Easy and Free Art Sub Plans for Kindergarten

Here is a free art sub PowerPoint lesson for you at my  Teachers Pay Teachers shop: Art Sub Lessons.  This lesson is one I use with kindergarten.  We do lots of moving around making the shapes of lines as we look at the slides. TeachersPayTeachers requests that you make your free PowerPoints smaller than your "for pay" ones, but this is still full of good images and information for your students and subs.

Here are a couple of "easy sub lessons" from Dali's Moustache.  One is a third grade lesson about Jackson Pollack's action paintings.  The other is a fourth-grade lesson called "crayon fireworks."

Another source for some free resources is here: Circle Art Lessons | Art Sub Plans Worksheets

This page in my blog links to free art worksheet printables, videos, and lessons that can be completed in one class.

Another easy way to prepare for an art sub is to go to my shop, Art Sub Plans. I have created complete lessons in which all your sub has to do is read the slides and follow the directions.  They are full of visuals and are created to be used with the most simple supplies.  Pencils, paper and crayons are all your students will need to create imaginative works of art.

These are perfect for those emergency absences when you do not have the time to write detailed plans but want to leave quality plans for your subs.

Elementary Art Lesson "Scribble Monster"

Looking for easy art lessons with the theme, “Scribble Monsters,” I found many versions on YouTubeKids.

This was one of my favorites. It is by Emily Brosius.  You can find it here:  Scribble Monster Drawings

Middle School Art Sub Plan - Alphabeasties

Elementary and Middle School Art Sub Lesson with Typography 

"Ms. Art Teacher" did this lesson with students and then also left it as a sub lesson. It is based on the book Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types,  by Werner and Forss. 

The illustrator has filled in the shape of the animal with the name of the animal. I can imagine where this same idea can be applied to other images of things and using a variety of words to describe the image.

This is an alphabet book to help little ones to read, so your older kids won’t be so interested in that part. The illustrations are really interesting though. “Ms. Art Teacher” did the lesson with 2nd through 7th graders. She also left the lesson with a sub and found that was successful.

There are multiple read-aloud of the book on YouTube, so you can always fall back on that if you can’t find the book itself.

Perler Beads for an Art Sub Plan

Here's a sub lesson from the blog "Art Love You."  
She uses perler beads for this.

Playful Playgrounds as a Sub Lesson

Kindergarten Art Lesson, “Playful Playgrounds”

Here's a Mondrian related sub lesson that Katie Weymouth came up with.  Here's the blog entry:  Briargrove Elementary Art Page

If you like lessons in which students use their imaginations to create wondrous and mysterious places, you might like this one of mine. Created as a sub lesson, it can be taught by teachers and parents too.  It is no prep and completely ready to teach.

Check it out here:  Art Sub Lesson: Secret Rooms and Hidden Passageways

Abstract Art from Map - Art Sub Plan Idea

Substitute Art Teacher Lesson Plan 

This art lesson combines Mondrian with maps.  It is from The Incredible Art Department

The students learn about Piet Mondrian and his use of line and color.  Then, they apply that to a map drawing activity.  They could use a variety of materials to draw and color in the map.

Sometimes you just don’t have time to write up art sub plans.  If you want something easier, visit my TPT shop that I created just for that purpose: TPT Shop: Art Sub Lessons.  I’ve got fully formed, no prep, scripted lessons that are ready to go.

If you’d like to start with some free art sub plans, you can find those too.

Cows on Parade - Art Sub Plan

Middle School Art Sub Plans - Cows on Parade

"Her Dabbles" did a blog post last fall with a sub plan for "Cows on Parade."  There are lots of ways to take this lesson, so check it out on her blog.

If you are interested in seeing another lessons about Cows on Parade, check out this post:  Cows on Parade

Art Sub Lesson "Wacky Hats"

This is a sub lesson that I teach myself as an art sub but used to teach in my own classroom before I retired.  I have added it to my TeachersPayTeachers store because it is such a successful lesson.  The kids get highly engaged and stay busy the entire class time.

It would be fun as a lesson for "Crazy Hat Day" at your school.  Art teachers could use it and so could classroom teachers.

When I left it for a sub of my own, she had high praise for this lesson. She left these comments: "Thank you for the wonderful plans.  Great lesson." and "They LOVED the photos and your drawings."

