great exercise in dexterity and cooperation. |
2 – 6 |
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The production and commerce of decorated silk fabrics began thousands of years ago in China. This project introduces fine-mesh polyester as a silk-like fabric for painting. Form a wire shape as a support and paint with transparent liquid acrylic color. Finished pieces are flexible and may be heat-set for outdoor display. |
3 – 12 |
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In the 1800s, many homes were decorated with “Penny Carpets”, made from miss-matched fabric cut into circles by tracing around a penny. Patches were then layered and stitched together to make a large piece. Students create a Penny Carpet with fabric that they design themselves using monoprinting techniques and fabric paint. Each section is sewed to felt swatches, then joined to make a larger piece of art.
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3 – 12 |
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Quilt-making spans multiple centuries and cultures. It can teach math skills, record history, recycle cast-off materials and encourage cooperative efforts within a group...just for a few ideas! This lesson looks at the story quilts of Faith Ringgold. She surrounds her narrative paintings with a quilted border, creating stories in color, texture, and pattern. Students select their own story to illustrate, then paint fabric using watersoluble pastels and watercolor.
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K – 12 |
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This project starts with a 12" x 12" piece of muslin upon which a variety of papers, fabrics, colors and textures are added. Paper Cloth can be sewn with a sewing machine, cut with scissors, folded and reused. It is hard to tear! The finished and dry material may be wrinkled, or placed between two sheets of paper and ironed to flatten. Color can be added using different mediums.
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K – 12 |
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The Kuna culture flourishes today in the San Blas Islands with the vibrant trade of native Molas — brightly colored cotten panels that have been hand-sewn for many decades. Kuna women use both appliqué and reverse appliqué sewing techniques. These easy “no sew” Molas are made with felt and glue, rather than stitching. |
K – 8 |
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The fine art of weaving is explored using acrylic felt. This lesson also offers an opportunity to discuss fabric used for clothing, blankets and other items found in various cultures |
3 – 12 |
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Personal flags are expressions of a student's own life in symbols and serve as a link between the student and his or her environment. |
K – 6 |
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Native American Burlap Weaving Students will learn about Native American craft art, basketry, rugs, clothes. These crafts were decorative as well as utilitarian, made for everyday use and also for ceremonial use. Students will also learn the use of symmetrical designs in Native American art. |
3 – 6 |
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This project is a great way to teach color mixing and will easily link with social studies disciplines following Asian cultures (Japanese and Chinese silk painting) and also with science, as botanical studies. |
3 – 8 |
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Students learn to apply yarn painting techniques in combining their ideas and their art. |
K – 8 |
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Although it is commonly used as a decorative medium for clothing, fabric paint is also used as a fine art medium |
K – 6 |
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This lesson incorporates classroom-friendly acrylic felt and basic sewing/assemblage skills that can be adjusted for various age levels. |
3 – 8 |
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This project is impressionistic in technique and does not require detail. |
K – 4 |
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Explore the beauty of fabric batik without the danger of hot wax or dyes. Simply trace a design onto muslin with washable glue and add brilliant color.
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3 – 8 |
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"Create a fully posable hand to help students learn to communicate in sign language." |
3 – 5 |
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"Paper, paint and ribbon are used to develop a pattern with contrasting textures and colors." |
K – 6 |
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Using Tee Juice® Fabric Markers, students design a pair of painted shoes reminiscent of a famous artist's style and choices of subjects and colors. |
K – 6 |
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"Drawing with Thread" is an interpretation of work by Wassily Kandinski in 1913. Kandinski is called the first totally abstract artist. Free flowing water color and line suggests but does not define images. |
K – 8 |
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Graphic And Digital Art |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Artist’s Challenge Coins (ACC’s) Challenge Coins are specially designed and minted for service personnel to recognize an achievement, enhance morale, or to signify membership in (or experience on) a particular mission. Create a personal Artist's Challenge Coin (ACC) by making a small print, collage, stamp, or photo appliqué one side of a coin-shaped wooden disk, and a challenge or message on the reverse. |
K – 12 |
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Students select a commercial business and consider images, symbols and colors that will best represent the company. The repeated “wallpaper” patterns are made with a stamp designed and carved by the students. This fun project will help children understand how simple images communicate a message, whether in business or elsewhere. |
4 – 6 |
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Turn a black and white photo into a "riot" of color! Tinting is a simple technique that challenges students of all ages to pay attention to detail, and even young children can do it with success. In this project, class pictures are enlarged, printed in black-and-white and tinted. The use of non-traditional colors is encouraged. |
K – 6 |
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This is a whimsical introduction to nutrition and graphic design that invites students to make up an imaginary soup. National studies indicate that children eat about anything if the advertising is "crazy" or attractive to them, including vitamins and vegetables. Now its students' turn to entice peers to "buy" their soup! Anyone for Alligator Soup? |
K – 6 |
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Create classroom fun with magnetic puzzles, a great exercise for classroom art history discussions. Each student can take home a masterpiece for their refrigerator. |
K – 4 |
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Maskmaking |
Grade Level |
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The Italian word “volto” translates as “face”. These full-face masks were known as “citizen’s masks” because they were originally worn by common people during the Carnival of Venice. By draping acrylic felt over a reusable form and using Rice Paste (a gluten-free maché alternative) to stiffen, students create a sculptural mask that can be decorated with paint, glitter, feathers, rhinestones, etc.
|
3 – 12 |
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Lots of texture, color and dimension. The cultural diversity in the United States provides for many, many masks which represent traditional images. This fun mask requires children to create a mask just for themselves. |
K – 4 |
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According to a pre-Columbian legend, each person shares a common destiny with an animal that matches their personality and their life experiences called a “Tona”. Students identify with an animal and create a mask that will retain some human features as well. This project linka with personal identification and Mexican Folk Art cultural studies. |
K – 4 |
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Explore the history of carnival masks from various cultures. Ornate and colorful masks are easy to create with Scratch Art Film and permanent markers. |
K – 8 |
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Metal And Wire Art |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Dancing Houses Part cartoonist and part Picasso, the art of Brooklyn-born James Rizzi is highly recognizable. His playful, brilliant images created a style he described as “Urban Primitive.” Students will enjoy making a classroom cityscape of fun and fabulous construction paper buildings. A simple wire armature beneath allows the structure to be playfully positioned -— almost as if it were dancing. This project provides a lesson in movement as design principle. |
K – 9 |
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NEW! Sound Sculpture Inspired by Jean Tinguely Swiss artist Jean Tinguely created whimsical machine-like contraptions of found metal parts, known as “metamechanics”. In this lesson plan, students create a kinetic sculpture with repurposed metal hardware, found objects, and wire placed so that they deliberately move against one another. Much like Tinguely’s machines, some of the noises may be pleasant — others may not— but each will have a very unique metallic, mechanical “voice.” |
3 – 12 |
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Students create their own “fossil bed” by modeling three-dimensional shapes of animals, plants or insects, then “burying” them beneath layers of tissue paper. Add earth-tone pastels to make them look as if they just came from an excavation site.
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K – 12 |
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Spanish painter Joan Miró is known for his playful art. Although he was a world renowned artist, his work gives the impression it could have been created by a child. Miró was interested in reducing characters to their simplest forms and using very basic, bright colors. He felt some of the best ideas were inspired by the simplest things. In this project, students attach and weave Chenille Stems onto stitchery canvas to make simple shapes and designs. |
K – 6 |
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The production and commerce of decorated silk fabrics began thousands of years ago in China. This project introduces fine-mesh polyester as a silk-like fabric for painting. Form a wire shape as a support and paint with transparent liquid acrylic color. Finished pieces are flexible and may be heat-set for outdoor display. |
3 – 12 |
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The magic is in the color! Wax Pastels adhere to the slick surface of tooling foil and stay there. Students explore tools and texture plates to create designs in lightweight metal, then, using simple page-binding techniques, assemble a lovely hardcover book to use for notes, sketches, journaling, scrapbooking or photos. |
3 – 8 |
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This lesson plan combines the processes of repoussé and chasing to design a piece that looks as if it may have been crafted by an ancient silversmith. Objects are fixed to a cardboard box before the metal is applied so that the design is embossed into the metal in the style of repoussé. With tools, students then chase the metal around the objects to further define the texture.
