Art Sub Plan  |  Put a Pattern on It

If you watch Portlandia, you may remember the episode where they jokingly said the way to have successful art is to "put a bird on it. " Sometimes I think of the same when it comes to easy art lessons and pattern. Here kiddos, put a pattern on it! While I wouldn't rely too heavily on that in my own classroom, it can work well for sub lessons. The kids may spend extra time filling in patterns.

Here is a unique set of patterns, always a good thing to have when kids get stuck.  She actually has lots of sets of patterns. You will find them here on The Doodler Blog.

Circle Drawing - Relief Teaching Ideas

Art Sub Plans Using Circles

The blog post I am linking to is about Choice in the art room.  I love this drawing in the round though, and could see a sub doing it. This post is from Donald Art Room. You could create a lesson on pattern, symmetry or radial design.

Art Sub Plan - Fairy Houses and Gnome Homes

Art Lesson Plan about Fairies and Gnomes

This art sub lesson could be used as an end-of-the-year lesson. At this time of year, your kiddos will need some lessons that are engaging.

Here's a lesson that I taught to over 800 students this winter as I was subbing for art teacher friends.  It talks about fairies and gnomes and where they might live. We looked at illustrations from fairy tales and also at photographs of fairy houses and gnome homes that people have built for fun. We also looked at student illustrations and talked about the fun houses that the kids dreamed up.

I taught it to kindergarteners all the way up to fifth graders.  They were engaged and having fun as I taught it.  I wrote it as a sub lesson, but it can be taught by an art teacher or classroom teacher as well.



It is over at my TeachersPayTeachers Shop: Art Sub Lessons.

If you like this lesson, you might also like this worksheet for early finishers.  Your sub would reallyappreciate having something for your students to do if they finish their art work before the end of class!

Art Worksheet | Art Sub Plan | Shapes Animals

Kindergarten Worksheet for Shapes and Animals Art Sub Plan

Kindergarten students learn about shapes in their math, reading, and science curricula, so it integrates naturally into art. Emphasizing shapes in art is a great way to reinforce the learning of shapes in all those other areas.

Here are some art lessons that use shape and would work well as art sub lessons. 

Make an animal out of cut shapes. In the blog,  Art On My Hands, she  has the shapes already printed out and ready to be cut out.

This next idea is really interesting. The teacher has students draw around pre-glued shapes on their paper. I believe that this is good practice for shape drawing. Students haven't perfected it yet, but they are heading in the right direction.

Now, the shapes were cut and glued by the students. If you knew that you had a sub during the next meeting with this class, this line drawing lesson could be a follow-up to that.  The shapes would have already been cut, glued, and dry. 

                                              

You may see this lesson at Annie's Art Room.

If you are interested in a kindergarten directed drawing about shapes, and was specifically made for art subs, check out this lesson in my TPT Shop:  Springtime Bird with Pattern and Flowers.

It uses just simple materials: crayon and paper.  It is also no prep, fully scripted, and editable in the lesson portion of the PowerPoint.

The lesson also introduces the students to four artists from history with their paintings of birds.

Dinosaur Maze Art Lesson

Here's a link to an idea from a couple of years ago. An art sub could teach this one.

Dream Painters:  A-Mazing Dinosaurs.

If you look on the web, you can find directions for how to create a simple maze. Here is one I liked: Design a Maze

She even links to her own video on YouTube for how to create one, which would be really helpful for the kids to see.

Mandala Art Lesson as Art Sub Plan

Mandala Art Lesson as Elementary and Middle School Art Sub Plan

How do you draw a mandala? Here are photos of beautiful ones from Arts&Activities Magazine from 1983. When I originally wrote this blog post, they have the article that would accompany these, online. The blog post sharing how to create these, no longer exists, unfortunately. 

The second best thing I can post here is another option for a mandala that an art sub can teach.

This lesson includes templates and examples that a sub could use to lead this lesson. Check it out at Cool Classroom Stuff's TPT Shop:  Create Insect Designs with Radial Symmetry

Art Class for Special Needs

Art Class for Special Needs - Cardboard Sculpture

Last month, I took a long-term sub job for a friend of mine.  Twice a week, kindergarten and first grade age students who have autism, came to art for a half-hour each time.  When they arrived, we watched the video from YouTube to "Shake the Sillies Out."  After that, we went over to the demonstration table and I showed them how to glue a tower of cardboard shapes.

Early in my art teaching career, a special ed teacher requested that I do a lot of 3D lessons with her students.  She told me that this was something the kids rarely got to experience.  So, I've kept this in mind over my career and tried to incorporate more sculptural experiences in their art classes.

       


Before they arrived at the art room, I had chopped up a large corrugated box into a variety of shapes.  I had styrofoam trays full of glue.  I also had cut cardboard squares for sculpture bases.

The students dipped the surface of the cardboard shapes into the glue and stacked them upon each other.  They stacked them any way they liked.  Overnight the sculptures dried and the next day the students painted them.

Art Sub Plan - A Home with an Onion Dome

Art Sub Plan with Architecture Theme

This art sub-plan is one that I created and taught recently.

This art lesson focuses on the architecture of onion domes. It talks about the beauty and uniqueness of this architectural element and shows how architects from the past and present have used this element in a variety of ways. It includes such classical structures as the Taj Mahal and St. Basil's Cathedral as well as an avante guarde creation of Hundertwasser. Many other buildings that have onion domes are featured as well.

This lesson was created with an art sub in mind but could be taught by a classroom teacher or art teacher. As a retired art teacher who subs now for my friends, I want to be able to teach good lessons that engage the students. The lessons that I use when I sub are the ones that I sell here. They are proven to engage students and help them create a work of art that is satisfying and original.

This lesson may be shown in two ways. It may be projected or it may be printed out and shown up close. All the teacher needs to do to teach this lesson is to read the script and ask the questions. All instructions are included.

The materials needed for the student artwork are simple: paper, pen or pencil, ruler, and crayons or markers.

Everybody is a Star - Art Sub Plan and Video

Art Sub Lesson Plan and Video

Here's a post with full instructions and a video, thanks to Cassie Stevens.

Art Sub Plan - Aliens Love Underpants

Kindergarten Art Sub Plan - Aliens Love Underpants

Here's a super cute idea from the kindergarten blog, The Very Busy Kindergarten.  It is based on the book with the same name by Claire Freedman.

As you can see from the pictures below, this lesson was done with cut paper, but it certainly can also be done with crayons or marker.                                                                                                

If you like this idea, you might like this lesson from my Art Sub Lesson shop on TeachersPayTeachers.  This art sub lesson is fun for elementary students and can easily be taught by substitute teachers with no prep. It would be perfect to keep in your art sub tub or emergency lesson plan folder. This drawing activity requires only simple materials to do: paper and crayons or markers.  Art Sub Lesson: Robot Roundup