The Teaching Palette

• Zentangles: In a sketchbook or on a piece of paper use pencils and pens to create continuous interlocking patterns. Here’s how others have used it: Woody’s Kaleidocycle NAEA 2008, Squido.com, Flicker Zentangles Group
• Odd art jobs
• Create a bulletin board to display ideas for early finishers.
• Draw a still-life: Pick an art tool from around the room and sketch it! You can also have a box or shelf of still-life objects for students to pick from (i.e., blocks, fake plants, toys, fake fruit, containers).
• Create an imaginary, symmetrical bug
• Color Sudoku
• Doodle Loop: Draw a line that loops over itself in several places. Now fill each new shape with a different pattern. See examples of this along with other ideas in the Doodle Lab
• Value Scale: Draw a long rectangle in your sketchbook and then divide it into 5 equal sections. Mark one end white and the opposite end black. Now try to color each space in from lightest to darkest. Challenge: Create another value scale, but use a colored pencil to fill it in such as red or blue.
• Art poster puzzle
• Utilize a Friendly Loom
• Create reading corner / area where individual students can pick a book to read on a variety of art topics.
• Create a free draw area with How To Draw books, paper and a variety of media for independent exploration.
• Check out laptops for a digital area (if you can anticipate early finishers)
• Puzzles
• Fill out a paper or electronic assessment form
• Work in Sketchbooks:
  • Sketchbooks in Schools: Using sketchbooks to inspire, motivate and engage (Amazing resource for using sketchbooks. Topics covered include, but are not limited to constructing sketchbooks.
  • 149 Sketchbook Ideas
  • Sketchbook Ideas
  • Incredible Art Department: Sketchbook Ideas Elementary or Middle/High School or  High School/Advanced Placement
  • ArtTeacher’s Resource Sketchbook Assignments for High School
  • Sketchbook Ideas compiled from The Getty

Large Group Activities:

• Online quiz games in MyStudiyo and PhotoPeach
• Start a book.  Check out these read-aloud recommendations for elementary and for older students.
• Explore art in Google Maps. Find some ideas in this SchoolArts article.
• Play Art Toss Ball, Art Memo, Flexible Hexabits, Pictionary on the whitboard, Sculptorades, Zolotopia, or Teledraw.
• Art Vocab quiz. Give a choice is it 1, 2, or 3 (list possible answers on board with corresponding #).  All hold up number of their answer (all participate)
• Music & art integration ready-to-use resources.
• Show a short video from our YouTube and Vimeo favorites
• Free Online Games by Artsology or explore these other online art games
• Magic Pocket Name
• Show Slideshare “Brilliant Examples of Photo Manipulation Art“
• Put up an art print and have students describe what they see in writing. Another option for younger students is to work in groups and generate a list of words they think describes the picture.
• Hold up artwork for a show and tell
• Critique artwork
• Quiz about art concepts to get to line up.
• Sculpture Freeze:  Have your students use their body to create a human sculpture.  Get specific by asking for a particular type of pose (symmetrical/asymmetrical, precarious/stable, seated/standing)
• Play Simon Says for line vocabulary.  Students use their bodies to create a line (vertical, horizontal, spiral, diagonal, etc).
• Eye Spy.  Ask students to find examples of art throughout the room or create your own Eye Spy.
• Swat Game.  Write art terms on the board. Group the students in teams. Read a definition for an art term that is listed on the board.  Armed with fly swatters, the first student to “swat” the correct word wins the round.  Fly swatters are then handed to next student on team to continue play.
• Sing some art songs (Red, Yellow, Blues You Tube Video)
• Show an art teacher-created video from Art Class with Ms S or Fugleflicks