Blick Lesson Plans: hundreds of free, original ideas for Art Education!

These 7 techniques will challenge your perception of the tempera medium. Experiment with Blick Premium Tempera to create a "painting in pieces" by lifting, glazing, layering, spreading with a palette knife, and more.

How many ways can you find to alter a simple square of paper? There's folding, cutting, curling, crumpling, rolling, twisting, embossing, punching...so many creative ways, it's a challenge to stop!

The use of masks in theater is ubiquitous across cultures and the ages. In this lesson, students will explore a variety of cost-efficient classroom materials like chipboard, butter board, masking tape, plaster cloth, Blick’s Mix Instant Papier Mâché, and paint to create a mask to embody a character of their choosing. With a little bit of imagination, students will be able to create a mask for the classroom performance of a lifetime!

These creative creatures evolve from an armature of craft stems covered with fuzzy yarn and fluff balls. Inspired by the modern, cultural phenomenon of kawaii.

Typography is the art of arranging letter blocks to make written language legible and appealing when displayed. In this lesson, students will create a raised, 3-dimensional typographical statement. Letters are made from chipboard and adhered to a base using plaster strips.

Brush on medium to prep a portion of the paper and marbling inks remain just in that area. Allows color to cling to colored cardstock and construction paper. Create marble-ous effects to use with sumi-e brush calligraphy.

The grid system is a useful tool. But, when over-relied upon, it can limit creativity. In this exercise, the traditional grid is manipulated and played with to suit the artist’s message and creativity, while still demanding the same focused practice of looking as an artist.

Visual language skills are put to work in this lesson plan. Students will first analyze the elements of art used in a chosen painting. Then this visual data will be transferred to a transformable cube. The cube can be flipped and folded in different directions to reveal ten different external faces, creating the perfect substrate to explore each facet of the elements of art.

The eyes and brain work together to constantly make sense of the world - its why we see shapes in clouds and faces in buildings. Encourage that imaginative process with a game! Form and share wire contour shapes - each person will see something unique and different.

Young artists will study color mixing by adding Blick Liquid Watercolor to Crayola Model Magic Clay. Both clay and watercolor are kneaded together in a plastic bag, keeping hands and surfaces clean, yet allowing for a tactile sensory experience. When all the watercolor is absorbed, the clay may be handled without transferring color. From the mixed clay, small balls are rolled by hand, engaging those fine motor skills.

Cut shapes from heavy paper and attach them to two rings. As they float around in a circular pattern, they create visual movement and energetic spaces.

In reverse glass painting, paint is applied to the back side of a glass surface and viewed from the smooth, unpainted, front side. The artist builds layers, starting with a black outline of the image, then working layer-by-layer from foreground to background, allowing each color and layer to dry before the next is added. Blick Premium Tempera is mixed with a small amount of Elmer's Glue All for adhesion. To finish, a sheet of silver mirror paper is applied to the back, filling in any clear space, and reflecting light, brightening the painting.

Sample the variety of emotions expressed by the human hand by tracing with the help of a simple drawing tool.

Use dried acrylic paint, called paint skins, and Pebeo Self-Adhesive Lead Strips to create a piece that mimics the appearance and visual aesthetic of stained-glass compositions —without using glass! Just like Tiffany experimented with a variety of methods to color glass, students will experiment with a variety of paint viscosities and transparencies to create a wide range of effects.

Kirigami is a variation of the Japanese art of origami but allows for cutting the paper. The paper cuts are then folded to create a 3-dimensional design that pops out from the page. Students will first create a watercolor landscape painting. Then, with the assistance of a folding guide made from graph paper and string, cuts are made to accentuate elements painted in the watercolor. Rolling hills, trees, and other natural elements can be made to stand away from the page.

Discover monoprinting fun with washable tempera! Mask shapes, layer colors, and manipulate paint with this clean and highly tactile printmaking process.

Students will sketch their designs in opaque watercolor onto Roylco Paper Mesh. Then, using a punch needle tool that they have assembled, students will “punch” loops of yarn into the paper mesh, creating loops with the yarn. The loops can be made to be quite tight, or loose like a shag carpet. The process allows for greater textural variation than traditional weaving. And, once you get the hang of the process, it moves along much more quickly than weaving!

Grafix Double Tack Mounting Film can be used to mount a variety of materials, including fabric, without the use of glue, heat, or activator. Pieces of embroidery floss, laid closely in swaths on Grafix adhesive film, are used to create areas of color and fill in the design. When done, find the perfect surface and make your statement stick!

Lightweight mâché mixes instantly into a clay-like dough, then sculpts cleanly beneath plastic film using fingers, tools, or texture plates. Paintable and satisfyingly tactile!

Create patterns on a wooden block using readily available materials, including classroom scraps, chunky yarn, suede lacing, WonderFoam, and cardboard. Each material will print in its own unique way!

Texture and light are the shining stars of this mixed media combo of metallic paper and oil pastel.

Create individual strands that express ideas, respond to a theme or prompt, represent a timeline of memories, or express a personal vision. Single strands combine to form a "curtain" installation that grows and gives voice to individuals and communities.

Build a better understanding of attachment techniques while emulating the sculptural work of artist Lee Bontecou.

Characters come to life in readers’ imaginations through written description and illustrations within the book. But what if the character literally came out of the book? Creative writing, saddle bookbinding, and papier-mâché all come together to create this one-of-a-kind readable sculpture.

Take cues from Georgia O'Keeffe and sharpen observation skills using mindful practices. Students use a viewfinder to focus in on a subject, explore various viewpoints, and express what their senses discover through mixed media collage.