Dick Blick Art Materials
A.T.C. (Artist Trading Cards)
Trade 'em, flip 'em, save 'em. Yes, it's trading cards! Kids design their own artist trading cards, complete with images and stats.
Curated OER
Artist Research
Students research an artist of their choice on the internet. They are provided with questions (worksheets included with the lesson) as a guide for their research. Students choose an artwork by their artist to critique.
Curated OER
Pottery with Artist Kerry Moosman
After watching a video of Native American artist Maria Martinez create art out of clay, learners will create burnished coil pots similar to those made by artist, Kerry Moosman. This lesson includes a supply list, web links, historical...
National Gallery of Canada
Designing Balance
Teach your artists how to incorporate balance into their work through discussion and action. After viewing and discussing several works of art, learners design a balanced image for a T-shirt and follow the step-by-step instructions to...
Curated OER
Splendide Californie French Artists’ Impressionsof the Golden State, 1786-1900
There is a lot to learn from art. This teacher's guide provides you with extensive background information, activities, and a scripted commentary to accompany a slide show on French artists in California during the Gold Rush Period. The...
National Gallery of Canada
Reading Sculptures
Consider the elements and principles of design closely while examining works of art. Learners select an image from the provided pieces to write about in relation to the elements and principles of design. They then sketch and sculpt their...
Curated OER
Tour + Workshop = DESIGN: Shape
Ask elementary students to explore shapes in everyday objects. They will discuss the elements of design and describe the shapes they see in visual images. Students will then design and "build" a new 3D shape. Finally they will show and...
Curated OER
Aboriginal Web Design
Students explore world history by participating in a web design activity. In this aboriginal history lesson, students discuss the different jobs associated with designing a web site and identify the types of media that are often shown on...
Curated OER
Design Space
Students will develop an understanding design space. The arrangement of shapes is taught to create simple perspective. The differences in the size of shapes is shown in order to help learners see how they should be arranged in...
Incredible Art
Skateboard Deck Graphics
Young artists don't need to be skateboarders to enjoy this assignment. Class members use the provided worksheet to craft 10 sketches that convey action or motion using no more than seven lines. They then select their three best ideas and...
NASA
NASA Engineering Design Challenges - Spacecraft Structures
What kind of design challenges are there in building structures to support rocket engines? The unit takes design teams through the process of building the lightest possible thrust support structure that can withstand the necessary forces...
Curated OER
Using the Internet - Art and Design
An interesting resource that might work best in an upper level art course, this handout provides a list of nine websites where young artists can read and study about all forms of art. These online resources range from a dictionary of...
Curated OER
Web Designs: A Story Comes Alive
Pupils work cooperatively to choose a theme, write a story, and produce a web site to display this story in this middle-level lesson on the career of a web designer. This excellent lesson ends with an organized, web site launch party.
Curated OER
Lesson: Emory Douglas: Here and Now: Looking at Contemporary Struggle
After looking into the life, art, and social contributions of artist Emory Douglas, learners analyze several social art pieces. They use Emory Douglas as an example of social art, then consider 10 other pieces. They write a paper...
Practical Pages
Famous Artists Lapbook
Create mini books with some of the most beautiful and well-known masterpieces of our time. Learners read short paragraphs about famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, and Johannes Vermeer, and create different kinds of...
Curated OER
Enduring Patterns: Pre-Columbian Ecuadorean Textile Designs
Students examine Pre-Columbian Ecuadorean design motifs. They view examples of the designs, discuss the motif themes, and replicate the designs on modern fabric using authentic methods.
Curated OER
How Was the White House Designed?
Young scholars examine how the initial design of the White House was chosen. They analyze various designs, explore websites, list the characteristics of each design and compare them, and answer discussion questions.
Curated OER
The Mystique of the Artist
Your high schoolers explore the role of artists in society in a creative three-week unit. First they customize art supply bags using paint, embroidery, appliqué, and other media. They imagine their ideal artistic work space and design a...
Teach Engineering
Chair Design
Can you design the perfect chair? Scholars apply the engineering design process to design and build a prototype of a new type of chair from wires. They test their designs with a wooden artist model or stuffed animal.
Curated OER
Designing Clay
Maria and Juliana are two of the most famous Pueblo pottery makers of the modern era. The class will learn about pueblo pottery design and the ways that Maria and Julian use traditional designs in a new and innovative way. They will...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Artist’s Challenge Coins
Make 'em, trade 'em, share 'em. Kids create artist's challenge coins to celebrate personal achievements, as mementos, or as encouragement. Originally designed for service personnel, these coins are a great way to recognize achievement.
Curated OER
Lesson: New Museum Design Activity
After viewing images of vernacular and alternative architecture, budding designers collect materials to construct their own spacial design. They use gathered materials to construct a 3D model of the class space in a new way, yet...
Curated OER
Coast-to-Coast Book Design-Part 1: What is a book?
In this first of four lessons on book design, students are introduced to the vocabulary of book design through the use of bookwalks and a non-linear PowerPoint presentation in game-show (Jeopardy!) format.
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Introduction to Color: The Foundation of Art and Design
What is the most favorite color in the world? The series of lessons all about color and the color wheel, asks kids to research color, create an eye-spy activity, watch videos, and examine the color choices made by artists in their...