Check out the sites listed below for K-12 art lesson plans, resources, and resources by grade and topic! .

Click on a grade to jump to resources by topic!

Visual Arts by Grade and Topic

PreK K 1 2  3 4

Below are lesson plans and other general resources.

 

Art Lesson Plans
Arts Edge
An incredible index of lesson plans and activities integrating art with other subjects. You can browse the Index by alignment with standards, subject, grade level, or title.

Visual Arts Lesson Plans
Formerly Ask Eric, this site offers over 30 art lesson plans for a variety of grade levels. See also Art History for 13 additional lesson plans.

Education at the Getty
A list of units and lesson plans lesson plans available from the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Artsconnected.org
A searchable data base of educational materials for art teachers.

ArtsNet Minnesota
A joint project of Minnesota art centers and museums, the site contains artworks, biographies, style characteristics, discussion questions, student activities, and lesson plans.
 

KinderArt
K-12 lesson plans and resources.

Art Lesson Plans
Art lesson plans for all grade levels from the Lesson Plans Page.  

Incredible Art Department - Favorite Lessons
A large selection of lessons organized by grade level.

Edu-Orchard.net - Arts
More lesson plans organized by grade level.

Resources for Teachers
Lesson plans from the University of Houston.

Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
An incredible number of curriculum units in a variety of subject areas. This link takes you to "A" in the alphabetical index. Scroll down the page to "art" and find a vast number of art-related units.
 

Utah Museum of Fine Arts Lesson Plans for Teachers
Art lesson plans organized by topic. Lessons cover such topics as modern art, African art, and ancient Egyptian art.

Skutt Ceramic Products Lesson Plans and Instructional Information
Three sets of ceramics lesson plans as well as information on kilns and kiln rooms. 

 Art Activities and Lesson Plans for Exploring Friendship
A long list. See also Art Activities and Lesson Plans for Exploring Kindness and Art Activities for Exploring Self-Esteem .

Color Theory
A middle school lesson plan. For elementary lesson plans on color, see Scheming with Colors and Getting to Know the Color Wheel.   
 

Anthropological Art Projects
Interesting art lessons on topics such as cave art, natural art, and art from around the world.

Explore Art
Online lesson plans and links to other art resources.

Crayola Home Page
Information about and lesson plans using crayons. Use the scroll-down menu to find the lesson plans.

Aunt Annie's Crafts
Many ideas for crafts projects, including seasonal and holiday suggestions.

Artists Portraits
A webquest for middle school students.

A Snowy Day
A lesson plan from the World Artist Directory's Art Teacher Page.   It involves the use of crayons, chalk, and construction paper and is listed for grades K-12.

Fun With Colors on the Internet
A kindergarten lesson plan from The Educator's Reference Desk.

Art Takes Time
Primary grade art activities that meet the National Standards for the Visual Arts.
 

Ancient African    
An elementary lesson plan on African masks, shields and "Kente" Placemats.

African Art and Culture
A unit for grades K-4 from from Arts Edge.

Africa: Communicating Values and History through Masks
An early elementary lesson plan in which students create an African style mask that depicts a value or character trait that is important in their community.
 

Arts Careers
A K-4 unit from Arts Edge using a stations approach to learning about arts careers.

Watercolor Butterfly
A lesson plan for grades 1-2

Form and Texture in Autumn
Another lesson plan for grades 1-2.

American Folk Art
A thematic unit for grades 2-5.

Modern Art Lesson Plans
Lessons on a variety of artists such as Andy Warhol, Alex Katz, and Robert Indiana.

Pro Cartoonists Teacher's Guide
A teachers' guide for using the Professional Cartoonists Index in your classes. See the index at the side for lesson plans.

Adapting to the Land
An activity for grades 2-4 integrating art and the study of cultures.

Collage and Romare Bearden
An elementary art lesson plan on the work of African American artist Romare Bearden.

Maya Lin
A lesson plan for grades 3-4 on memorial art and this woman who designed the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial.

Rockin' Chalk
A 4th-grade lesson plan integrating art and science.
 

A Painter for Mother's Day: Mary Cassatt
A lesson plan for grades 4-5.

Lesson Plan Ideas Using Petroglyphs
Activities for grade 5.
 

Asian Influences on European Art
Elementary and middle grade lesson plans.
 

Finishing Sadako's Cranes
A 4th-grade lesson plan on Japanese Origami using Eleanor Coerr's book Sadako and the Thousand Cranes.

An Introduction to Mexican Art and Culture Through the "Day of the Dead"
An art activity based on this Mexican holiday celebrated October 31 through November 2.

