Children’s Art Week – Best school resources for 2024
If you need any more of an excuse to let kids’ creativity loose then Children’s Art Week will do nicely…
- by Teachwire
What is Children’s Art Week?
Children’s Art Week was originally instigated by Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education. In recent years, the association has turned its attention to running annual campaign Let’s Create Art instead, but is still encouraging schools to make their own plans for Children’s Art Week.
When is Children’s Art Week 2024?
Traditionally, Children’s Art Week was celebrated for three weeks across late June and the start of July, but you can schedule your own Children’s Art Week for whenever you like!
Children’s Art Week ideas
Host a special art assembly
Follow the lead of art lead Adele Darlington and use Children’s Art Week to host a special art assembly. All children need is a sketchbook and pencil and they’re a fabulous, valuable, shared experience.
Start a new medium-term art project
Get pupils’ creative juices flowing with these expert medium-term art plans for KS2. Each resource pack contains a full half-term of planning and there’s currently six different themes to choose from, including:
- Self-portraits
- William Morris and the Victorians
- Van Gogh
- Fashion design
- 3D relief sculpture
- Urban life
Warm and cold colours lesson pack
The resources in this art lesson pack will help you teach pupils about warm and cold colours. Deliver it during a single session or break it down and use it over several days.
Children will learn how using warm or cold colours can affect the look and feel of a painting, and then apply this to their own artwork.
Space art
If you’re doing space in science, this project links in perfectly. Use scrunched up paper towel to add bursts of poster paint to black card, then draw an astronaut on white paper before cutting it out and adding it onto the space background.
Browse lots more KS2 art ideas.
‘Dance’ with paint while listening to music
Blend the beauty of art with the joy of music. Ask children to cover manuscript paper with colourful paint marks in response to a piece of music.
Browse lots more KS1 art ideas.
Try a communal river drawing
Creating a layered drawing and ‘wax resist’ on a massive scale by sticking long lengths of masking tape down a role of paper, then use permanent markers and graphite to mark make along the paper’s length.
Next, add oil pastels before adding paint and Indian ink. Finally, peel off the masking tape to reveal your river design.
Shadow puppets
Create shadow puppets then use your whiteboard projector as a way to cast shadows.
Connect your doodles
Watch artist Fabric Lenny connect doodles to create new images. How will your pupils connect their doodles?
Animate a ship
Create a model of the Mayflower ship from simple materials with this video tutorial by digital artist Trevor Wollery then animate your creation and capture it in a GIF.
Poster art
Visit the London Transport Museum’s poster collection in this virtual workshop, then take part in a design challenge to create a persuasive poster encouraging people to get outside and explore London’s green spaces. Download accompanying teacher’s notes too.
Gallery cards
Download these Children’s Art Week activity cards to help you make the most of any gallery visit you do with your pupils. They explore looking, discussing, making and exhibiting are there are activities for individuals, pairs and groups.
Ideas for Early Years
Build a parrot pal
Get crafting on this colourful creature, and make your own parrot pal to perch on your arm. Watch this BBC Bitesize instructional video.
Ladybird lids
These adorable little googly-eyed ladybird lids are quick and easy to make, and can then be used for things like counting or grouping.
Creating colourful collages
Prepare some pre-cut shapes, or let older children cut out their own, then watch them create a kaleidoscope of colour.
Chinese cherry blossom fans
Sugar paper, paint, glue and a bit of adult supervision and kids can create these gorgeous fans.
