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Lesson Plans for Special Education
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Very, Very Simple Decorative Papers |
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2 Dimensional |
Grade Level |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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. 
|
K – 12 |
|
 |
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.
|
K – 8 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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.
|
3 – 12 |
|
 |
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
 |
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
 |
Monoprinting with Watercolor Markers A simple project that introduces students to printing. |
1 – 8 |
|
 |
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 |
|
|
|
3 Dimensional |
Grade Level |
|
 |
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
 |
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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.
|
3 – 12 |
|
 |
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 |
|
 |
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 |
|
|
|
Art History |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Book And Paper Arts |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
3 – 12 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Clay |
Grade Level |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Collage |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 8 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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.
|
3 – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Crafts |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Drawing |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
Monoprinting with Watercolor Markers A simple project that introduces students to printing. |
1 – 8 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Fiber Art |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
|
Graphic And Digital Art |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Metal And Wire Art |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Mixed Media |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
3 – 12 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Multicultural |
Grade Level |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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.
|
K – 12 |
|
|
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.
|
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Printmaking |
Grade Level |
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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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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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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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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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Monoprinting with Watercolor Markers A simple project that introduces students to printing. |
1 – 8 |
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Sculpture |
Grade Level |
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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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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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