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K – 12 |
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Students create a freestanding 3-dimensional sculpture using wire and modeled "clay" pieces. An exciting introductory lesson in balance, spatial relationships, color, shape and form. |
K – 6 |
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The experience of drawing on a lightweight foil is a wonderful exercise for young children and children with special needs. |
K – 6 |
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"Create a fully posable hand to help students learn to communicate in sign language." |
3 – 5 |
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This project teaches free-form weaving in the round. The sticks are extremely bright and pretty when finished and look great in a vase or potted plant. |
2 – 6 |
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Students will study works of stained glass as a one dimensional art form and adapt what they learn to a three dimensional sculpture — a brilliantly-colored transparent mobile. |
2 – 6 |
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Topiary is the art of turning living plants into sculptures that are constantly growing and changing — a form of landscape art. In this project, an art topiary is made of a wire base, green tissue paper and twine. Although this Tissue Topiary will require some initial sculpting, no care will be needed after construction! |
4 – 12 |
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Mixed Media |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Anaglyph Artistry Make a composition for viewing with 3-D glasses! Turn an original drawing into a three-dimensional anaglyph using red and blue transfer paper with red and blue markers. Then, make the 3-D glasses necessary to make it pop! |
2 – 12 |
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NEW! Artist’s Challenge Coins (ACC’s) Challenge Coins are specially designed and minted for service personnel to recognize an achievement, enhance morale, or to signify membership in (or experience on) a particular mission. Create a personal Artist's Challenge Coin (ACC) by making a small print, collage, stamp, or photo appliqué one side of a coin-shaped wooden disk, and a challenge or message on the reverse. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Butterfield Horse Construct a high-relief horse using Activa Fast Mache and found objects. Combine a painted and collaged background with a horse made of quick mache, sticks, pine needles, leaves, and shredded papers in the style of Debra Butterfield. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Lessons on Lascaux Create a cave wall that crackles with authenticity! Using a paste made with powdered tempera and a Dura-Lar stencil, make a beautiful 3-D cave creation. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Books that POP! Paper engineering meets the principles of design! This procces breaks pop-up designs into three very basic techniques - spirals, zig-zags, and boxes - and focuses on design elements: color, form, shape, and space. A simple hinging technique using the ever-popular, colorfully patterned DuckTape allows the book to open and lie flat for the most eye-popping and paper-popping look! |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! The Secret Life of your Pet! Disquise your pet or favorite animal in a fantasy environment with easy photo manipulation. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! All Aglow Chinese Lantern An origami "Chinese Lantern" that glows in the dark! Using Dura-Lar film, markers, and glow-in-the dark paint, create a hanging lantern, and learn a basic origami shape. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Easy-Outline Botanical Illustration Prints Although photography and modern printing processes have replaced the need for cataloguing plant life with detailed drawn and painted illustrations, botanical illustration is still a beloved art. To make an accurate rendering of a plant, students can create an impression in plaster, then trace the shape and details with colored pencil, ink, or watercolor. Mixing and shading for color accuracy and identifying the plant are some of the skills that will be learned in this exercise. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! “Gawu” — African Inspired Tapestry Ghana-born artist El Anatsui is known internationally for his large-scale sculptures called “Gawu,” a composite of the words “ga,” meaning something made of metal and 'wu,” meaning a fashioned garment. In this lesson, students create their own tapestries as a response to El Anatsui's art, using African kente to discover rhythm and pattern in art. Recycled materials can be used, including folded papers and labels. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Glue Paint Symmetry Prints Finger Painting has never been so fun — or so very tidy! This project incorporates glue paint — basic white glue tinted with any shade of watercolor. It dries with a beautiful transparency that is enhanced when applied to a clear sheet. When the sheet is folded, the colors can be blended and moved about the page, without actually touching it! |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Monet's Water Lilies In the last 30 years of his life, French Impressionist Claude Monet produced a series of paintings depicting the flowers and pond in his garden at Giverny. He especially loved painting his water lilies and the reflections of the sky and trees floating in the water around them. In honor of Monet, here's an easy, elegant and inexpensive way to make a tissue paper lily that has the misty, atmospheric qualities an Impressionist would have loved. |
K – 8 |
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NEW! Sound Sculpture Inspired by Jean Tinguely Swiss artist Jean Tinguely created whimsical machine-like contraptions of found metal parts, known as “metamechanics”. In this lesson plan, students create a kinetic sculpture with repurposed metal hardware, found objects, and wire placed so that they deliberately move against one another. Much like Tinguely’s machines, some of the noises may be pleasant — others may not— but each will have a very unique metallic, mechanical “voice.” |
3 – 12 |
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New Guinean “Plant Paste” Doll Make a hand-built ritual doll with only three simple materials! Knead together clay, instant papier mâché and burlap fibers to create an intriguing art doll. Add body paint and embellish by adding seed bead teeth, a shell necklace, or clothing made of burlap. |
4 – 12 |
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Learn the anatomy of one of nature’s most fascinating creatures and make a model from some of the very materials that threaten their habitat — plastic bags and fast food containers. These colorful, sparkling jellies are even water-resistant!
|
K – 5 |
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Mehndi, tatau, and modern "ink" - the history of art is incomplete without including the practice of creating decoration on human skin. In this lesson plan, students create a jointed clay marionette and use fine-line markers to cover it with expressive designs. |
3 – 12 |
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Joseph Cornell's (1903-1972) most characteristic art works were boxed assemblages created from found objects. These were simple boxes in which he arranged surprising collections of photgraphs or bric-a-brac in a way that combines the formality of Constructivism with the lively fantasy of Surrealism. Students will gather pieces of nostalgia or found objects to embed in plaster within an arrangement of mini canvas "boxes". |
K – 12 |
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The stitching together of layers of padding and fabric may date as far back as ancient Egypt. In America, quilt-making was common beginning in the late 18th century. A paper memory quilt is a fun way to keep ephemera (paper items) that have significance. This project will teach important design skills as pieces of paper are cut apart and reassembled. Insight into pattern, rhythm and repetition is gained. |
2 – 12 |
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The Italian word “volto” translates as “face”. These full-face masks were known as “citizen’s masks” because they were originally worn by common people during the Carnival of Venice. By draping acrylic felt over a reusable form and using Rice Paste (a gluten-free maché alternative) to stiffen, students create a sculptural mask that can be decorated with paint, glitter, feathers, rhinestones, etc.
|
3 – 12 |
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The wealthy Byzantine Empire had a huge influence on personal ornamentation. Characterized by extensive iconography, pendants and medallions were widely produced to denote faith, office or rank. For this project, students use air-dry clay and colorful rhinestones to create their own Byzantine-style medallions. Gilded with gold powder and finished with a gloss coating, they can be used as ornaments or placed outdoors as mini stepping stones. |
K – 12 |
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This project utilizes acrylic paint, but in a totally unique way...dried! Acrylic paint "skins" are easily created just by brushing paint on a non-stick palette or baker's parchment and letting it dry. You can use this plastic, flexible paint in a number of ways to create mosaics, mixed media collage, stained glass-like effects, jewelry, book covers and more!
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K – 12 |
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Students create their own “fossil bed” by modeling three-dimensional shapes of animals, plants or insects, then “burying” them beneath layers of tissue paper. Add earth-tone pastels to make them look as if they just came from an excavation site.
|
K – 12 |
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Les Fauves (translation: “The Wild Beasts”) were a group of artists whose work was characterized by seemingly wild brush work and strident colors. The colors the Fauves used are also favored by wild birds. Hummingbirds like red, orange and pink. Songbirds prefer colors that mimic trees and bushes. To see which species of birds are attracted to these “beastly” colors, students create a painted, hanging birdfeeder from a stretched canvas or “upcycled” wooden frame. |
K – 12 |
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Upcycled Leather and “Turquoise” Cuffs Worn as protection in battle, support for heavy labor and to identify status, leather cuffs have shielded wrists throughout mankind’s history. To the Pueblo and Navajo, turquoise is considered sacred and powerful, the perfect adornment. This project invites students to design a cuff from an old leather belt. Embellish with “turquoise” beads fashioned from polymer clay or with stamping, lacing and marker designs. |
3 – 12 |
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Molding, casting, sculpting, painting and monoprinting — this simple project pulls all of these together into one low-relief sculpture that demonstrates the elements of texture and color. Texture is defined in clay by pressing objects in or sculpting with tools. Next, the clay is painted with watercolor and covered with papier mâché, which lifts the color as it dries, absorbing it directly into the casting.
