Art and artists
Line Safari
Go hunting for eight kinds of lines and draw one of each: zigzag, wavy, dotted, spiral and more.
Thinking sheet · Art and artists
Pattern Swatches
Fill six cards with six different patterns, then use your favorite to decorate a drawing.
- Grades
- K–4
- Time
- about 20 minutes
- Topic
- Art and artists
- Kids practice
- pattern, repetition, decorating
What kids do
“Fill each card with a pattern. Stripes, dots, checks… what else can you invent?”
- One pattern in each card
- Decorate a creature with your best pattern
- My pattern rule is…
How to run it
- Point out patterns on clothes, floors and book covers first.
- A pattern repeats: ask kids to say their rule out loud.
- Early finishers can invent and name a brand-new pattern.
Talk about it
- Which pattern looks busy? Which looks calm?
- Can you find one of your patterns in the room?
- How do patterns help artists?
Take it further
Make a pattern quilt with the class: everyone colors one square.
Pairs well with
Free for home and classroom use. Print as many copies as you need.
More thinking sheets
Art and artists
One Shape, Six Ideas
Six circles, six different drawings. Can a circle become a clock, a pizza and a planet?
Art and artists
Mix a Color Wheel
Color the wheel with three primary colors, mix the three in-between colors and record the recipes.
Art and artists
Warm and Cool Twins
Draw the same picture twice: once in warm colors and once in cool colors. How does each one feel?
Free for teachers
Get the free Classroom Drawing Kit
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.