Lead With Art

I've collected some of the art education lesson plans, activities and handouts that I could find from my personal files over the 13 years that I taught middle school (grades 5-8) art and leadership. Nearly all of these activities can be adapted for adult use (especially the Art for Stress Relief files) and for family activities. Click on each category title to access the lesson files.

At the end, I've also included links to art education Pinterest boards I'd used to store even more art education ideas during my teaching years.

I recommend starting with the Mindful Mandalas lesson, which can be created with a pen or pencil and copy paper, no skill needed.

Art for Meditation and Stress Relief

Lessons Include:

Mindful Mandalas lesson and video
Zentangle lesson

Drawing Lessons

Lessons Include:

How to draw a pastel flower
How to draw a charcoal landscape
How to draw an ink nature study

Collage Lessons

Lessons Include:

How to make a rose window collage
Leadership headpiece lesson
Masks of the World handout
Paper Manipulation tips handout
Symmetrical Paper Masks handout

Creativity and Leadership Lessons

Lessons Include:

Collaboration and Design Thinking Lesson
Collaboration Words Handout
Collaboration Sketching Exercises
Creativity and Risk Taking Activity
Creativity Takes Time Activity
Determine Your Core Values worksheet
Goal Setting Lesson
How To Set A Goal handout
Leadership Map lesson

Lead With Art Curriculum Guide

Lessons Include:

How to let go of perfection and grow your creativity
Blind Contour Drawing and The Beautiful Oops
Studio Habits of Mind Reflection and Rubric
How to Draw a Mindful Mandala
How To Map Your Leadership, a drawing and reflection activity

Pinterest Board Links:

These are boards where I collected lesson ideas, image resources and more for my classes when I was a teacher.