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3 – 12 |
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In the 1960’s, Frank Stella became known for his minimal geometric paintings of concentric squares that used color to create visual movement. Each concentric square of color related to the next, whether they were harmonic or contrasting colors. In this lesson plan, students consider color relations and “paint” a Stella-style work with colored masking tape, |
4 – 12 |
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Drawing on the reverse side of a matte sheet of acetate, students create “windows” into the work of a chosen artist, using similar colors, subject matter and style to describe the artist’s focus. See if the class can guess which artists are represented on each student’s “palette.” |
K – 6 |
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Unlock the secrets of an ancient Egyptian pyramid with this easy-to-construct box that opens to reveal “treasure” inside. When closed, the outside walls are held in place with a clay disk. Remove the disk and open the pyramid to reveal what's inside. Younger students can make artifacts from clay to place inside. Older students may be challenged to learn the inner parts of the pyramids and add paper pages to write about and illustrate their discoveries. |
3 – 8 |
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A stilt house is constructed on posts above water, allowing people to live in areas that have very little dry land. Found in many coastal and wetland regions of the world, stilt houses can be ultra modern or very basic. In this lesson, students build a stilt house while being mindful of the area where the house might exist and the lifestyle of its inhabitants. |
3 – 7 |
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Inspired by the sequinned banners of Haiti, students will make a banner of their own design using a variety of glittery, sparkly, shiny materials and brilliant colors. Use this opportunity to learn about the art and history of Haiti, a unique blend of African, French, Spanish and Native Caribbean cultures. |
K – 8 |
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Art 2 Infinity: Two projects incorporating Mirror Board Artists through the ages have used reflective surfaces to define and alter perspective, create symmetry and "bend" reality. Mirrors have been a tool for creating art, the subject matter and the art itself. Here are two project ideas for using metallic film to capture light and create intriguing illusions: “Kaleidoscope Paintings” and “Infinity Boxes”. |
K – 12 |
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Quilt-making spans multiple centuries and cultures. It can teach math skills, record history, recycle cast-off materials and encourage cooperative efforts within a group...just for a few ideas! This lesson looks at the story quilts of Faith Ringgold. She surrounds her narrative paintings with a quilted border, creating stories in color, texture, and pattern. Students select their own story to illustrate, then paint fabric using watersoluble pastels and watercolor.
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K – 12 |
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The inside of the Earth holds hidden secrets very close to us, so dig a hole to uncover layers of mystery! A hole just 1" deep will show a very small example of soil strata or layers – including rocks, shells, fossils, geodes, water, oil and coal. This art project is based on geology but need not be scientifically accurate as students creatively incorporate texture and line. |
1 – 6 |
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This easily constructed project offers an exploration of texture, line and color – key elements of design. Younger children may take a more abstract approach with emphasis on texture and color. Older students will find the burlap easy to pull and the weave easy to manipulate, creating holes and lines. Subject matter such as buildings, landscapes and abstract designs are adaptable to varying grade levels. |
K – 6 |
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From the outside, this Storybook Theater looks like a simply constructed book, but open it and a puppet stage unfolds! Children make their favorite stories come to life with puppets, props and scenery. There's even built-in pockets for holding craft stick puppets. |
K – 6 |
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This game puts a new "twist" on an old favorite, and provides an enjoyable way for students to learn color-mixing. |
K – 4 |
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In this lesson plan, students design and construct a 3-dimensional letter using one of their initials. The surface can be decorated with descriptive words and images that are personally meaningful and unique to the student's identity. Instead of wet, messy adhesive, this process uses paper packing tape to create papier mâché. This tape is inexpensive, easy, and tidy to use, and the finished letters are hard and durable.
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3 – 12 |
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Exercise for art is as important as exercise for sports or rehearsal for theatre, as it fosters a continual pursuit of excellence. In this lesson, to exercise their artistic creativity, students keep a day-by-day art journal. Each page should be a simple statement of a different idea or small thought for the day. |
K – 12 |
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This project starts with a 12" x 12" piece of muslin upon which a variety of papers, fabrics, colors and textures are added. Paper Cloth can be sewn with a sewing machine, cut with scissors, folded and reused. It is hard to tear! The finished and dry material may be wrinkled, or placed between two sheets of paper and ironed to flatten. Color can be added using different mediums.
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K – 12 |
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Rather than allowing more plastic to end up in a landfill, raise your students' level of social conscience and demonstrate the art elements of line, shape and texture with this lesson in "green" art. Twist and form recycled plastic into coils and shapes on a piece of adhesive-backed film and view in reverse. It's a tidy way to create a collage — no glue or paint required. |
3 – 12 |
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Where standard painting builds an image from the background forward, a reverse painting is created in a backward fashion — foreground first — with each phase applied so the background finishes the painting. A backing of metallic foil reflects light through the pastel in the same manner as gilding.
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3 – 12 |
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Low relief sculpture with design in mind. Layer by layer, piece by piece, this three-dimensional collage is assembled with repetitious shapes and elements, illustrating the principles of rhythm, balance and movement.
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3 – 12 |
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Based on the scientific concepts of insolubility and density, this technique seals water-based paint and mineral oil inside a laminating pouch. The different densities cause the liquids to repel one another in an ever-changing and interactive piece that continually flows and responds to touch.
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K – 12 |
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Lots of texture, color and dimension. The cultural diversity in the United States provides for many, many masks which represent traditional images. This fun mask requires children to create a mask just for themselves. |
K – 4 |
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The purpose of this lesson plan is not to make replicas of Egyptian jewelry but to design jewelry that is dramatic using Egyptian jewelry as a reference. |
K – 12 |
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This project is quick and inexpensive but big on creativity. In addition to the wood shapes, all that is needed is a little glue, paint, marker and enough imagination for embellishment. Add a pin back or magnet for function. |
2 – 8 |
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This simple bookmaking project can achieve great results with a wide variety of ages. Using nature as a theme, it's a perfect place to record nature sketches, foliage collections and personal observations of the world around us. |
K – 12 |
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This lesson plan gives students the opportunity to learn about the concept of architecture, particularly towers and turrets.Using watercolor painting techniques and tracing, cutting, and gluing skills,students create lines, patterns and textures while understanding the concept of near being larger, far being smaller. |
3 – 6 |
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Painting on a transparent medium not only allows the interaction of light within the painted surface, it also projects colorful cast light and shadow onto walls, floors and surrounding objects. |
3 – 12 |
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The Huichol tribe use yarn to decorate gourds, clothing and other items, appliing it in adjacent rows of varying colors and patterns. Bottles are a 3-D surface that offers endless design possibilities. |
K – 6 |
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Button art is an inexpensive, creative project that's easy to do with a group, and produces great results. |
K – 12 |
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This project gives new life to second-hand shoes by turning them into "Robots," sculptural assemblages created with metallic paint, wire and found objects. |
K – 8 |
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Found in art and architecture around the world, labyrinths are associated with metaphor, mystery and mythology. Incorporating various materials, students create their own labyrinths that may also be used as a simple game. |
K – 12 |
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How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun Students will be introduced to a Native American story, "How Grandmother Spider Stol the Sun", told by Joseph Brucha. They will use this to create a work of art out of clay and other materials, rather than paint and paper. |
K – 4 |
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Although it is commonly used as a decorative medium for clothing, fabric paint is also used as a fine art medium |
K – 6 |
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The new metallic paints are beautiful. Mix with different types of paints and "Glitter It" mediums to make paper tiles. |
K – 6 |
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Decorate small wooden blocks with symbols, letters, numbers, patterns or images to create dice and a colorful "shaker" jar. Scorecard included in lesson plan. |
K – 6 |
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This book-making and collage project uses small matchboxes as drawers to tuck away secrets, supporting a variety of literary and historical studies, such as “The Hiding Place” (Anne Frank) or the Underground Railroad. |
3 – 12 |
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Multicultural |
Grade Level |
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In Japan, Children's Day on May 5th is heralded by the appearance of flying fish: carp-shaped windsocks known as “Koinobori”. In this lesson, students design a “scale”-shaped block from soft block printing material and apply it repetitively to outdoor-safe fabric that has been cut in the shape of a fish. Add details like eyes, fins, and a tail using metallic and sparkle paint, and the Koinobori is ready to hang and “swim” through the breeze! |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Concentric Kirigami A variation on Japanese Origami, Kirigami is created by folding paper and cutting portions away. This surprisingly uncomplicated relief sculpture is assembled with “rings” cut from double-sided sheets of colorful cardstock. The edges of the rings are folded, cut, unfolded, and layered concentrically (placed around the same center point) to make modern-day Kirigami designs. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! “Gawu” — African Inspired Tapestry Ghana-born artist El Anatsui is known internationally for his large-scale sculptures called “Gawu,” a composite of the words “ga,” meaning something made of metal and 'wu,” meaning a fashioned garment. In this lesson, students create their own tapestries as a response to El Anatsui's art, using African kente to discover rhythm and pattern in art. Recycled materials can be used, including folded papers and labels. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! My Daruma A traditional Japanese weighted toy, Daruma always return to an upright position. This project reveals how to weight the bottom of a plastic egg and cover with instant maché to make these symbols of success, determination, and overcoming adversity. |
3 – 12 |
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Practice the ancient art of sumi-e painting with a modern twist! Paint with diluted wax resist, then reveal your masterpiece by applying black sumi-e ink over the top. The addition of watercolor gives the painting even more interest.
