There’s a reason that crafts are a popular elementary activity. Art projects give your kids a chance to exercise their creativity and enhance their motor skills, while also empowering them to make artistic decisions and create a finished product that serves as a tangible reminder of their hard work. These charming 1st grade art projects will expose your kiddos to a wide variety of materials and techniques so if you’re looking for a fun way to engage your learners and teach new skills, read on!
1. Fill in colorful emus
Explore the world of colorful emus with your students! Hand them felt-tip markers and guide them in sketching eyes, beaks, and feathers. Add in oil pastels to enhance the creations and watch their imaginations soar.
Learn More: Creative Monsoon
2. Watercolor winter landscapes
Introduce the magic of winter landscapes with watercolors! Let your students blend colors to capture the hues of dawn or dusk while exploring warm and cool palettes. Talk about a beautiful lesson for the chilly season!
Learn More: Elements of the Art Room
3. Owl Vignettes
Who doesn’t love the mystery of owls? Guide your students in sculpting them from clay whilst paying attention to minute details. Be sure to gather the “branches” on a class nature walk beforehand. This intriguing challenge will captivate their creativity and have them hooting with joy!
Learn More: Young School Art
4. Scribble a Spiral
This simple, low-prep art lesson relies on the basic shape of a circle whilst prompting your students to get creative with their color choices. To create this tie-dye-inspired art, have your kids use crayons in bright colors to create a spiral shape. Next, get them to paint over their design with black paint. As they paint, they’ll discover more about water resistance and color contrast.
Learn More: Miss Young’s Art Room
5. Colorful 3-D Houses
Invite your students to design 3D homes that stand out on their page. Engage them in an insightful conversation about perspective and creativity as they draw and paint.
Learn More: Kinder Art
6. City Block Painting
Your readers will love this art activity, which brings the classic book Harold and the Purple Crayon to life. Guide them in using pieces of string to make various line types, just like Harold does. Next, invite them to create a colorful cityscape using the lines they’ve just practiced drawing. What a clever mashup of geometry, art, and reading!
Learn More: Kinder Art
7. Raindrop Painting
This is a magical way to help your kids create unique works of art—with a little help from Mother Nature of course! To begin, guide your students in sprinkling dry powdered paint on paper. Leave the papers out in the rain and let the raindrops dissolve the paint to create beautiful watercolor designs. Each one will be unique—just like your kiddos!
Learn More: Kinder Art
8. Hot Air Balloon Challenge
We guarantee that your little adventurers will be enchanted by these mixed-media creations which are best completed over several days. Guide your kids in drawing and coloring a hot air balloon and then painting a sky background. Next, they’ll need to assemble their balloons using glue and string. As a finishing touch, take and print their pictures so that their balloons can have some familiar passengers!
Learn More: Art With Mrs. Filmore
9. Bubble Gum Blowing Selfies
Who doesn’t love a bubblegum selfie? Challenge your students to recreate their own bubblegum-blowing photos; trying their hand at bringing to life different facial proportions and expressions. Say cheese and let the creativity flow!
Learn More: Art With Mrs. Filmore
10. Mixed Media Bowl of Alphabet Soup
Mix letters and art in a multimedia project! Have your students paint a bowl of soup and a table. Then, they can cut letters from magazines or textured paper and add them to their “soup” along with plastic letters. The addition of a real spoon will be just the thing that rounds off this delicious creation!
Learn More: Art With Mrs. Filmore
11. Claude Monet Water Lily
Let your class embark on an artistic journey with Claude Monet’s water lilies! Guide them through the creation of this masterpiece using tissue paper, card stock, and paint. As they explore various hues, they’ll experience the joy of blending colors like the master himself. This hands-on activity invites creativity and offers an engaging learning experience.
Learn More: Arty Crafty Kids
12. Color Wheel Turkey
Who doesn’t love a colorful turkey? Add some more creativity to Thanksgiving by having your kiddies create color wheel turkeys with markers and colored paper. Help them draw or cut out turkey bodies before challenging them to create and add feathers in every color of the rainbow. Your students can explore the color wheel and apply their own flair.
Learn More: Deep Space Sparkle
13. Glue Line Spider Webs
Giant spider webs in the classroom? Engage your students with glue line spider webs. Start by drawing a spider web with white or hot glue. Once it dries, your kids can paint the segments with different colors and then attach a toy spider. Perfect for Halloween or an animal habitats unit, this project offers a spooky, imaginative thrill.
Learn More: Art Is Basic
14. Symmetrical Snowflakes
Why not teach your students about symmetry with snowflakes? Lead them in a hands-on exploration of mathematics and art as they design symmetrical snowflakes with white and silver craft supplies as well as black construction paper.
Learn More: Buggy and Buddy
15. Shape Monsters
Invite your class to assemble geometric shape monsters! Your students can explore different shapes and combine them to design delightful creatures; each with its own personality. Enhance your kids’ writing skills and extend this task by then inviting them to pair names and stories to each monster.
Learn More: Live Well Play Together
16. Bubble Wrap Sheep
Who doesn’t adore bubble wrap? Transform bubble wrap and black paper into charming wooly creatures with your students’ unique touches. Help your kids use scraps of bubble wrap to “stamp” the wool for an engaging and tactile experience. Then, they can cut out or paint the rest of their sheep before adding their own personal flair to develop the facial features.
Learn More: Mess For Less
17. Circle Art
Are you seeing spots? Work with your kids to create circle art inspired by Kandinsky! Guide them in manipulating different colors and sizes of circles and squares to make vibrant art pieces. You can pre-cut the shapes or get your kiddos to do it to further develop their fine motor skills. This is a simple and low-mess activity, but you could also ramp up the fun by getting your learners to create similar works of art using paint!
