5 Summer Art Plans for a Sub

Summer Art Sub Projects

Are you working with kids in a camp or school this summer?  Will there be a chance that you might need a substitute to fill in for you at some point?  Just like if you are teaching art during the school year, you need to have some sub plans ready to hand to a substitute teacher or counselor in case you have to be absent.

I've found some options for easy art sub plans that are pretty low prep.

Paper Plate Frisbees

Check out this blog post from Make and Takes blog.  This post is about a summer camp activity about making a frisbee out of paper plates. She gives step by step directions that anyone could follow. This makes it a perfect lesson to give to a sub!

Colorful Flip Flop Artwork

The next easy art lesson that a sub could do comes from the blog, Pink Striped Socks.  The directions are pretty simple for doing this, but she does spell them out. They turn out super cute, too!

The blog, Crafting Chicks, has some good ideas for summer art activities. This post is a   Summer Scavenger Hunt - Free Printable Game. What a great idea. You could easily create an art lesson for a sub based on where you are and what you have available.

Fun Drawing Activity

Here's a summer drawing lesson that is a favorite!  Kids love silliness and fun. "Silly Sundae"doesn't disappoint.  It is a great lesson to leave in a sub folder or sub tub as it is no prep and uses simple materials. 

Students look at a variety of wacky artworks based on the theme of ice cream.  Then, they use their imaginations to create their own drawings of silly ice cream sundaes.

Quiet Time Art Worksheets 

If you need some "in your seat" kind of fun activities for early finishers or to help a sub, check out my printable art worksheets.  They're creative and fun to do.  

A basic outline is drawn in and students add whatever details they like. There are options given for details, but they are mostly meant as springboards for new ideas. Click on a link you are interested in to see more.

Create a Character in Disguise

Create a Troll in Disguise

Draw a Turkey in Disguise

Create a Tooth Fairy in Disguise

Create a Dragon in Disguise

Create a Silly Monkey in Disguise

Create a Little Red Riding Hood in Disguise

Create a Turtle in Disguise

Create a Frog in Disguise

Create a Penguin in Disguise

Circle Game - Free Art Worksheet

Decorate a Jack O’ Lantern

Create a Bunny in Disguise

Create an Elf in Disguise

Create a Leprechaun in Disguise

Create a Groundhog in Disguise

Create a Panda in Disguise

Create a Yeti in Disguise

Create a Reindeer in Disguise

Doodle a Nutcracker

Draw a Silly Monster

Lettering and Typography for Middle School Art

 

Elementary and Middle School Art Sub Lesson with Typography 

"Ms. Art Teacher" did this lesson plan herself 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.

I found another interested item about lettering on the website graffitidiplomacy.com. That website seems to no longer exist, but this one worksheet I found seems to have survived.  

Kids want to know how to write in bubble letters. Some gets get it and some need a little help. Maybe I'll make a worksheet for the whole alphabet.  Hmmmm.....

Anyway, that could be another direction to take the idea of lettering or typography.

If you'd like a quick explanation for how to create bubble letters, here's a YouTube video that's just a little over 2 minutes long.  How to Draw Bubble Letters for Kids

If you'd like a video done with the balloon or oval method of creating bubble letters, check out this one from: Pin Koro, Very Easy! How to Draw Graffiti Bubble Letters ABC

Do you have any other lettering lessons you love? 

One Day Art Lesson - Fourth Grade

One Day Art Lesson

Jessica Young used this plan initially as an art sub lesson for fourth grade. When she needed a quick art lesson for herself, she pulled this one out and used it for other grades as well.
You can check out Jessica's blog here:  Miss Young's Art Room. 

She says that her students stayed engaged for the whole class time with this. She also gave ideas for those few early finishers and those who took it a little too slow to finish in art. 


The materials she used were markers and paper. With subs, I am careful about leaving markers. If I know the sub and trust them to emphasize using the markers with care, I would leave markers. Otherwise, crayons would work just fine.


Miss Young demonstrated how to draw a "criss cross" star with her kids and then showed them how to repeat the lines in and around that star. I think you could also provide students with templates of other shapes for this. Basic shapes? Animal shapes? 

After that, the same shape is repeated to smaller and smaller shapes.

Check out her blog to see other examples.


If you would like to use masterpieces from art history to introduce the lesson, here is an idea that might work well.




in public domain

This is Kandinsky's Color Study, Squares with Concentric Circles from 1913.  


Here's another lesson plan that you could use to create a lead in for this lesson: "Kandinsky Squares with Concentric Circles,"at the blog, Art Prep has a good, meaty description of Kandinsky and his work.


They talk about Kandinsky choosing to switch to from using subjects in his paintings to focusing on line and color. This is great information for your lesson.




If you would like to use an art sub plan that is fully formed and ready to hand to a sub, check out this one in my TPT shop: Art Sub Lessons. It is no prep and fully scripted. It can be taught by anyone.

This elementary and middle school art sub lesson includes slides about the artist and two projects for the students to draw. It is great for teaching elementary students about abstract art and the artist, Bruce Gray.

Written for a sub, it may also be taught by classroom teachers, art teachers, and homeschool teachers.

Supplies needed for the art lesson are pencils, paper, markers or crayons, rulers and circles of various sizes.