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K – 12 |
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Originating in ancient India, Mehndi is the artistic application of designs to the hands and feet. Students can enjoy the practice of Mehndi without staining their skin by creating radial designs in marker while wearing a glove. The sense of touch while creating the design is an important part of the process.
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K – 12 |
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Mehndi, tatau, and modern "ink" - the history of art is incomplete without including the practice of creating decoration on human skin. In this lesson plan, students create a jointed clay marionette and use fine-line markers to cover it with expressive designs. |
3 – 12 |
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Inspired by Huichol Nierikas — beautiful paintings made from yarn pressed onto beeswax — this is a simple way for students to experience the color, geometric linework and symbolism of this Native American art form. Using colorful string applied to an adhesive-backed piece of felt, students create their designs without messy glue or sharp cutting tools.
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3 – 12 |
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Tibetan wish or prayer flags traditionally are used to promote peace, compassion, strength and wisdom. Tibetans do not believe that the flags carry prayers to the gods, but rather that their messages and wishes will be blown by the wind to spread goodwill and compassion into all-pervading space. In this project, students will use a liquid wax resist that will be painted onto silk rectangles and need not be removed. Vibrant color and a final gold embellishment finish the piece. |
2 – 12 |
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Egg-stra Easy Watercolor “Crunch” Traditionally, eggshell mosaics are made by first dying then positioning each shard individually — a time-consuming and delicate process. This project introduces a new way to crush and color eggshells, creating intricate veining and texture all at once without pre-dying or arranging each fragment. The simple glue-and-paint process and satisfying “crunch!” of breaking eggshells will delight children of all ages and skill levels.
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K – 12 |
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Navajo-Inspired Bottles - 2 Projects by Mayco® Colors Navajo pottery tended towards functional ware and minimalist design and decoration. Pinch, slab and coil construction methods were used to make bowls and bottles, for carrying water and food consumption. In these projects students will use their knowledge of Navajo symbols to create Navajo inspired designs on a clay bottles. |
4 – 8 |
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Polynesia is a large area in the central and southern Pacific Ocean containing more than 1,000 scattered islands. Many of these islands share cultural similarities among the various groups of people who live on them, especially in terms of their mythologies. Stories often include gods or deities that rule nature. In addition to the oral tradition, "god sticks" are made to represent these deities, usually in the form of a human face or figure wrapped in bark cloth or cord. |
3 – 8 |
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Itajime Shibori is a technique for folding, clamping and dyeing paper or fabric resulting in beautiful designs – very similar to tie-dye. The folds and clamps keep the dye or ink from penetrating fully in certain areas making patterns and giving a dimensional appearance on a flat surface. This project is a great way to teach students the scientific concept of diffusion and color mixing. |
3 – 12 |
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A stilt house is constructed on posts above water, allowing people to live in areas that have very little dry land. Found in many coastal and wetland regions of the world, stilt houses can be ultra modern or very basic. In this lesson, students build a stilt house while being mindful of the area where the house might exist and the lifestyle of its inhabitants. |
3 – 7 |
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Inspired by the sequinned banners of Haiti, students will make a banner of their own design using a variety of glittery, sparkly, shiny materials and brilliant colors. Use this opportunity to learn about the art and history of Haiti, a unique blend of African, French, Spanish and Native Caribbean cultures. |
K – 8 |
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The production and commerce of decorated silk fabrics began thousands of years ago in China. This project introduces fine-mesh polyester as a silk-like fabric for painting. Form a wire shape as a support and paint with transparent liquid acrylic color. Finished pieces are flexible and may be heat-set for outdoor display. |
3 – 12 |
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Geometric patterns occur in rich profusion throughout Islamic Cultures. This lesson is an invitation to look at the history and meaning behind patterns and view the work of a contemporary Iranian artist. Students design and assemble a reflective mosaic pattern using metallic papers on adhesive film. Easy and tidy...no glue! |
K – 12 |
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Native American Story Necklaces One of the many rich crafts produced within the Native American culture is a "fetish," or story necklace, designed to illustrate history and legend with carved creatures representing spirits, animals or ancestors. |
K – 6 |
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Persian and Navajo Rug Bookmarks This lesson plan explains two diverse and beautiful style of textiles: Persian carpets and Navajo rugs. Similar colors and geometric shapes are two common elements of both. |
4 – 8 |
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Suminagashi is a process in which Sumi ink is floated on the surface of plain water, then transferred to a sheet of paper. Each monoprint is like a fingerprint — unique and unreproducible.
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3 – 12 |
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In the Philippines, during the Festival of Lights, parol (puh-roll), or star-shaped lanterns, symbolize the victory of light over darkness as well as hope and goodwill. These simple parol are created with natural reed, translucent rice paper and liquid watercolor. Displayed in a window or hanging from a light fixture, they make colorful, festive decorations for any season.
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3 – 8 |
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The Kuna culture flourishes today in the San Blas Islands with the vibrant trade of native Molas — brightly colored cotten panels that have been hand-sewn for many decades. Kuna women use both appliqué and reverse appliqué sewing techniques. These easy “no sew” Molas are made with felt and glue, rather than stitching. |
K – 8 |
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In Namibia, ostrich eggshells are broken and used in many contemporary art forms. The shapes are often sanded or painted This lesson plan uses small pieces of wood and cardstock to closely resemble the thick shell pieces. |
K – 12 |
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This lesson plan uses intensely colorful, easy-to-use Model Magic air-dry clay in place of yarn to create paintings similar to the art of the Huichol tribe. Students create “strings” of clay and press them together on a rigid surface. to create symbolic images and designs. |
3 – 8 |
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Native Americans in the Southwest left messages on stones that still speak to us today. Some of these pictures were actually carvings called "petroglyphs".This lesson uses air-dry clay to make symbolic drawings on “stone.” |
2 – 5 |
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Oaxacan woodcarvings of animals are decorated with whimsical color and loaded with all-over designs. This project lets students explore simple shapes and textures by drawing an outline shape of an animal then filling it in with as many textures and patterns as they can think of. |
2 – 8 |
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The Huichol tribe use yarn to decorate gourds, clothing and other items, appliing it in adjacent rows of varying colors and patterns. Bottles are a 3-D surface that offers endless design possibilities. |
K – 6 |
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Listed are colorful samples of simple fans. Discuss the importance of fans and how they were used to keep people comfortable for years. |
K – 6 |
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Combining clay beadmaking with basic pinch and coil pot construction, students make a musical piece of art. |
K – 12 |
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Students explore Native American pottery traditions and discover the purpose behind the animal imagery and geometric patterns used to decorate various pottery forms. Students with kiln access will learn how to use underglazes and glazes to transform their bowls into functional ware |
3 – 8 |
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Explore the beauty of fabric batik without the danger of hot wax or dyes. Simply trace a design onto muslin with washable glue and add brilliant color.
