15 Name Art Lessons for Back to School

Name Art Projects as Art Sub Lessons

During back to school season, teachers love teaching art lessons using students' names. I have found 15 art name lessons, mostly of which are fully formed and can be taught by a sub. Here are some ideas for name art projects to inspire you.

Why do teachers like to teach name art lessons?

Art teachers often have hundreds of students a semester. Learning their names is not an easy task. The more often you connect the student with their name, the more helpful. So, seeing a child with their name art can't hurt that, right?

And sometimes one of the first art lessons of the year is to create a folder for their artwork. A name activity works well for that. 

Many of the name art lessons I have seen are "no fail." That's always a plus for the new school year!

Cool name art lessons 

These lessons are simple enough that a substitute teacher could teach them. These all have instructions included and use simple materials.

Symmetrical Alien Names @ Charity Mika

This blog post shows instructions and sample art work.

MATERIALS
• Copy paper, 11″ x 17″ works well
• Black Sharpie Marker
• Crayons/Markers/Oil Pastels/Chalk

Art with Kids: Rollercoaster Names @ Jones Design Company

Has instructions and plenty of samples.

MATERIALS
• paper
• Black Sharpie Marker
• Crayons/Markers/Oil Pastels/Chalk

Radial Design Art Lesson for Middle School Kids @ Leah Newton Art

This blog post has full instructions and examples of finished work.

Materials

• Pencils
• 5’’ Cardboard Squares for students to trace
• One 4.5’’ tracing paper square for each student
• One 9’’ white copy paper square for each student.
• Markers and colored pencils.

Tried and True: Kaleidoscope Name Designs@ Paint On All the Tables

This blog post has step by step instructions with photos.

Materials

• Pencils
• One 9’’ white copy paper square for each student.
• Markers and colored pencils.

Name Monster Tutorial @ Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming, Inc.

This blog post has instructions and step by step photos.

Materials

Pencils

• Paper
• Scissors
• Markers and colored pencils.

Fun Name Art @ Happy Family Art

This blog post has step by step instructions and photos.

Materials

12" x 18" paper markers

Paper

What's in a Name @ Creativity is Contagious

This post includes directions and step by step photos.

Materials

paper

pencil

Sharpie

markers

Drawing with Kids: Illustrated Names @ Make and Takes

This post has instructions, photos, and a video.

Materials

Paper - long strips

Pencils

Markers

Sharpies

Back to School Name Art Lesson @ Art Sub Lessons

This blog post has photos and a description of how to do it.

If you would like a fully formed version that is ready to hand to a sub, you can find one here, at my TpT shop:  Name People Art Sub Lesson @ TpT Shop: Art Sub Lessons

It uses the most simple supplies, is fully scripted, and can be taught by anyone.

Materials

Long strips of paper

pencils

crayons or markers

Name Art @ Art Sphere

This includes instructions and photos.

Materials
Markers
Colored Pencils
Pencils
Erasers
White Paper

Name Art Crafts @ Fun365

This would work well for preschool and kindergarten. There are step by step instructions with photos. There is some prep you would need to do ahead of time.  

Materials

Paper

Washi Tape (or painters tape)

Bingo-type dabbers

Graffiti Art @ Dick Blick

This post includes a downloadable .pdf.

Materials

Paper

Colored pencils

Glue

Scissors

Kinder Name Art @ Sprich Splash Splatter

This post is an idea for a lesson that includes a literary component. It will include some prep ahead of time.

Materials

Paper - colored

glue sticks

colored paper squares

Abstract Name Design for Middle School @ NAEA

This link leads you to a post I wrote about a lesson by Betsy Morningstar. 

Radial Name Design

Originally, this went to a lesson at Art4Cast, but the post no longer exists. I wrote a blog post on my blog about the idea.

Materials

Paper cut into large squares

Pencils

Crayon or markers

Name Designs for Middle School @ TPT Shop Art Sub Lessons

This is a fully formed art sub lesson that anyone can teach. It uses the most simple materials. 

Materials

Paper

Pencils

Sharpies, crayons, or markers

You can find this at my TpT Shop: Art Sub Lessons

Checklist for Creating a Sub Folder

By the way, if you need help creating an art sub folder, check out the blog post where I spell that out for you.  22 Things to Include in an Art Sub Folder

Back to School Name Art Lesson

One Day Sub Lesson Plans for Art

Since teachers like to do lessons using student names early in the school year, this lesson is perfect for back to school. 

The students create a name banner. They begin by lettering their name across the paper and turn those letters into bubble letters. After that they add details around the letters that look like comic people.

This would make nice bulletin board displays or portfolio covers.  

It works well for third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.

Now, as great as a back to school lesson this is, it was written with subs in mind. That means that I put thorough directions in it so that anyone could teach it. There is no reason that you cannot teach it in your own art room! It was really written for all teachers!

You can find this lesson in my TpT shop here:  Name People.

Blog Posts About Other Name Lessons

If you are interested in another blog post about name lessons, check out this one:  Back to School - Name Designs. There are six other ideas for name art. Some link to outside blogs and some to other lessons in my TpT shop.

Here's to a successful new school year!