Getting to Know
Shape and Form in Art
Introduce youngsters to the important role shape and form play in art with this extensive collection of activities and projects. From teaching first graders how to create mandalas to engaging third and fourth graders in the design...
Denton Independent School District
Elements of Art: Name Design Project
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...
Curated OER
Fashion Design From Nature
Some gorgeous images will inspire your young scholars to create different fashion designs from a wide variety of natural sources. Students study color, pattern, texture, shape and form to create their own original piece in this...
Curated OER
Lesson 2- Costume Design
Clothes might not make the man but they certainly do help an actor create a character. How costume designers employ the same elements of design found in sets (line, color, texture, shape) to realize a character is the focus of a lesson...
National Gallery of Canada
Memories of the Past
Explore contemporary American Indian art. After viewing a set of images, class members discuss the design elements of techniques present, as well as how these artists represent history and culture. Learners examine the parfleche and...
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
Coil Pots
Children learn by doing. Here, they discuss cultural uses of containers, coil and slab techniques, functional aesthetics, and the principles of art and design. The entire process for making a coil pot is fully described here to make the...
Curated OER
Exploring Weather Conditions Through Painting
Your advanced class will paint a picture of a particular weather condition. In this painting lesson young scholars describe elements of art in pieces of artwork. They analyze the weather and seasons in the artwork. The students use...
Curated OER
Drawing Portraits Using a Grid
A well-developed art lesson is always great to have around. This lesson on portrait drawing includes a full procedure, modifications, background information on artist Chuck Close, recommended websites, and a few thoughts from the...
Curated OER
Elements Picture Assignment
Students identify the basic structural and decorative designs, create examples of line (horizontal/vertical/curved/diagonal), as well as identify and explain the difference between shape and form. Then, they identify and explain the use...
National Gallery of Canada
Transformation
Create colorful cool or warm butterflies with simple materials. Class members draw their designs, spray the marker to diffuse the colors, and attach pipe cleaners to form the shape of a butterfly with antennae. Individuals must be able...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Shaping Ideas: Symbolism in Sculpture—Lesson 3
The final session in a sequential, three-lesson plan sculpture study designed by the education staff of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has class members using the criterial they developed to critique each others' symbolic...
Curated OER
Shapes and Introduction to Geometry
Students make a quilt. In this geometry instructional activity, students discuss patchwork quilts and learn some different geometric shapes and patterns that are commonly used. Students explore designs with triangles and squares and then...
Curated OER
Line and Design
With photography as the focus, students learn about line and design. Learners take pictures, and use the photos as a means to analyze artistic elements.
Curated OER
Plaster Sculpture – subtractive method
Practice the subtractive sculpture process with your class. They'll discuss the subtractive method, art form and space, then design a sculpture which they will create from a block of plaster. Technical instructions are included.
Curated OER
Elements and Principles Using a Movie
Young scholars identify the elements and principles that appear in an illustration of a room and explain each concept in writing. They watch this movie identifying each of the elements and principles of design portrayed in the interiors...
Curated OER
The Element of Color
Eighth graders study and analyze the elements of color by creating an personalized color wheel. Emphasis is placed on constructive criticism of student work by others for assessment. Students create short poems for their color wheel...
Curated OER
Shape & Form
Learners analyze the difference between shape and form. They identify, explain and use the basic elements of design and determine that forms are three-dimensional and shapes are two-dimensional. They sketch it on their paper and then...
Curated OER
Basic Design Elements Computer Art Project
Young scholars use PhotoDraw software to create original drawings. Using the basic design elements, line, shape, form, texture, value, and color, students create original drawings on the computer based on drawings previously rendered by...
Curated OER
Basic Design Elements Computer Art Project
Students use PhotoDraw software to create original drawings. Using the basic design elements, line, shape, form, texture, value, and color, students create original drawings on the computer based on drawings previously rendered by hand.
Curated OER
Soft Sculpture Birds
Art can mimic life, and animals are always interesting subjects. Learners create large soft sculptures (stuffed) birds using paper, paint, and other basic collage materials. They view images of birds, and discuss bird traits and shapes....
Curated OER
Figurative Slot Sculptures
Middle schoolers create 3-dimensional works of art in the form of slot sculptures. I love this lesson, because it exposes students to a completely different form of art. Everything you need to do to successfully-implement this lesson is...
Curated OER
Interior Design: Form Vs. Shape
Learners discover the difference between form and shape as it pertains to interior design. After identifying objects as either shapes or forms, they design their own shapes and give them form. Activities include creating shapes and...
Curated OER
Elements of Art
Third graders discover elements in visual art. In this visual art lesson plan, 3rd graders explore the use of line, shape, and color in visual art. After reviewing works of art, students create unique art pieces. Technology resources...