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3 – 8 |
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Japanese homes have interior walls that are actually large, movable screens constructed of thin wooden strips and very strong paper — allowing light to shine through. In this lesson plan, three small Shoji screens are created to hang on a wall or stand upright on the floor. |
4 – 6 |
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First seen in Persian fabric design, the signature floral kidney and tear shapes of Paisley prints are a great lesson in pattern and rhythm. French curves and colored pencils are used to draw colorful versions on construction paper. |
3 – 12 |
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Introduce students to calligraphy, ink, folding and dyeing techniques. The end result is a beautiful banner they will be proud to hang up! |
3 – 8 |
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Explore the history of carnival masks from various cultures. Ornate and colorful masks are easy to create with Scratch Art Film and permanent markers. |
K – 8 |
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The Native American tribes of the plains tanned and prepared buffalo hides, then painted them with symbols and story-telling pictures that told their tribal history and honored the spirits. |
K – 4 |
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The stenciled hand print and aboriginal style drawings help children to relate to the man from the Australian Aboriginal Culture, while helping them to understand the use of line in art. |
K – 4 |
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Painting |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Artist’s Challenge Coins (ACC’s) Challenge Coins are specially designed and minted for service personnel to recognize an achievement, enhance morale, or to signify membership in (or experience on) a particular mission. Create a personal Artist's Challenge Coin (ACC) by making a small print, collage, stamp, or photo appliqué one side of a coin-shaped wooden disk, and a challenge or message on the reverse. |
K – 12 |
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In Japan, Children's Day on May 5th is heralded by the appearance of flying fish: carp-shaped windsocks known as “Koinobori”. In this lesson, students design a “scale”-shaped block from soft block printing material and apply it repetitively to outdoor-safe fabric that has been cut in the shape of a fish. Add details like eyes, fins, and a tail using metallic and sparkle paint, and the Koinobori is ready to hang and “swim” through the breeze! |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Butterfield Horse Construct a high-relief horse using Activa Fast Mache and found objects. Combine a painted and collaged background with a horse made of quick mache, sticks, pine needles, leaves, and shredded papers in the style of Debra Butterfield. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Convertible “Canned” Sculpture Composition — the way the elements of a piece of art are arranged and relate to each other — can be difficult to grasp. This lesson plan presents an easy, forgiving way to see the effects of composition while using the dimensional works of Frank Stella as an example. The sculpture is assembled with magnets on a metal can so it can be taken apart and rearranged to see how the composition is affected — what works and what doesn’t. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Flower Garden Tiles Easily make flower tiles by carving clay, filling with plaster, and finishing with liquid watercolors. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Dancing Houses Part cartoonist and part Picasso, the art of Brooklyn-born James Rizzi is highly recognizable. His playful, brilliant images created a style he described as “Urban Primitive.” Students will enjoy making a classroom cityscape of fun and fabulous construction paper buildings. A simple wire armature beneath allows the structure to be playfully positioned -— almost as if it were dancing. This project provides a lesson in movement as design principle. |
K – 9 |
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NEW! Easy-Outline Botanical Illustration Prints Although photography and modern printing processes have replaced the need for cataloguing plant life with detailed drawn and painted illustrations, botanical illustration is still a beloved art. To make an accurate rendering of a plant, students can create an impression in plaster, then trace the shape and details with colored pencil, ink, or watercolor. Mixing and shading for color accuracy and identifying the plant are some of the skills that will be learned in this exercise. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! My Daruma A traditional Japanese weighted toy, Daruma always return to an upright position. This project reveals how to weight the bottom of a plastic egg and cover with instant maché to make these symbols of success, determination, and overcoming adversity. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Sound Sculpture Inspired by Jean Tinguely Swiss artist Jean Tinguely created whimsical machine-like contraptions of found metal parts, known as “metamechanics”. In this lesson plan, students create a kinetic sculpture with repurposed metal hardware, found objects, and wire placed so that they deliberately move against one another. Much like Tinguely’s machines, some of the noises may be pleasant — others may not— but each will have a very unique metallic, mechanical “voice.” |
3 – 12 |
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Stain painting was a successful technique employed by Color Field artists Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis. They poured diluted acrylic color over large canvases to form “veils” of brilliant color. In this lesson, students will first learn a simple process for creating their own drawing pad, then stain and design a canvas cover for it.
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3 – 12 |
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Learn the anatomy of one of nature’s most fascinating creatures and make a model from some of the very materials that threaten their habitat — plastic bags and fast food containers. These colorful, sparkling jellies are even water-resistant!
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K – 5 |
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Practice the ancient art of sumi-e painting with a modern twist! Paint with diluted wax resist, then reveal your masterpiece by applying black sumi-e ink over the top. The addition of watercolor gives the painting even more interest.
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K – 12 |
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Have a Ball! with distorted self-portraits Observing and reproducing the distortion caused by a concave reflection is the topic of this lesson plan, as students make self-portraits inspired by M.C. Escher's “Hand with Reflecting Globe.” The canvas is a vinyl bouncing ball. Elementary ages can be challenged to create a continuous painting — with no beginning or end — then “Have a Ball!” playing with their own artwork.
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K – 12 |
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In this project, students explore the beauty of texture found in a surprising place... on the soles of their shoes! Texture is all around us, and oftentimes exists right under our noses.
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K – 3 |
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Tibetan wish or prayer flags traditionally are used to promote peace, compassion, strength and wisdom. Tibetans do not believe that the flags carry prayers to the gods, but rather that their messages and wishes will be blown by the wind to spread goodwill and compassion into all-pervading space. In this project, students will use a liquid wax resist that will be painted onto silk rectangles and need not be removed. Vibrant color and a final gold embellishment finish the piece. |
2 – 12 |
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WonderFoam is familiar to almost everyone who has ever presented a craft project to children — but, if you'd like to move beyond the "foamies" to a real art technique, incorporate WonderFoam into printmaking! “Collagraph” is a process in which materials are arranged collage-style on a rigid surface, coated with tempera paint and then transferred to paper. Students learn to make repeating patterns with shapes. |
K – 6 |
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Impressionistic Marker Painting You won't believe what these markers can do! The juicy, alcohol-based ink reacts with itself or with hand-sanitizer to make painterly drawings on clear plastic film.
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3 – 12 |
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This project utilizes acrylic paint, but in a totally unique way...dried! Acrylic paint "skins" are easily created just by brushing paint on a non-stick palette or baker's parchment and letting it dry. You can use this plastic, flexible paint in a number of ways to create mosaics, mixed media collage, stained glass-like effects, jewelry, book covers and more!
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K – 12 |
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Functioning as both a painting and a print, a Monotype is unique and irreproducible. The “hoop-la” over Monotype can be experienced in your classroom with this simplified, safely water-based process using acrylic paint, printing foam and fabric. The technique builds the print a layer at a time and tools are used to remove or “subtract” color between layers. Stretch the finished print ona gold macramé ring for an instant frame.
