Every free FirstArtBooks lesson, matched to the National Core Arts Standards for visual arts, plus the Common Core math that grid and shape drawing practice. Use it to plan a unit or to show which standards a drawing lesson covers.
The standards below are the 11 visual arts anchor standards. Each free lesson page also has a “For teachers” box with its own standards notes. Treat this map as a starting point and check your district’s grade-level performance standards. The standards are published at nationalartsstandards.org.
Students invent: they turn one shape into a character, choose their own colors, and add a twist to a finished lesson.
Free pages: 26 trace then color pages, 18 coloring pages, 7 shape challenges. For example: Vampire Coloring Page, Baby Snake Coloring Page, Burglar Coloring Page.
Also useful: Shape Drawing Challenge activities · Drawing prompt generator · Character design for kids · Thinking sheets
Students build skill with drawing tools by following a sequence of steps, tracing with control or planning a drawing on a grid.
Free pages: 114 step-by-step lessons, 26 trace then color pages, 18 coloring pages, 19 grid drawings. For example: How to Draw a Mischievous Cartoon Werewolf, Vampire Coloring Page, Baby Snake Coloring Page.
Also useful: Directed drawing in the classroom · Drawing with shapes · How a How to Draw page works
Students add their own details, expressions, color and a background, then revise a drawing after feedback.
Free pages: 114 step-by-step lessons, 7 shape challenges. For example: How to Draw a Mischievous Cartoon Werewolf, How to Draw a Hippo, How to Draw a Frightened Crusty Goober.
Also useful: Common drawing mistakes and fixes · Growth mindset art activities
Students choose their best drawings for a display and explain why they picked them.
Also useful: Host a kids’ art show · Display and store kids’ art
Students mount, label and title their work: the gallery labels in an art show do exactly this.
Also useful: Host a kids’ art show · Turn kids’ art into gifts
Students give an artist talk, share a drawing with the class or make a picture book from their drawings.
Also useful: Make a picture book with kids · Story Studio
Students look closely: they compare an example with their drawing square by square and find the shapes inside a character.
Free pages: 19 grid drawings, 2 puzzles. For example: How to Draw a Baby Bottle Robot The Easy Way, How to Draw a Robot Dinosaur with Grid Drawing, How to Draw a Dolphin Dude.
Also useful: What is grid drawing? · Grid drawing for focus
Students talk about how a character feels and what tells them so. Every lesson has “Talk about it” questions for this.
Also useful: Questions to ask kids about their art · Cartoon expressions
Students reflect on their own drawing: what worked, what they would change and what they learned.
Also useful: Thinking sheets (3-2-1 Reflection, Art Exit Ticket) · How to praise a child’s drawing
Students draw, then write about it: every free lesson ends with a draw-and-write prompt and a “draw the scene next” story starter.
Also useful: Draw and write prompts · Reading response drawing · Art and science activities
Students learn where a method comes from (grid drawing goes back to ancient Egypt) and what real animals and dinosaurs were like.
Also useful: Grid drawing through history · How a drawing book is made · Why kids love dinosaurs
Grid drawing is a math lesson in disguise: rows and columns, coordinates, ratio and scale. See grid drawing math activity for a full lesson.
| Standard | Grade | What students do | Where it happens | Try |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K.G.A.1 | K | Describe where objects are using words like above, below, beside and next to. | Step-by-step lessons (“put the eyes above the nose”) | How to Draw a Mischievous Cartoon Werewolf, How to Draw a Hippo |
| K.G.B.6 | K | Compose simple shapes to form larger shapes. | Shape challenges and step-by-step lessons, which build every character from circles, ovals and rectangles | Shape Drawing Challenge 6, Shape Drawing Challenge 5 |
| 1.G.A.2 | 1 | Compose two-dimensional shapes to create a composite shape. | Shape challenges | Shape Drawing Challenge 6, Shape Drawing Challenge 5 |
| 2.G.A.2 | 2 | Partition a rectangle into rows and columns of same-size squares and count them. | Grid drawings: students count the rows and columns of the grid | How to Draw a Baby Bottle Robot The Easy Way, How to Draw a Robot Dinosaur with Grid Drawing |
| 4.G.A.3 | 4 | Recognize lines of symmetry and draw them. | Robots, faces and monsters, where one side mirrors the other | How to Draw an Angry Bald Man, How to Draw a Grumpy Old Man |
| 5.G.A.1 | 5 | Use a pair of perpendicular number lines (a coordinate system) to locate points. | Grid drawings with numbered rows and columns | How to Draw a Baby Bottle Robot The Easy Way, How to Draw a Robot Dinosaur with Grid Drawing |
| 6.RP.A.1 | 6 | Understand ratios and use ratio language. | Grid drawings copied onto a bigger or smaller grid | How to Draw a Baby Bottle Robot The Easy Way, How to Draw a Robot Dinosaur with Grid Drawing |
| 7.G.A.1 | 7 | Solve problems with scale drawings, including reproducing a drawing at a different scale. | Grid drawings enlarged onto a bigger grid | How to Draw a Baby Bottle Robot The Easy Way, How to Draw a Robot Dinosaur with Grid Drawing |
Plan a lesson with these in the lesson plan builder, or leave a ready-made sub plan.
12 printable pages: six step-by-step lessons, a grid activity, draw-and-write sheets and teacher notes, sent with your welcome email. After that, new classroom printables by email.
