Art Projects for Kids

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Art Projects for Kids Low-prep, step-by-step drawing lessons kids love—and teachers can actually use.

🎨 Can your students create art that plays tricks on your eyes?This fun **Op Art collaborative mural for Grades 2–5** sho...
10/09/2026

🎨 Can your students create art that plays tricks on your eyes?

This fun **Op Art collaborative mural for Grades 2–5** shows a great way to explore color, teamwork, and optical illusions, all while creating one BIG piece of classroom art.

Plus, the included **Google Slides** introduce students to artist Victor Vasarely and the fascinating world of Op Art.

Just print, color, and assemble. See my comments for a link to this template in my TPT store.

This colorful cat drawing may look simple, but a little planning makes all the difference! 🐱🎨Here are three tips to help...
10/08/2026

This colorful cat drawing may look simple, but a little planning makes all the difference! 🐱🎨

Here are three tips to help your students create artwork that really pops!

🎨 **Plan your colors.** Choose a warm-colored cat on a cool background, or vice versa, so the cat doesn't get lost in all those patterns.

🖤 **Make bold outlines.** Trace the black lines several times to help the cat stand out.

🖍️ **Layer your markers.** Try dark green over light green, orange over yellow, or red over orange to add fun patterns without making the colors too busy.

A fun way to explore color, contrast, and pattern, all in one project!

See my comments for a link.

If your students loved the Tim Burton-Inspired Self Portrait project, they might love drawing Sally from The Nightmare B...
10/07/2026

If your students loved the Tim Burton-Inspired Self Portrait project, they might love drawing Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas too! 🎃🖤

She has that same wonderfully quirky Tim Burton look, with big expressive eyes, long features, and lots of fun little details.

And the best part? You probably already have the supplies you need. A simple drawing project, basic coloring tools, and you’re ready to go.

It’s a fun Halloween lesson for students who enjoy spooky characters, movies, and drawing with lots of personality.

See my comments for a link to the project.

If you already know and love my Tim Burton-Inspired Halloween Self Portrait project, why not get all the tools for it in...
10/04/2026

If you already know and love my Tim Burton-Inspired Halloween Self Portrait project, why not get all the tools for it in one place so they’re ready to use year after year? 🎃✏️

For about the price of a cup of coffee, you can now get the complete lesson pack with links to ad-free videos, Google Slides, printable PDF instructions, a Tim Burton artist bio, rubric, standards, student examples, drawing idea pages, and more.

Students LOVE this project, but there’s plenty of learning packed into it too. They explore self portraiture, exaggeration, limited color palettes, creativity, and personal expression while creating artwork that feels perfect for Halloween.

It’s one of those lessons that’s fun enough for students to get excited about — and complete enough to make life a little easier for teachers.

I’ll put the link in the comments. 👇

Once students have learned how to color neatly with *one* color, they may be ready for the next step: blending two color...
10/03/2026

Once students have learned how to color neatly with *one* color, they may be ready for the next step: blending two colors together.

This is a great skill for fall projects, when leaves, pumpkins, and trees often look better with more than one shade.

Paint may seem like the obvious choice for blending, but crayons work surprisingly well too — and with a lot less cleanup! The trick is to press firmly, lay down plenty of color, and scribble back and forth where the two colors meet until the edge begins to soften.

For the best results, start with two similar colors, such as a light and dark shade of the same color.

It takes a little patience, but once students get the hang of it, all kinds of new coloring possibilities open up. 🍂🖍️

10/02/2026

One of my favorite ways to begin an art lesson with younger students? Start with a good book. 📚🎨

A story helps settle the room, spark some ideas, and give kids something to think about before they ever pick up a pencil. Even better when the book and art project make a perfect pair!

See my comments for a link.

One of the best teaching tricks I ever learned came from kindergarten teachers: start an art lesson with a book. 📚🎨I saw...
10/02/2026

One of the best teaching tricks I ever learned came from kindergarten teachers: start an art lesson with a book. 📚🎨

I saw firsthand how quickly a story could calm a room full of 5- and 6-year-olds and get everyone looking and listening in the same direction. It worked like a charm, every single time.

Eventually, I learned that almost any book could help, but the really fun part was finding one that connected to the art project. Maybe it had a character students could draw, a color idea they could borrow, or a setting that helped get their imaginations going.

That little connection gave students something to think about before they ever picked up a pencil. The art lesson felt less like a separate activity and more like the next part of the story.

Over time, some of my favorite lessons became the ones that paired a good book with a good art project. There’s just something special about watching a story spark an idea—and then seeing that idea turn into art. You can find this wonderful book called "Crankenstein" by Samantha Berger in most book stores.

See my comments for a link to the post.

10/01/2026

Raccoons are especially fun to draw because of all those recognizable details — the “bandit” mask, light belly, and striped tail.

One little tip: use black marker for the eyes so they don’t disappear inside all that dark crayon.

Teachers, see my comments for the step-by-step tutorial.

Raccoons are such fun animals to draw because they already come with so many interesting details — those “bandit” eyes, ...
10/01/2026

Raccoons are such fun animals to draw because they already come with so many interesting details — those “bandit” eyes, a light belly, and of course that big striped tail!

One little drawing tip: when students color the dark mask around the eyes with black crayon, the eyes can sometimes disappear. Try filling the eyes in with black marker instead so they stay nice and bold.

Raccoons are pretty fascinating animals too. They live throughout much of the U.S., from forests and woodlands to farms and even cities. And they aren’t picky eaters! Raccoons will eat everything from nuts and fruit to fish, insects, and small animals.

It’s a cute drawing project with plenty of opportunities to practice shapes, patterns, and animal details.

Teachers, see my comments for a link to the step-by-step tutorial.

09/30/2026

Who knew being grumpy could be this much fun to draw? 😾

This Grumpy Cat tutorial is a great way for students to practice drawing expression, proportions, and even a little color blending along the way.

And I have to say, I keep getting the nicest compliments about these drawing videos. Just today, a teacher emailed to tell me they’ve helped her bring art back into her classroom again. ❤️

That pretty much makes my day — because making art feel doable for teachers and kids is exactly why I keep creating them.

See my comments for a link to the Grumpy Cat tutorial.

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