This winter art lesson idea was written by a fourth grade classroom teacher. Though her school doesn’t have its own art teacher, she tries to fill in that gap by doing art with her students herself. Because this was created and used by a non-art person, I feel like this would be perfect for a substitute teacher to use.
You want your art sub lessons to be easy to use, but interesting enough that your kids buy into it. I think this one will do the trick.
I would use this with first, second, third or fourth grade.
This teacher used construction paper, crayons (I am guessing the ones that are made specifically for use on construction paper), and a mitten template. The snowflake design was cut out of paper and glued on top.
If I was going to use this as a sub lesson, I would consider using the construction paper, but would more likely just go with white drawing paper. Markers would make beautiful drawings, but again, I am not sure I would leave my markers available to a sub I didn’t know. (I would want someone to emphasize taking care of markers.)
I also would consider having a snowflake template for the kids to trace, as cutting out a snowflake might be one complication too many for a sub. Kids love tracing, so they would love having two things to trace in this lesson.
As an inspiration for the lesson I would lead in with a picture book or video. The one that comes to mind first is The Mitten, by Jan Brett. If you do not own it, your school likely owns multiple copies. Check early though. This one is likely to get checked out all winter.
Guess what!!!! Jan Brett has a YouTube video of herself reading the book!!! A video lead in sounds like a great way to engage the kids. If you have a sub that can work basic technology, I would definitely go with the video.
Visit "Teaching Art with Kelly B." You’ll find multiple examples of her student’s work.
