Sure, your young artists probably know Van Gogh and Picasso, but are they equally as familiar with Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol? Small groups examine the work of famous artists. Then, they create their own hero portraits in Cubist style...

Simulate a real-life situation with a project proposal activity for an art installation. Learners look at work by Joe Fafard and examine his website for information about public art displays. They also search for other proposals for...

Art does not always have to look perfectly realistic. Play with proportion and shape by stretching images. Pupils study works of art by Picasso, Cézanne, and Monet before selecting a photograph to adapt. They use a distorted grid to...

Sixth graders use a visit to the National Gallery of Art to inspire descriptive writing. They choose works of art and write descriptive word lists, paragraphs and Haiku.

Have your learners use their surroundings as inspiration for an art project. Class members first examine and discuss art. They then choose an area and spend five days taking down observations in written and sketch form. These...

Select a theme together to guide and inspire works of art. Class members view images of art and discuss the images of cities. After choosing a theme, individuals create posters that reflect and contribute to the theme. They can use paint...

Build class community with an art project. Learners first examine and discuss works of art. They then contribute to a class mural by tracing their hands and decorating them in relation to their own cultures. The final mural...

Explore heritage and identity through an examination of art and a related project. The featured art, related to the African diaspora, includes several types of art created by different artists. Pupils consider their own backgrounds and...

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...

Differentiate between the various genres in the visual arts world, particularly in Western painting. Your class can view and discuss, in small groups, paintings published on the National Galleries website. Then each student individually...

Young scholars 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.

Urban spaces are often overlooked and broken down. Offer your pupils the opportunity to reimagine an urban space. Learners examine and discuss works of art related to this theme and consider their own communities. Small groups then...

Kids become mini-experts on the Mannerist movement and the art of El Greco. They identify common elements of El Greco paintings and compare them to a work by Thomas Hart Benton. They use  four ways to examine art taken from the...

Surrealistic painters like Marc Chagall and Wendy Rouse show viewers an expansive world in a small area. Young artists have a opportunity to create their own surrealistic paintings in response to a study of works by Chagall and Rouse.

Five lessons display the art created by Germans under the Weimar Republic. The focus of these lessons is to help learners understand the role of art in politics, government censorship, and Nazi tactics. Web links are included.

Combine art and writing in a lesson plan about legends. After viewing Inuit art, class members examine their own cultural surroundings in order to write and visually represent a legend. Individuals are invited to take the creative reins...

Legends are full of imagery and action. Transfer a scene from a legend to a three-dimensional art piece. Class members first view Inuit art and discuss  legends. They then build scenes that include action, setting, and characters.

Experiment with light and shadow with a photography lesson. Learners first view several artistic photographs. They then play with different levels of light and various objects, eventually putting together compositions and taking pictures...

Using M.C. Escher's Hand with Reflecting Sphere as inspiration, learners create their own set of self-portraits using various reflective surfaces. The lesson begins with a discussion about portraiture and ends with a presentation of work...

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...

Fifth graders visit the National Gallery of Art and are introduced to portraiture as well as politics and presidents. They use these themes to form political parties and carry out their own "election".

Combine landscape with collage to create unique art pieces. Class members examine works of art before creating their own pieces with photos of a special place. Learners create a panoramic image and add in figures.

Facial expressions can communicate complex emotions. Examine expressions in several hyperrealistic works of art before beginning a project. Learners will create their own clay faces that show an emotion using either photos or their own...

Students explore the work of Frank Stella. In this art appreciation lesson, students look at images of the sculpture Prinz Friedrich von Homburg: Ein Schauspeil, 3x and discuss it as a work of art. This lesson includes two simple...