Curated OER
Shadows & Light, Science & Puppetry
Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...
Curated OER
Using Light and Shadow to Create a Sense of Character
Young scholars heighten awareness and mastery of the subtle factors of drawing technique. Activities focus solely on the human figure, particularly the face. students list 5 of elements of light and shadow which affect portrayal of...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to...
Curated OER
Sunset Pictures
Sunsets and shadows are lovely subjects for creative projects. Kids take a good look at images of sunsets, then use paint and construction paper to create a silhouetted sunset image. Tip: This project is a great way to illustrate a poem...
Curated OER
Shaded Bottles
Learners draw, and then paint three-dimensional bottles to practice shading which shows shape and perspective. The step-by-step process for creating dimensional still life art is outlined, which makes teaching art an attainable task. Oil...
Curated OER
Shadow Puppets
Students examine the role of shadow puppets. They create their own puppet and put on a play.
Curated OER
Chinese Shadow Puppets
Students explore Chinese culture by performing a shadow puppet play. They create the puppets, develop a script, and rehearse and perform a play which illustrates an understanding of Chinese stories and traditions.
Curated OER
Light and Shadow
Students compare and draw items with shading based on where a light source is in relation to the object.
Curated OER
Pastel Drawing like Vincent Van Gogh
Learners discuss the elements of art and design found in a series of flower paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. They explore art, shading, and color as they create mirrored representations of the master's art, using oil pastel.
Curated OER
Silhouettes
Students explore the challenges of creating a silhouette. In this silhouette lesson, students learn to produce a silhouette from a projected image. Students compare and contrast the making of a silhouette to a drawing or painting.
Curated OER
Shadow Pictures
Students discover the power of lights, shades, and shadows in this Art activity intended for upper-elementary/middle-level Art classrooms. Older students may want to experiment by adding more than one silhouette to the Bristol board...
Curated OER
Instructors Lesson Plan for Casting Shadows
Students create quilts with shadow effects, that create three dimensional effects that make the pieces appear to float right off the surface. They use several techniques to create the shadows such as; color and value, piecing, applique...
Curated OER
Lines and Patterns
Here are six outstanding art lessons on geometry, line, shape and form, light and shadow, line and pattern, and tessellation for you. Each activity is well-worth implementing with your art young scholars. These lessons would be...
Curated OER
Sunny Day Shadow Pictures
Students explore shadows. In this art lesson, students put black construction paper on the ground and place objects on the paper. Students leave and when they come back at the end of the afternoon the sun has faded the black paper with...
Curated OER
Shadow Friends
Students trace each other's shadows. In this shadow lesson, students use sidewalk chalk to draw each other's shadows on outdoor sidewalks. A game, a song, a craft, and a recipe are all included with the lesson.
Curated OER
Heroes Portrait
Eighth graders investigate art appreciation and Renaissance portraits through time. They create a portrait.
Curated OER
Textured Animals - Stuffed Animal Still Life
After posing their stuffed animals your young artists will sketch them in light colored chalk. After sketching, the second graders fill the animal with lines to show the fur, or texture of the animal. They put a shadow under their...
Curated OER
Torn Paper Portraits: A Value Study
High schoolers "paint" with torn paper!. They focus on the placement of features, facial planes, shadows and highlights using a black and white image. The results from this lesson are visually stunning, and the materials you need to get...
Curated OER
Where journalism meets art
Learners pick out the different techniques in photographs taken. In this photographs lesson plan, students critique patterns, shadows, reflections, and more in the photographs.
Asian Art Museum
Japanese Architecture for Elementary School Students
Art and architecture go hand-in-hand. Kids watch clips from the Hayo Miyazaki film Spirited Away to better understand Japanese customs and architecture. The discussion questions included are very good, and will help you lead the class in...
Curated OER
Stewart's Boxes
Learners collect memorabilia and create shadow boxes in the style of David Stewart. They also compose a poem and explain their identity in an oral presentation. This is a rare lesson that works quite well for a variety of age levels.
Japan Society
Japanese Architecture for High School Students
Japanese architecture is rich in symbolism and culture. Critical thinkers engage in three activities intended to expose them to the beauty of Japan. They read through the book, Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki and watch the film...
Curated OER
Relief Drawing
High schoolers choose an interesting view for an art relief project. They outline their composition, and shade their relief using charcoal pencil. The results are fabulous! One nice thing about this art project is that the materials...
Brookly Museum
Andy Warhol: The Last Decade
Discuss pop-art, Andy Warhol, and the concept of collaborative painting with your class. Learners won't be analyzing Warhol's work, but they will be engaging in group activities to understand the collaboration in art. They'll make a...