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3 – 12 |
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Les Fauves (translation: “The Wild Beasts”) were a group of artists whose work was characterized by seemingly wild brush work and strident colors. The colors the Fauves used are also favored by wild birds. Hummingbirds like red, orange and pink. Songbirds prefer colors that mimic trees and bushes. To see which species of birds are attracted to these “beastly” colors, students create a painted, hanging birdfeeder from a stretched canvas or “upcycled” wooden frame. |
K – 12 |
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The practice of illumination — decoration of pages with ornate lettering, luminous color and precious metals, was developed during the middle ages when literacy was rare and books were even more so. With this process, students design one of their own initials on reflective board and add transparent color — it appears to glow with reflective light from within. |
3 – 8 |
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Egg-stra Easy Watercolor “Crunch” Traditionally, eggshell mosaics are made by first dying then positioning each shard individually — a time-consuming and delicate process. This project introduces a new way to crush and color eggshells, creating intricate veining and texture all at once without pre-dying or arranging each fragment. The simple glue-and-paint process and satisfying “crunch!” of breaking eggshells will delight children of all ages and skill levels.
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K – 12 |
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Peace Windows: in the style of Marc Chagall’s stained glass Late in his career, artist Marc Chagall produced a number of paintings in glass with colorful, dream-like images symbolizing peace, love, tolerance and faith. In reality, Marc Chagall’s life was filled with tragic events and the world he lived in was anything but peaceful. In light of this fact, students can begin to understand an artist’s ability to share healing, inspiration and encouragement, using “peace” as a theme.
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K – 8 |
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Printing creative T-shirts and fabrics doesn’t always require stencils and screens — students can easily design their own giant stamps and paint them any way they want. Even if each shirt displays the same message, each will be a completely unique work of art! This process is perfect for group settings — schools, camps, daycare centers, clubs, family reunions and special events — but it is also ideal for countless home decorating and craft projects. |
K – 8 |
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Stencils and repeated patterns have been used in painting as long ago as 9,000 years, when early humans placed their hands against cave walls and outlined them in charcoal or paint. In this lesson, even a stencil made of basic shapes can be effective. Each stencil can be used repeatedly, and by changing oil pastel color, overlapping images, or using only a part of an image, the result is a cohesive composition that has depth and color fusion. |
4 – 12 |
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Molding, casting, sculpting, painting and monoprinting — this simple project pulls all of these together into one low-relief sculpture that demonstrates the elements of texture and color. Texture is defined in clay by pressing objects in or sculpting with tools. Next, the clay is painted with watercolor and covered with papier mâché, which lifts the color as it dries, absorbing it directly into the casting.
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3 – 12 |
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Itajime Shibori is a technique for folding, clamping and dyeing paper or fabric resulting in beautiful designs – very similar to tie-dye. The folds and clamps keep the dye or ink from penetrating fully in certain areas making patterns and giving a dimensional appearance on a flat surface. This project is a great way to teach students the scientific concept of diffusion and color mixing. |
3 – 12 |
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The easiest way to make colorful, three-dimensional paper flowers! Even young children will enjoy painting carnation-like blooms and creating full bouquets for Mother’s Day gifts, May Day celebrations, a Cinco de Mayo fiesta or a Hawaiian Luau. Each flower costs just pennies to make. Because the watercolors blend together and form new hues, painting each bloom is a good way to illustrate color mixing. |
K – 8 |
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Beginning in the early 1880s, the “Art Nouveau” style flourished in all forms of art. Beautiful pottery was mass-produced during this era, especially in the form of decorative tiles. Tube lining — a technique in which a design outline was created first and then filled in with color — is the definitive look of Art Nouveau. If kiln-glazed ceramics are not an option for your environment, this project is a way to produce glossy, hand-painted tiles that look like the real thing.
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K – 8 |
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The production and commerce of decorated silk fabrics began thousands of years ago in China. This project introduces fine-mesh polyester as a silk-like fabric for painting. Form a wire shape as a support and paint with transparent liquid acrylic color. Finished pieces are flexible and may be heat-set for outdoor display. |
3 – 12 |
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In the 1800s, many homes were decorated with “Penny Carpets”, made from miss-matched fabric cut into circles by tracing around a penny. Patches were then layered and stitched together to make a large piece. Students create a Penny Carpet with fabric that they design themselves using monoprinting techniques and fabric paint. Each section is sewed to felt swatches, then joined to make a larger piece of art.
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3 – 12 |
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Art 2 Infinity: Two projects incorporating Mirror Board Artists through the ages have used reflective surfaces to define and alter perspective, create symmetry and "bend" reality. Mirrors have been a tool for creating art, the subject matter and the art itself. Here are two project ideas for using metallic film to capture light and create intriguing illusions: “Kaleidoscope Paintings” and “Infinity Boxes”. |
K – 12 |
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Students of all ages can mimic mosaic artisans throughout history with these easy tile-making and “grouting” techniques. Clay tiles are glued to a firm backboard and grouted with acrylic paint. This project is safe and simple enough for younger students and those with special needs.
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K – 12 |
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Quilt-making spans multiple centuries and cultures. It can teach math skills, record history, recycle cast-off materials and encourage cooperative efforts within a group...just for a few ideas! This lesson looks at the story quilts of Faith Ringgold. She surrounds her narrative paintings with a quilted border, creating stories in color, texture, and pattern. Students select their own story to illustrate, then paint fabric using watersoluble pastels and watercolor.
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K – 12 |
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This project demonstrates the physical process of osmosis. Water-based markers are diluted by filtering water through an ordinary wet wipe. The flow of the color is slowed and channeled by the presence of oil and alchohol in the wipe, creating random and interesting tie-dye-type patterns. Educational...and really fun to watch! |
K – 5 |
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Persian and Navajo Rug Bookmarks This lesson plan explains two diverse and beautiful style of textiles: Persian carpets and Navajo rugs. Similar colors and geometric shapes are two common elements of both. |
4 – 8 |
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This easily constructed project offers an exploration of texture, line and color – key elements of design. Younger children may take a more abstract approach with emphasis on texture and color. Older students will find the burlap easy to pull and the weave easy to manipulate, creating holes and lines. Subject matter such as buildings, landscapes and abstract designs are adaptable to varying grade levels. |
K – 6 |
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This game puts a new "twist" on an old favorite, and provides an enjoyable way for students to learn color-mixing. |
K – 4 |
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Learn leaf anatomy by recreating the patterns and structure of the original. Because the clay is paper-based, it accepts watercolors, which may be reworked and blended on the surface. Watercolors enhance the veining in the leaves, pulling out their natural characteristics. |
K – 12 |
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Where standard painting builds an image from the background forward, a reverse painting is created in a backward fashion — foreground first — with each phase applied so the background finishes the painting. A backing of metallic foil reflects light through the pastel in the same manner as gilding.
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3 – 12 |
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Based on the scientific concepts of insolubility and density, this technique seals water-based paint and mineral oil inside a laminating pouch. The different densities cause the liquids to repel one another in an ever-changing and interactive piece that continually flows and responds to touch.
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K – 12 |
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In the Philippines, during the Festival of Lights, parol (puh-roll), or star-shaped lanterns, symbolize the victory of light over darkness as well as hope and goodwill. These simple parol are created with natural reed, translucent rice paper and liquid watercolor. Displayed in a window or hanging from a light fixture, they make colorful, festive decorations for any season.