Here is a link to my shop:  Art Sub Lessons.

Middle School Art Sub Lesson - Name Design

Middle School Art Sub Lesson - Kaleidoscope Name Design

Here's a sub lesson from Artisan Des Arts.  She's included detailed instructions and graphics that a sub could follow easily.  She said that originally she got the lesson from Teach Kids Art, who also had nice graphics and instructions.

Art Sub Plans - Imaginary Treehouse

This afternoon I was searching for a ready-made art sub lesson about imaginary treehouses. I just could not find one. Tonight, as I was searching for something for my bulletin board blog, I found the treehouse lesson!

I've left a similar lesson with a sub before and it turned out just fine.

This is from the blog, Blue Moon Pallette.





I also sell a PowerPoint lesson for substitute teaching called "A Treehouse for Me". If you would like the lesson plan all ready to hand over to a sub, you can visit my TeachersPayTeachers shop here: Art Sub Lessons




I designed this lesson to be no prep; fully scripted; and ready to print and go. All a sub needs to do is to read each slide and respond to the students' comments. The materials needed are the most simple: crayons and paper.

This lesson may be taught as a PowerPoint projection or printed out and each page shown, one-by-one.

The students are introduced to unique treehouse designs, that will encourage the student to let their imaginations lead their own designs.

I have tested this on my own art subs and have gotten positive feedback. My students also expressed to me that they were excited to create their own drawings.

If you are interested in other of my lessons that connect with architecture, you might like these:

Captivating Castles

A Home with an Onion Dome

James Rizzi's Happiest Houses on Earth

Fairy Houses and Gnome Homes

Robot Line Drawings | Art Sub Lesson

Robot Line Drawings | Art Sub Lessons

If you are looking for a fully formed lesson, check out my drawing lesson here: Robot Roundup

It can be shown as a PowerPoint or printed out and shown with the students close up. It was indended as a lesson for a substitute, but certainly may be used in a classroom by anyone.

Here is another option for a robot lesson.

This drawing came from here:  Primary Sea

Middle School Art Lessons  Doodle Design

The inspiration for this lesson comes from Hillcrest Christian School's Artsonia page.

Here's one listed for grades 6 - 8 at the blog, "A Faithful Attempt".  She gives lots of detailed instructions and photos of this lesson. (Update: I am having trouble linking to the exact page, so when you go to her blog, search for "Black and White Doodle Design." You will find great  directions there.)

Elementary Art Sub Plan - Elmer

Here's an idea from the blog, Dali's Mustache.

She suggests, "I just love this story. Great life lesson: It's fun to be different! This is great for a substitute lesson plan: just make some elephant tracers, and have students add a grid and lots of color!"

This lesson would use the most simple materials: crayon and paper. The blog writer used elephant shaped templates too. Kids love tracing so this would work nicely as a sub lesson. Plus, if you have the book Elmer, that is a great introduction to the lesson.

Elementary Art Lesson Plan “Food Head”

This elementary art lesson plan video is called “Food Head.” How fun! Check it out at this YouTube channel:  Elementary Art Lesson Plan

The blogger at Artisan Des Arts tried this lesson with her students.   I believe she did it with third and fourth grades.  (Thanks, Aly!)

Art Sub Plan - Cityscape for Kindergarten

Here's a sweet and easy kindergarten lesson that a sub could easily do. The kindergarten teacher has given a good tutorial for the lesson at her blog, Fairy Dust Teaching.  It's based on the book That Pesky Rat.
Cityscape Lesson 

Here are other blog posts with kindergarten cities using simple cut shapes.

Splash Splash Splatter Art

Flowers Are Fun Art Sub Plan

Flowers Are Fun - Video - Middle School and Upper Elementary 

Here's a great video for drawing a flower mandala.  Flowers Are Fun Ink Drawing Mandala

Tee Shirt Lesson - Kindergarten and First Grade

When my coworker retired, she left behind some very nice sub kits.  In the packet for each lesson was not only the plan and sample, but selected samples of materials needed.

Here's what the packet looks like for this kindergarten and first-grade lesson.

 Here are the plans written in multiple ways.

This is the template for the tee shirt.  She had a set of templates in the packet.

Here she shows the sub how to fold the paper for the shirt.