Have you ever seen a Mexican yarn painting? They're beautiful! Create a Mexican yarn painting with your class using this instructional activity. Start by discussing Mexico's culture and viewing different yarn paintings. After reading...

Is there a difference between examining an original work of art and viewing a reproduction? Class members are asked to reflect on this question after researching a piece, study a reproduction of it, and the examining the original in an...

Kids cast their own plaster tools to stamp image impressions and textures for tiles, pictures frames, and other works of art. Young artists can even create their own watermark to label their stuff.

Middle schoolers learn about the artist Canaletto, play a vocabulary game, and create a landscape using collage technique. Background information on the artist is provided along with instructions for the game and vocabulary words to...

Upper elementary artists create works which demonstrate an understanding of the many elements of theater and the visual arts. This four-day plan combines many wonderful aspects of visual, musical, and theatrical arts into one very...

Image field trips to museums that display over 1000 major works of western art. Imagine no airfare, no long lines, and only one admission fee. Imagine viewing at your convenience, with your own private docent providing information about...

Learners hone their drawing techniques to create a nature-inspired piece of art. They practice hatching, cross hatching, stippling, and shading. They discuss how each method is better suited for creating specific elements in nature such...

Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art activity in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...

Here is a guide for your middle schoolers to use while you are providing a lecture on the basics of art. They use this worksheet to aid them as they take notes on the purpose of art, art elements, properties of art, and art principles....

The set for a play combines design elements (style, line, shape, mass, measure, position, color, and texture) and principles of composition (unity, harmony, contrast, variation, balance, proportion, and emphasis) to create a particular...

Combine art and science with an activity that has kids gathering items from their environment to include in the decorative paper they create.

As part of a study of printmaking, class members study the works of Tara Donovan and Donald Sulta. They go on to build a printing plate using glue, textured paper, and found objects.

What a wonderfully creative way to have your class create a class journal. Learners use a variety of materials to design an art journal using collages, drawings, and paintings. An interesting and motivating variation on traditional...

Introduce your class to the seven elements of art through a presentation and related project. Before beginning the project, class members take notes on the presentation, writing down the underlined items and adding drawings into their...

Provide your class with the opportunity to experience the design process and subtractive sculpture. You mix vermiculite and plaster to create a soft variable material. Learners use this material to carve any abstract art form they...

Creating story quilts is a great way to combine art, social studies and literature. Kids select a story, a published one or one of their own, to illustrate, paint on a canvas square, embellish, and mount on a felt backing.

Discuss the art process called repousse with this lesson. Learners discuss the history of this artistic method, talk about the technique, and create their own examples. They use boxwood tools, paper mache boxes, and sandpaper to create...

A neat art project is on the horizon. Your class can experience impasto, or textured painting with this expressive art lesson. They design and then paint using the impasto technique. This is done by mixing toilet paper into the paint....

Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...

Here's a mobile assignment that will brighten up your classroom. Each group is assigned one color from the color wheel, paints the pure color, three tints, and three shades of that color on precut forms the group designs, and hangs the...

Pupils examine the elements of design: line, shape, color, space, texture, light. They refer to these elements of design when they view works of art and create their own artwork. They visit the National Gallery Museum.

Here's a prescription for creativity—keep a daily art journal. Words, images, shapes, objects, all can be used as prompts that exercise the creative imagination. Set aside a couple of moments each day for this engaging activity.

Like finger painting, this project is very tactile. Kids tear tissue paper into small pieces, add water, and mix up a pulp that can be pressed onto a canvas to create a colorful, textured painting.

Here is a great game to play on a rainy day or as a warm up. Kids feel an object in a paper bag, they do not attempt to identify it, they simply draw what they feel. This results in a contour drawing based on line, feeling, and texture....