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Architectural Letters
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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Art RX Journal
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.
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K-12
Special Education
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Artists' Stamps
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.
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3-6
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Burlap Pastel Painting
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.
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K-6
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Button Bracelets
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.
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3-6
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Color Twist Game
This game puts a new "twist" on an old favorite, and provides an enjoyable way for students to learn color-mixing.
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K-4
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"Diaper Wipe" Diffusion
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!
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K-5
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Earth Strata
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.
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1-6
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EZ Encaustics
EZ Encaustic uses only small amounts of soft decorating wax that may be softened by hand or by using low temperature heat. Also included are instructions for a Painterly Encaustic process, using melted wax.
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5-12
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Fabric Beads
Fine craft artists today are exploring texture and color in all mediums. The fabric beads in this project encourage experimental use of materials to enhance and enrich traditional techniques.
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5-12
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Fiber Fusion
This project starts with a 12" × 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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Forest Dwellings: Toad House
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.
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4-8
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Metal Magic Journal
The magic is in the color! Wax Pastels adhere to the slick surface of tooling foil — unheard of for a pastel before now. 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.
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3-8
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Modern Figure Sculpture in the style of Alberto Giacometti
To create the gracefully haunting look of a Giacometti figure, this lesson plan introduces Paverpol™, a unique product that can be used with a variety of materials — textiles, paper, self-hardening clay, paper maché and more — to make sculptures so sturdy that they can be placed outdoors. It's non-toxic, safe for anyone to use and dries so quickly, you can make a sculpture in one day.
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7-12
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Monoprint "Screams" on Clay
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".
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K-4
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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.
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K-6
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Paper Clay Leaves
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.
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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.
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4-8
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Photo Tinting
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.
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K-6
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Plantable Pulp Cards
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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"Rapper" Art
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.
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K-6
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Recycled Plastic Collage
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.
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3-12
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Reverse Pastel Painting
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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Rex-Lace Appliqué
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.
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K-6
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Rhythm in Layers
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
Special Education
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Solar-Powered Prints
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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Souper Art
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?
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K-6
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Storybook Theater
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.
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K-6
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The Four Freedoms
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.
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3-8
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Tissue Topiary
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
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4-12
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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!
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K-8
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2009 Totems
Students create a modern-day totem pole with hand-formed clay animals positioned on a wooden dowel.
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5-8
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Altered Images
Hand-altering photos is a practice nearly as old as photography itself. Here are some new ideas for embellishing digital prints, featuring Blick Studio Art Markers and Scratch-Art Tools.
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5-12
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American Pie
A "slice" of American Culture! Students design a clay pie piece piled high with symbols, icons and representations of their favorite things.
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5-12
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Assemblage Art
In this particular lesson plan, students will look closely at the work of Louise Nevelson, known for her abstract sculptures made from cast-off pieces of wood — actual street "throwaways" — uniformly coated with black or white spray paint. Students will create their own assemblages from wood pieces and other cast-off objects on a panel.
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5-12
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ATC "Twist" Album
This simply-constructed book holds up to 20 Artist's Trading Cards without drilling them or gluing them. Folded paper sleeves hold the cards in place as they rotate or "twist' out into a fan for display. Cards slide easily in and out of the sleeves when needed. Collage, stamp, paint, draw or decorate the matboard cover in any manner to make it personal and unique.
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5-12
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"Bones"
A full skeleton illustrates movement during a wide range of activities. The addition of a background turns this project into a more complete artwork.
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3-6
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Book of Secrets
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.
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3-12
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Bread Spread
This lesson will spark students’ creativity as they use an unconventionalmaterial — French bread — to enhance their pastel paintings.
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5-12
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Canvas Looming
With its repetitive under-and-over motion, weaving creates a visual rhythm. Choose a few musical selections for students and have them interpret the six principles of design while listening to music: contrast, rhythm, unity, pattern, movement and balance.
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9-12
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Collagraph Printmaking
A very creative and experimental form of printmaking, collagraphs can be made with cardboard, yarn, fabric, leaves, tape and more.
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2-8
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Divisionism with Clay
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.
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2-6
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Egyptian-Inspired Jewelry
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.
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K-12
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Filipino Parol
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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Flip Flop Drawing
A drawing becomes a painting, then flips back to a drawing again as students use variety to explore surfaces, media and techniques.
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5-12
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Float People
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.
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K-6
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Hometown Map
As they create maps of their route between their homes and their schools, students learn about distance, signs, symbols, landmarks and safety.
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K-6
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Insoluble Paintings
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
Special Education
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Junkanoo Headress
Junkanoo is a festival that takes place in the Bahamas. It is a tradition that traces its roots back to the 16th century. Music, dancing and elaborate costumes are all part of Junkanoo. This lesson introduces students to a fun and whimsical cultural event by allowing them to design their own headress - an important part of the festivities!
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6-12
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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 the intent of a basket.
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3-12
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Mean Green
In painting, color can be used to describe emotions, feelings and ideas. Students select a color and paint a monochromatic theme of their choosing.
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K-12
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Multi-Foot Drawing
Develop an awareness of natural lines from unlikely sources. It's an active lesson that incorporates math, art — and giggles!
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Kindegarten
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Nature Shaper Paper
A lesson in Earth Art, in the style of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Students use Crayola Shaper Paper to "wrap" elements of nature — sticks, rocks, etc.
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3-12
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No-Blender Pulp Painting
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
Special Education
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No Sew Molas
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.
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K-8
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Ostrich Egg Mosaics
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.
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K-12
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Painted Locket
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.
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K-12
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Paper Dishes
These papier mâché dishes are an example of utilitarian items that can also be used as décor.
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3-8
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Papier Collé Printmaking
In this lesson students will make a piece that is basically a printmaking "sandwich" — part painting, part lithograph, and part monoprint — incorporating Z*Acryl D2P Polyester Lithographic plates.
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9-12
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Perfect Proportion
The "grid method" has been used for centuries to create accurate proportions when painting. Blick Exclusive Artist Grid Canvas makes it easier to place objects from a photograph and plot landscapes, still lifes and portraits.
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5-12
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Primitive Semi Flat Dolls
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.
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4-6
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Ribbon Weave
Paper, paint, and ribbon are used to develop a pattern with contrasting textures and colors.
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K-6
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Shaper Paper Lantern
To celebrate Chinese New Year or just for decoration, these easy to make paper lanterns are surprisingly sturdy. Translucent lanterns can be lit from inside for a nighttime glow.
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K-8
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Shoji Screen
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.
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4-6
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Shrink Art Mosaics
Create your own mosaic pieces — any design, shape or color you want them to be! This project combines the fun and excitement of Shrink Film with the fine art of mosaics.
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5-12
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Simple Pate de Verre
Translated to "glass paste," the French term Pate de Verre refers to a glass vessel kiln-fired in a mold. This lesson shows how to make a simple one-part mold and glass casting.
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5-12
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Simple Perspective
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.
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4-12
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Simple Suminagashi
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
Special Education
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Suminagashi Monoprints
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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Sunshine on a Stick
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.
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2-6
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Textured Metal Boxes
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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Three Columns
The architectural style developed by the ancient Greeks has had such an influence on world civilization that it surrounds us still today. This block printing lesson introduces the three orders of Greek columns and challenges students to discover them in famous buildings and the surrounding community.
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6-12
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Ultimate Paisley Patterns
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.
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K-12
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Wind Catchers
This step-by-step project from Mayco Colors demonstrates how to make insect-themed Wind Catchers from bisqueware pieces.
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3-8
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