Blick Lesson Plans: hundreds of free, original ideas for Art Education!
At Blick, we love those "light bulb" moments when an idea inspires and the creative juices start to flow. Geared for a wide variety of age and skill levels, we offer hundreds of Lesson Plans designed to meet the National Standards for Visual Art Education and bring the value of creativity to any teaching experience. All original. All free. Help yourself!
 | NEW! Brand Your Banner A flag can signify an individual, a small group, or a whole nation.
In this lesson students will use rubbing plates with Paintstiks, which become permanent when heat set on fabric, to design and create their very own heraldic flag.
| 3-12 |
 | NEW! Chime In with Nature With a little bit of sculpture wire, canvas, and plaster it’s easy to create a masterful chime that sounds as beautiful as it looks.
Students will learn to play with balance and counterbalance to create a kinetic sculpture that functions as an aesthetically pleasing chime. You won’t believe your eyes…or ears! | 5-12 |
 | NEW! Retell a Story Give unwanted and outdated books a new life, while claiming them for your own by writing and illustrating your own version of the story. Consider changing the ending, location, period in time — anything you can dream of!
| 3-12 |
 | NEW! Wacky Weaving Basket weaving is a practical art form that is quite possibly the longest enduring handicraft.
In this lesson students will create a basket with a slight twist to the standard spokes. Yarn, soaked in glue and placed randomly onto a balloon will provide a free-form network of spokes to weave through and about.
| 3 - 8 |
 | NEW! Chia Me-A Turn yourself (or friends, family, and pets) into a real, live chia friend!
Create a portrait on an expanding sponge, add water, apply some seeds, and watch the “hair” grow and grow! | 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
 | NEW! Color Collecting Kit Turn an old book into a travel journal that stores all kinds of fabulous color finds.
Students create their own art kit, then record daily color finds in an organized manner. | 5-12 |
 | NEW! Craft Stick Kinetics Using notched, wooden sticks, students create a structure that moves on joined pivot points known as fulcrums.
Much like a pantagraph or scissor mechanism, it can collapse or expand. Shapes and images on top of the structure move to make playful kinetic art. | 3-12 |
 | Students will choose a hand-embroidered piece to document in plaster and accompany with a short creative writing piece.
Wet plaster is poured onto the fabric, and when dry the fabric can be peeled off, leaving the original piece undamaged. Intricate stich work is crisply transferred, in reverse and relief, to the plaster. | 3-12 |
 | NEW! Foam Quillies This is a curly, swirly, colorful take on a traditional rug making technique.
Also known as “standing” or “beaded” wool carpets, in modern times these whimsical fiber creations have been dubbed “quillies” because they resemble paper quilling.
Using strips of sticky-backed, colorful foam in place of wool, students can roll and join shapes to form “quillies” that don’t require needles to assemble. | 10, 11, 12, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
 | The personal practice of carrying a small pouch or bag for the purpose of healing, protection, spirituality, and rememberance has spanned many cultures around the globe since ancient times.
Enjoy the benefits of aromatherapy with a modern version of the
Native American medicine bag.
| 3-12 |
 | Inspired by artist Mickalene Thomas, students assign glamor to everyday people and objects.
Glitter can be highly controlled when mixed with medium or clear glue to form a blendable “Liquid Glitter” paint.
Even mundane objects become glamorous when they sparkle and shine! | 10, 11, 12, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
 | Decalcomania is a transfer technique used by some early 20th century surrealist painters to acheive spontaneous and uncontrolled art-making. This process presses black glue between two sides of a sheet of paper to create textures resembling tree branches, feathery foliage or frost patterns. Enhanced with metallic watercolor, these prints create moody, luminous landscapes. | 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 11, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
 | A coloring game inspired by postmodern artist Sol LeWitt.
LeWitt produced approximately 1,350 “Wall Drawings,” but rarely painted one himself. He provided the concept, then collaborated with others to actually produce the work.
In this simple game, students receive the exact same set of instructions and materials, but execute them according to their own interpretations.
| 10, 11, 12, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
 | NEW! Kintsugi Eggshells The Japanese tradition of “Kintsugi” is the repairing broken pottery with liquid gold. The value and beauty of the piece is enhanced because of the breakage. In this project, simple eggshells become exquisite, one-of-a-kind pieces of Kintsugi-inspired art. | 1, 10, 11, 12, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, K, Special Education |
 | In the genre of Street Art, "Stencil Graffiti" allows an artist to pre-design a piece and then rapidly create multiple prints that suggest movement. Students learn how to design and cut a basic stencil, then use felt-tip "daubers" to quickly fill them in.
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, K |
 | NEW! Hang in Balance Explore balance in everyday life through kinetic sculpture inspired by Alexander Calder. | 10, 11, 12, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 |
 | Create an illustrious place setting for someone you admire using recycled dinnerware and clay. | 10, 11, 12, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
 | NEW! Imagined Plants With inspiration from Dr. Suess, create a new plant "species" and imagine its importance within an ecosystem. These small assemblage sculptures can illustrate the physical properties of existing plants or be entirely new creations. | 1, 10, 11, 12, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, K |
 | NEW! Stellar Embroidery Students will learn about astronomy by choosing a constellation to embroider onto a shimmery acrylic surface made from Liquitex Pouring Medium and Blick Liquid Watercolors, all enclosed within an embroidery hoop!
| 10, 11, 12, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
 | Cheesecloth is an intriguing fiber that can be cut, layered, folded, rolled and bunched. It's open, delicate weave gives it a lightweight, barely-there appearance. This technique creates layers of opacity-driven values and textures over a black background. | 10, 11, 12, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
 | Aboriginal "Bark" Painting | 5, 6, 7, 8 |
 | A surprisingly fuss-free process for creating low-relief paper casts — minus the mold and messy pulp | 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 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! | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, K, Special Education |
 | 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.
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, K |
 | In 1913, Marcel DuChamp mounted a spinning bicycle wheel to a stool to make what is considered the first kinetic sculpture. Since then, many artists have paired physical science and engineering with artistic vision to create amazing pieces of mechanical sculpture. This simple, pulley-operated design has students design “gears” that spin on spools when a string is pulled. | 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |