The examples of art at the top of this page speak for themselves. Here is a fun and lovely project that gets kids outside to observe how snow falls on trees and how various trees are structured. They use crayons, tempera paint, and...

In this sketchbook learning exercise, students design a book to keep their artistic creations in. Students can use the book to show the progression of their skills and abilities as an artist. It also can be used to collect samples of...

Fifth graders explore pointillism painting techniques. For this pointillism painting lesson, 5th graders paint fruit using shades and tints. Students use the pointillism techniques along with watercolors to create a layered look....

Young scholars investigate still-life drawings. In this visual arts lesson, students draw each other pretending to be frozen making sure that they do not simply see the object as the object, but seeing the...

Secondary artists create a metal box made from copper tooling foil and solid oil paint sticks (Shiva Paintstiks). The exacting design develops organizational principles and the painted finish allows for individual expression of...

Young botanists examine the different parts of tress and then draw parallels between the functions of these parts and the function of parts of the human body. 

Students analyze Impressionist art and complete related activities. In this Impressionist art instructional activity, students read and study the art of Childe Hassam. Students explore basic design concepts and the steps in drawing....

Students investigate the use of patterns and how they are used with stencils in order to create personal works of art. They write the story that is created with the repeating of a pattern. The final composition must be made from 3...

Students sketch a portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach. In this portrait lesson plan, students discover the elements of drawing a face. Students manipulate curved lines and shading to create an original piece of art.

Students draw a self-portrait in pencil with shading.  In this Holocaust lesson plan, students discover Hitler's idea of art and compare it to the art of the Jews during the Holocaust period.  Students discuss reasons the art...

Students investigate the self-portraits and figure drawings of famous artists such as Käthe Kollowitz, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt and others following their own attempts to create their expressive original drawings.

Sixth graders create black and white pictures followed by a re-creation of the same picture using color with an emphasis on contrast, depth, and mood.

Students read the mystery novel, Chasing Vermeer, research the artist and his works. Through observation of his works, they create their own pencil sketches of selected paintings. Finally, students simulate Vermeer's interiors with...

Artists employ a basic metalworking technique by embossing lines and textures into a soft metal. They look for examples of embossed metals in historical and contemporary examples. This fascinating process has been used by many cultures...

Let's make colors! Your class will participate in a creative art project that introduces them to the concept of color blending and allows them to discover color combinations through exploration, trail, and error. First, the teacher will...

Students create a work of art based on a theme showing skill in pencil shading. They create a work of art showing value contrast to center of interest. They use math concepts to enlarge a composition using a grid.

Students discover the power of lights, shades, and shadows in this Art lesson intended for upper-elementary/middle-level Art classrooms. Older students may want to experiment by adding more than one silhouette to the Bristol board used...

Students identify Dr. Seuss as an author/illustrator. They explain what those jobs include. Students identify four art elements in illustrations and explore reasons why Dr. Seuss may have limited his color palette.

Students are read "Harold and the Purple Crayon. Using the same technique, they draw their own one-line design but use various drawing techniques to do so. They measure the line and if time permits they draw other lines in different...

Students create the illusion of texture using lines, dots, and shapes in a rendering of an animal.

Students work collaboratively to create artistic renderings of digital photographs using a color value scale and grid techniques in this late-elementary school lesson based upon Ted Rose's book Discovering Drawing. The lesson includes a...

Students examine how artists have expressed emotion thru use of line, color and shapes. They communicate a variety of emotions using line, shape and values to create form.

Students explore shading different levels of tone and value using Painter 7 or Painter Classic. Students blur a selected, scanned image twice and draw the blurriest image using shades of gray and black. They draw the other blurred image...

Students explore oceanography by researching the great barracuda.  In this animal life lesson, students read several vocabulary terms dealing with ocean life and examine a drawing of a barracuda.  Students examine the many...