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3 – 8 |
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Simple Perspective with the Artist’s Grid Canvas For a first lesson in one-point linear perspective, a grid is a perfect tool for beginning painters. It eliminates time spent measuring and marking, allowing students to achieve perfect accuracy on their first try. |
4 – 12 |
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Textile Painting with Mayco Colors "Students use unconventional “tools” such as lace and yarn to create new textures and designs." |
2 – 8 |
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Students will research the painting style of a famous artist of their choice, then design a pair of painted shoes reminiscent of that artist’s design sense and choices of subjects and colors. |
K – 6 |
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This lesson plan uses intensely colorful, easy-to-use Model Magic air-dry clay in place of yarn to create paintings similar to the art of the Huichol tribe. Students create “strings” of clay and press them together on a rigid surface. to create symbolic images and designs. |
3 – 8 |
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Art history is an excellent discipline to accompany this lesson plan, as students become familiar with masterpieces by various artists. Students will choose an artwork that inspires them from a specifictime, genre or culture, and paint their own version on a cardboard frame. |
3 – 8 |
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Wonderful, colorful flowers are created with a transparent, flexible paint called “Arti’Stick”. To link with botanical studies, have students study the anatomy of a flower, create and identify its parts. |
3 – 8 |
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Math and science create visual forms and establish structure.“Three Prisms” uses equilateral triangles and parallelograms. The shapes are combined and repeated for a sculpture that makes additional equilateral triangles. |
K – 8 |
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This lesson plan gives students the opportunity to learn about the concept of architecture, particularly towers and turrets.Using watercolor painting techniques and tracing, cutting, and gluing skills,students create lines, patterns and textures while understanding the concept of near being larger, far being smaller. |
3 – 6 |
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Painting on a transparent medium not only allows the interaction of light within the painted surface, it also projects colorful cast light and shadow onto walls, floors and surrounding objects. |
3 – 12 |
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Students will learn basic drawing and painting skills through monotype using Akua inks and a variety of brushes, sponges or even fingers to apply and modify their drawings — it’s safe and easy to clean up. |
3 – 8 |
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Gouache and Wood-Burned Designs Discover wood burning craft techniques and the traditional paint medium of gouache. |
3 – 12 |
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The new metallic paints are beautiful. Mix with different types of paints and "Glitter It" mediums to make paper tiles. |
K – 6 |
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Explore the beauty of Braille |
3 – 8 |
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Explore the beauty of fabric batik without the danger of hot wax or dyes. Simply trace a design onto muslin with washable glue and add brilliant color.
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3 – 8 |
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In painting, color can be used to describe emotions, feelings and ideas. Students select a color and paint a monochromatic theme of their choosing. |
K – 12 |
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Over the centuries and across many cultures, lockets have been worn as tiny, portable treasure chests. Students paint the front of a mini canvas and use the back to display a small photo or something with meaning and value. |
K – 12 |
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"Secco" is the term used for applying color to dry plaster, the manner Da Vinci used in his famed "The Last Supper." Using Plaster of Paris, students create drawings then purposefully add stress fractures.
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1 – 12 |
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"Paper, paint and ribbon are used to develop a pattern with contrasting textures and colors." |
K – 6 |
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"A beginning lesson in one-point linear perspective. Grid Canvas eliminates time spent measuring and marking, allowing students to achieve perfect accuracy on their first try." |
4 – 12 |
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Students will study works of stained glass as a one dimensional art form and adapt what they learn to a three dimensional sculpture — a brilliantly-colored transparent mobile. |
2 – 6 |
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Artist Trading Cards are a fascinating pastime for a great number of professional artists. The cards are always 2½" × 3½", a size that fits into standard baseball card storage sleeves |
K – 7 |
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A full skeleton illustrates movement during a wide range of activities. The addition of a background turns this project into a more complete artwork. |
3 – 6 |
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Oven baked water-based acrylic paint on glazed tile looks like kiln fired glazed tile. The paint is available in a wide range of colors and can be layered and blended to make other colors. |
K – 12 |
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Give students an opportunity to enjoy creating random organic forms with color and transparency similar to actual glass.
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2 – 12 |
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Students will enjoy exploring the wide variety of textures they can create with acrylic modeling paste on a rigid surface.
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3 – 8 |
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"Drawing with Thread" is an interpretation of work by Wassily Kandinski in 1913. Kandinski is called the first totally abstract artist. Free flowing water color and line suggests but does not define images. |
K – 8 |
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The Native American tribes of the plains tanned and prepared buffalo hides, then painted them with symbols and story-telling pictures that told their tribal history and honored the spirits. |
K – 4 |
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The stenciled hand print and aboriginal style drawings help children to relate to the man from the Australian Aboriginal Culture, while helping them to understand the use of line in art. |
K – 4 |
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Printmaking |
Grade Level |
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In Japan, Children's Day on May 5th is heralded by the appearance of flying fish: carp-shaped windsocks known as “Koinobori”. In this lesson, students design a “scale”-shaped block from soft block printing material and apply it repetitively to outdoor-safe fabric that has been cut in the shape of a fish. Add details like eyes, fins, and a tail using metallic and sparkle paint, and the Koinobori is ready to hang and “swim” through the breeze! |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Muslin Masterpiece Create a beautiful textile design using dye sticks and block printing. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Coral Reef Creation Brilliantly replicate thousands of years of oceanic evolution in just a few hours. Using clay, paint, and pearlescent mixing medium, along with handmade clay stamps, create a beautiful coral sculpture. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Glue Paint Symmetry Prints Finger Painting has never been so fun — or so very tidy! This project incorporates glue paint — basic white glue tinted with any shade of watercolor. It dries with a beautiful transparency that is enhanced when applied to a clear sheet. When the sheet is folded, the colors can be blended and moved about the page, without actually touching it! |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Burroughs on Burlap Printmaking on burlap results in a beaufitul rusticity. |
3 – 12 |
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Printmaking — starring textures and shapes! A collagraph printing plate is created on a canvas panel using textures found in the classroom, textured gel mediums, or even textures from nature! After a final coat of gel medium is applied, the plate and paper are run through a printing press.
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3 – 6 |
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WonderFoam is familiar to almost everyone who has ever presented a craft project to children — but, if you'd like to move beyond the "foamies" to a real art technique, incorporate WonderFoam into printmaking! “Collagraph” is a process in which materials are arranged collage-style on a rigid surface, coated with tempera paint and then transferred to paper. Students learn to make repeating patterns with shapes. |
K – 6 |
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Functioning as both a painting and a print, a Monotype is unique and irreproducible. The “hoop-la” over Monotype can be experienced in your classroom with this simplified, safely water-based process using acrylic paint, printing foam and fabric. The technique builds the print a layer at a time and tools are used to remove or “subtract” color between layers. Stretch the finished print ona gold macramé ring for an instant frame.
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3 – 12 |
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Picasso-Inspired Soft Sculpture By looking through the vast array of figurative paintings done by Picasso during his cubist phase, students may find many possibilities for soft sculpture adaptations. Fine art, sculpture and textiles combine to make this eye-catching piece!
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K – 12 |
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Printing creative T-shirts and fabrics doesn’t always require stencils and screens — students can easily design their own giant stamps and paint them any way they want. Even if each shirt displays the same message, each will be a completely unique work of art! This process is perfect for group settings — schools, camps, daycare centers, clubs, family reunions and special events — but it is also ideal for countless home decorating and craft projects. |
K – 8 |
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Molding, casting, sculpting, painting and monoprinting — this simple project pulls all of these together into one low-relief sculpture that demonstrates the elements of texture and color. Texture is defined in clay by pressing objects in or sculpting with tools. Next, the clay is painted with watercolor and covered with papier mâché, which lifts the color as it dries, absorbing it directly into the casting.
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3 – 12 |
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Students select a commercial business and consider images, symbols and colors that will best represent the company. The repeated “wallpaper” patterns are made with a stamp designed and carved by the students. This fun project will help children understand how simple images communicate a message, whether in business or elsewhere. |
4 – 6 |
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Collect and recycle product wrappers for a "green" art project worthy of good-citizen attention! Students save and trade wrappers to make a paper background, then choose words and phrases related to their "rapper" collage and cut them from thin foam to create a printing plate. "Rapper" Art is an easy process for making posters, book covers and signs in multiples. |
K – 6 |
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A "cyanotype" is a photographic print made when UV light is exposed to a photo-sensitive paper. This lesson plan is a simple new process involving two safe and familiar classroom favorites — Nature Print Paper and Scratch Art. The finished arwork has the appearance of a linoleum block print — without the use of cutting tools or ink.
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3 – 8 |
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Students monoprint images of their faces onto a piece of flat clay, then "morph" it to look like the face in Edvard Munch's famous portrait "The Scream". |
K – 4 |
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Suminagashi is a process in which Sumi ink is floated on the surface of plain water, then transferred to a sheet of paper. Each monoprint is like a fingerprint — unique and unreproducible.