Religious Beliefs Made Visual: Geometry and Islam
Classroom activities designed to show how Islamic art can provide important insights into the technology, scientific knowledge, and religious beliefs of Moslems.

Islamic Foil Art
This art activity, which is appropriate for many grade levels, may be just what you need for your multidisciplinary unit on Islam. 

Visual Patterns in Tessellation
A lesson plan allowing students to examine the mathematical nature of art, tilings, and tessellations.

A Tribute to Miro
A lesson plan for grades 5-8 from Arts Edge.

Murals, Memories, and Making Art
From the above site, this unit is also for grades 5-8.

Exploring the Uses of Art through Latino Murals
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 from LA Youth.

Emotion in Art and Poetry
A multidisciplinary lesson plan for elementary and middle school.   

Seeing Feelings
An art lesson plan using Van Gogh's The Old Mill.

Hands - Art Lesson Ideas
Several lesson ideas for middle and high school students.

Color in 3-D: A Nature Design Project
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 in which students create a two-dimensional design using two aspects of Hans Hoffmann's art.
 

A Study of Van Gogh's "The Starry Night"
A 7th-grade unit involving discussion and painting.

Model Unit-Grade 7
Unit integrating math and the visual arts.

Picasso: The Early Years, 1892-1906: Teachers' Guide
Three lesson plans for middle and high school grades. See also Online Picasso Project.  

Landscape Painting: Artists Who Love the Land
Two lesson plans for the middle grades and above from Smithsonian Education.  

How to Recognize a Painting by Frida Kahlo
A lesson plan for grades 8-12 in which students learn to identify paintings by specific artists.
 

Monochromatic Painting
A secondary lesson plan in which students experiment with monochromatic painting and learn about the connection between color and emotion.

What Did They Say? Interpretation of Criticism
A lesson plan for grades 11-12 in which students learn aesthetic qualities and terms of art criticism and then construct a review of a given artwork.

Tessellations and Golf Balls
A high school lesson plan.
 

Ceramics: A Vessel into History
A unit for a high school ceramics course with a studio emphasis.

Japan: Images of People
A unit designed to help students understand Japanese painting and culture.

Still-Life Painting: Arranging Art
Four lesson plans for grades 9-12.
 

Color Wheel
This unit for grades 9-12 students allows students to explore the mixing of colors.

Looking and Learning at an Art Museum
Lesson plans for grades 6-12.

Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment  
A curriculum for the middle and high school grades .

Photographing America: A Cultural History, 1840-1970
Ten curriulum units!

Representation of American Culture, 1769 -1969: Art and Literature
Ten more curriculum units.

Racism, Gender, Ethnicity, and Aesthetics in the Art of Graffiti
A high school unit.

Shaping Ideas: Symbolism in Culture
Three lesson plans for grades 9-12.

Impressionism: Reflections of a Culture
A high school unit created to complement the French curriculum.

Art Resources

Art Education Page
Huge list of links.

Artcyclopedia
An excellent source of information and links to sites about artists and their works.

Words of Art
An on-line glossary of art terminology.

ArtiFAQ 2100 Time Portal
A highly interactive site designed to predict how art will influence our lives in the next hundred years. Through probing past art inspirations and scientific methods, students can use available data to make reasonable forecasts for the future. Solving the site's quiz will give you access to the Future Art Gallery.

World Artist Directory
This comprehensive site features artist forums, world art news, a portfolio gallery, and a special section for kids. The site even has a search engine (Internet Art Engine) for locating sites about a specific artist, art form, or topic.

Explore Art  
Site allows you to view images of all works on display at the Getty Museum.

Dick Blick Art Materials
Excellent online source for art supplies.

Online Picasso Project
His life, works, and everything else about Picasso.

Web Clip Art
Need clip art? Find it here.

Photography from About.com
Learn all about it from an online guide.

A. Pintura Art Detective
On-line art history adventure for kids.

Art History for Kids
Online art history activities for kids

The Incredible Art Department
Art lessons, news, links to other arts sites.

Art Museum Links
From Thinkquest. See the left-side menu for links to sites on styles of art, famous artists, and art by kids. Click here for more art museum links.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
See their Online exhibits.

Eyes on Art
On-line art activities including elements of design, eras of art, and the works of unknown artists. Click on Artspeak 101 for the elements of design. A wonderful site!!

 

Pre K Visual Arts by Topic

 

 

K Visual Arts by Topic

 

Grade 1 Visual Arts by Topic

Grade 2 Visual Arts by Topic

Grade 3 Visual Arts by Topic

Grade 4 Visual Arts by Topic