Year 5 art ideas

Struggling with teaching one-point perspective? This drawing lesson is super easy and offers lots of opportunity for your students to be creative and expressive.

I have done this lesson many times, but this year the results are better than ever before. This year, we had more time to do this project, and therefore their drawings had more detail. This lesson focuses on the concept of foreshortening. This is a hard concept for even experienced artists, so to make it simpler, we traced our hands and feet. The other details were drawn in after. I found the idea for this lesson years ago on the blog Oodles of Art. Over the years, I have adapted this…

I always like to start the year with a review of lines. Every grade level does a project that reintroduces all the different ways to make lines. By 4th and 5th grade, we are ready to turn those lines into something really amazing! These projects are partially inspired by the many "zentangle" lessons out there, but I don't actually teach the zentangle method. I have the students start with a line pattern and then fill it with doodles. We focused on contrast-making some areas dark, and some…

36 Elementary Art Lessons for Kids - one for every week of the school year! Perfect for homeschool families, teachers, scout leaders, and parents!

This was a super fun project my Grades 4- 6 mixed elective class did at the end of this school year. They LOVED this project- some even made 2 or 3. I pretty much followed the excellent instructions posted HERE on the "We Heart Art" blog. She found the idea on the Fine Lines blog. I was worried we would have to use that chunky yarn (of which I had none) but regular yarn worked well. I collect empty cereal boxes from my students all year long and stockpile them for projects such as these…

Ohhhhhhh my goodness! This might be my favorite new project! You've probably seen this or a similar Banyan Tree project in Dynamic Art Projects for Children, or maybe another blog. But I'm going to post it anyway because it is just that fabulous! Banyan trees grow primarily in India, though you can find some in Florida as well. From its branches grow aerial roots, which stretch downward and plant themselves back into the ground. They're amazing to look at! source source My fifth graders…

In 2008, I developed a self-portrait art lesson to help students express both their inner and outer selves, combining drawing, collage, and typography. I recently updated the project to include techniques like mixing skin tones, understanding facial proportions, and depicting diverse hair textures. This refreshed lesson not only enhances students' artistic skills but also encourages self-expression and identity exploration; find the full lesson plan on my website or TpT store.

These self-portrait drawings by 5th graders were on display at the elementary school at the end of the school year, a nice tribute to the 5t...

36 Elementary Art Lessons for Kids - one for every week of the school year! Perfect for homeschool families, teachers, scout leaders, and parents!