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3 – 12 |
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As young students learn the value and structure of our monetary system, they can make their own coins for trade or to save. This lesson plan allows students to design and “mint” coins bearing their own symbols. |
K – 4 |
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Using a single large screen divided into multiple small square window panes, a class of 15-20 students create their own individual art project that becomes part of the whole. A lesson plan from Speedball. |
3 – 12 |
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Students will learn basic drawing and painting skills through monotype using Akua inks and a variety of brushes, sponges or even fingers to apply and modify their drawings — it’s safe and easy to clean up. |
3 – 8 |
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Students will employ easy-to-use and safe materials in an introductory printmaking lesson. |
K – 8 |
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Students learn the process of embossing a mono print — an extremely beautiful fine art. |
3 – 12 |
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Monoprinting with Watercolor Markers A simple project that introduces students to printing. |
1 – 8 |
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A very creative and experimental form of printmaking, collagraphs can be made with cardboard, yarn, fabric, leaves, tape and more. |
2 – 8 |
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Sculpture |
Grade Level |
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NEW! Butterfield Horse Construct a high-relief horse using Activa Fast Mache and found objects. Combine a painted and collaged background with a horse made of quick mache, sticks, pine needles, leaves, and shredded papers in the style of Debra Butterfield. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Convertible “Canned” Sculpture Composition — the way the elements of a piece of art are arranged and relate to each other — can be difficult to grasp. This lesson plan presents an easy, forgiving way to see the effects of composition while using the dimensional works of Frank Stella as an example. The sculpture is assembled with magnets on a metal can so it can be taken apart and rearranged to see how the composition is affected — what works and what doesn’t. |
3 – 12 |
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NEW! Flower Garden Tiles Easily make flower tiles by carving clay, filling with plaster, and finishing with liquid watercolors. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Coral Reef Creation Brilliantly replicate thousands of years of oceanic evolution in just a few hours. Using clay, paint, and pearlescent mixing medium, along with handmade clay stamps, create a beautiful coral sculpture. |
K – 12 |
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NEW! Dancing Houses Part cartoonist and part Picasso, the art of Brooklyn-born James Rizzi is highly recognizable. His playful, brilliant images created a style he described as “Urban Primitive.” Students will enjoy making a classroom cityscape of fun and fabulous construction paper buildings. A simple wire armature beneath allows the structure to be playfully positioned -— almost as if it were dancing. This project provides a lesson in movement as design principle. |
K – 9 |
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New Guinean “Plant Paste” Doll Make a hand-built ritual doll with only three simple materials! Knead together clay, instant papier mâché and burlap fibers to create an intriguing art doll. Add body paint and embellish by adding seed bead teeth, a shell necklace, or clothing made of burlap. |
4 – 12 |
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Learn the anatomy of one of nature’s most fascinating creatures and make a model from some of the very materials that threaten their habitat — plastic bags and fast food containers. These colorful, sparkling jellies are even water-resistant!
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K – 5 |
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Create a textured clay mold to use again and again! Carve a design into a slab and bisque fire it. After coating it with kiln wash, this mold can be used many times to impart unique textures to slumped glass pieces.
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3 – 12 |
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Glazing isn't the only way to create beautiful surfaces! Agateware pottery features swirling marbelized colors and was probably first developed to imitate the qualities of agate, a semiprecious stone with striated patterning. These swirling effects can be created by working with thin slabs of colored clay that has been layered to create patterns. This technique allows for both precise patterns and free, random effects.
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3 – 12 |
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The Italian word “volto” translates as “face”. These full-face masks were known as “citizen’s masks” because they were originally worn by common people during the Carnival of Venice. By draping acrylic felt over a reusable form and using Rice Paste (a gluten-free maché alternative) to stiffen, students create a sculptural mask that can be decorated with paint, glitter, feathers, rhinestones, etc.
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3 – 12 |
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Molding, casting, sculpting, painting and monoprinting — this simple project pulls all of these together into one low-relief sculpture that demonstrates the elements of texture and color. Texture is defined in clay by pressing objects in or sculpting with tools. Next, the clay is painted with watercolor and covered with papier mâché, which lifts the color as it dries, absorbing it directly into the casting.
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3 – 12 |
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The first thing children learn when learning to draw a face or a figure is to view each part as a basic shape. This project approaches sculpture in the same way. Using geometric Styrofoam shapes, students build a bust or torso. The finished result resembles a simplified version of something you might have seen from Picasso or one of the other Cubist painters, only in three dimensions. This project is a good introduction to sculpture for young students. |
K – 6 |
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There's more to "deconstructing" a book than just altering the pages. In this project, deconstructing means changing the object from a book to a sculpture. The tools are very basic — scissors, glue, paper punches and a desire to experiment! |
3 – 12 |
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In this lesson plan, students design and construct a 3-dimensional letter using one of their initials. The surface can be decorated with descriptive words and images that are personally meaningful and unique to the student's identity. Instead of wet, messy adhesive, this process uses paper packing tape to create papier mâché. This tape is inexpensive, easy, and tidy to use, and the finished letters are hard and durable.
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3 – 12 |
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Low relief sculpture with design in mind. Layer by layer, piece by piece, this three-dimensional collage is assembled with repetitious shapes and elements, illustrating the principles of rhythm, balance and movement.
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3 – 12 |
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This lesson plan combines the processes of repoussé and chasing to design a piece that looks as if it may have been crafted by an ancient silversmith. Objects are fixed to a cardboard box before the metal is applied so that the design is embossed into the metal in the style of repoussé. With tools, students then chase the metal around the objects to further define the texture.
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K – 12 |
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This lesson plan is inspired by the brightly colored pottery of Mexico. This simple papier mâché version casts paper pulp into a textured bowl using an existing plastic or ceramic bowl as a mold. |
K – 4 |
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This High-Low Relief Sculpture is a variation on the popular three-dimensional pin sculpture toy that can be molded into familiar shapes as pressure is applied from underneath. These sculptures will be stationary with a few other variations, as students use their imaginations to create rolling landscapes, faces, flowers or other images out of different lengths of colorfully painted craft picks. |
4 – 6 |
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Wonderful, colorful flowers are created with a transparent, flexible paint called “Arti’Stick”. To link with botanical studies, have students study the anatomy of a flower, create and identify its parts. |
3 – 8 |
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Math and science create visual forms and establish structure.“Three Prisms” uses equilateral triangles and parallelograms. The shapes are combined and repeated for a sculpture that makes additional equilateral triangles. |
K – 8 |
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Experience an archeological dig, right in your own classroom! Students create fossils the way that nature does - by making impressions and filling them |
K – 12 |
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Martin Puryear-Inspired Basketry Students learn the importance of negative space while creating a non-traditional basket by focusing on it as a sculptural element rather than a functional object. Being a non-representational form, these abstract baskets draw attention to volume and space and redefine what a basket is intended for. |
3 – 12 |
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These papier mâché dishes are an example of utilitarian items that can also be used as décor. |
3 – 8 |
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There is a rich history in dollmaking techniques throughout the centuries. These soft dolls are painted, stuffed and glued together — so the construction is easy and safe. |
4 – 6 |
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This step-by-step project from Mayco Colors demonstrates how to make insect-themed Wind Catchers from bisqueware pieces. |
3 – 8 |
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From Mayco Colors, this lesson gives students the opportunity to explore the history and function of masks in various cultures and times. Students will be able to learn and master basic hand building and sculpting techniques using either self-hardening clay or clay requiring kiln firing. |
K – 6 |
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A full skeleton illustrates movement during a wide range of activities. The addition of a background turns this project into a more complete artwork. |
3 – 6 |
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Give students an opportunity to enjoy creating random organic forms with color and transparency similar to actual glass.
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2 – 12 |
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Egyptian Relief Sculpture by Amaco Students should research hieroglyphs and find a hieroglyphic symbol that has meaning to them. They might choose their initial as a their symbol, or create a figure in the style of an Egyptian Queen or Pharaoh. |
4 – 6 |
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Topiary is the art of turning living plants into sculptures that are constantly growing and changing — a form of landscape art. In this project, an art topiary is made of a wire base, green tissue paper and twine. Although this Tissue Topiary will require some initial sculpting, no care will be needed after construction! |
4 – 12 |
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