Learn More: Toddler Approved
18. Lego Character Portraits
Bring Legos to life with character portraits! Have your students sketch Lego figures and embellish them with details to look like themselves. It’s an exciting drawing lesson with a result that can be used to adorn the walls of your classroom and personalize your space that much more.!
Learn More: Art Projects for Kids
19. Line and Pattern Cat
Giant cats drawn by 1st to 5th graders? This is a dictated drawing exercise meaning that you’ll verbally guide your students from start to finish—giving them an excellent opportunity to hone their listening skills! Once their cats are completed, show them how to divide them into sections and see if they can create a different pattern in each one. A playful, artistic adventure awaits!
Learn More: Deep Space Sparkle
20. Birds in a Cherry Tree
Invite your pupils to explore the beauty of birds in a cherry tree! Provide them with colorful scraps of paper and a few basic guidelines, before having them delve into complementary colors and patterns to create elegant artwork. This tactile collage activity is as colorful as it is educational!
Learn More: Deep Space Sparkle
21. Tissue Paper Flowers
Let’s create tissue paper flowers, shall we? Engage your students in a world of color and texture as they experiment with cool and warm shades. Give each of your students a simple flower template and invite them to bring it to life by gluing on scrunched-up tissue paper.
Learn More: Mess for Less
22. Wonderful Watermelons
Who doesn’t enjoy a slice of watermelon on a warm Summer’s day? Paint your students’ hands with red, white, and green paint and let them stamp out watermelon slices. Then, once their handprints have dried, they can use markers or more paint to add seed details.
Learn More: Crystal and Comp
23. Chalk Oil Pastel Smudging
Let’s open new artistic horizons with chalk oil pastel smudging! Have your learners draw pastel lines on black paper around a paper template. Then, they can carefully smudge them to create glow-like effects. An innovative exploration of artistic techniques awaits!
Learn More: Projects With Kids
24. Polar Bear on Ice
Embark on an icy adventure with the polar bear on ice project! Guide your students to paint serene, icy landscapes—the perfect habitats for polar friends! Next, help them cut out and assemble their polar bears with white paper before adding black facial features and googly eyes.
Learn More: Crafty Morning
25. Book Monsters
The project promotes recycling and creativity, and these little monsters might even spark storytelling and play. Teach your kids how to create book monsters as handy bookmarks! Encourage them to fold paper into adorable monsters that simply clip onto the edge of book pages to mark their place.
Learn More: Easy Peasy and an Fun
26. Handprint Flamingos
Let’s create handprint flamingos and use them as sentimental cards! To do so, help your students connect two pink paper hand shapes before adding legs, necks, and heads, and writing inside. This handcrafted project nurtures creativity and connection; resulting in precious keepsakes.
Learn More: Simple Everyday Mom
27. Rainbow Paper Collage
Who wouldn’t love this vibrant rainbow paper collage? Guide your students in cutting and gluing down layers and textures of colored paper to create a dazzling rainbow. Suitable for various age groups, this masterpiece will help your kids learn their colors and develop their scissor skills while bringing cheer to your classroom!
Learn More: Arty Crafty Kids
28. Yarn and Pom-Pom Tree
Here’s a fresh take on traditional Christmas trees! Your students can simply wind yarn around sticks and decorate with homemade or store-bought pom-poms. Customize the project for different seasons and themes to make an engaging and delightful craft.
Learn More: Dora Does
29. Crazy Hair Day
Dive into the world of lines with crazy hair day art! Your students will explore different types of lines, from straight to curvy, as they design imaginative hairstyles for cartoon faces. So, if you’re looking for a fun way to teach about line forms and encourage creativity, this is the perfect art project.
Learn More: Ow Holmes Art Gallery
30. Black Sheep
Who doesn’t enjoy singing “Baa Baa Black Sheep”? Bring the song to life with this unique black sheep activity. Instead of cotton balls, have your kids each wrap their sheep’s body in black yarn. It’s a joyful spin on the traditional wooly craft that’ll surely enhance their fine motor skills!
Learn More: Craftulate
31. God’s Eye Weaving Craft
Bring your students on a weaving adventure with God’s eye weaving craft! By wrapping different colored yarn around sticks, your students will work on their fine motor skills and eagerly race to bring about the final product.
Learn More: Happy Hooligans
32. Happy and Sad Clowns
Let creativity run wild with a happy and sad clown craft! Have your students choose cool or warm tone hair colors to depict different emotions in their clowns. It’s a playful and imaginative way to explore color theory and feelings.
Learn More: Pinterest
33. Circle Pattern Painting
Invite your littles to create stunning patterned art with this next idea! Using cups as stamps, have them experiment with different sizes; painting alternating circle shapes.
Learn More: Mess for Less
34. Fruit Loop Art
Who knew creating art could be so sweet? By gluing Fruit Loops or Cheerios onto paper, your students can form bigger patterns and shapes while learning about circles. It’s a delectable art project that teaches geometry in the most delightful way!
Learn More: Everyday Chaos and Calm
35. Floral Picture Frame
Invite your students to display cherished memories within this floral picture frame! All they need to do is glue a photo onto a thin wooden rectangle and add decorations around the edge. You can challenge them to stick to a certain pattern or let their imaginations run wild!
Learn More: Fun Money Mom
36. Van Gogh Movement and Rhythm
Explore the world of Van Gogh with swirling lines! Teaching movement and rhythm becomes a creative adventure as your students practice making shapes and lines inspired by the master artist. Each piece of art will quickly become a unique tribute to Van Gogh’s style.
Learn More: Weiner Elementary
37. Checkerboard Pattern Weaving
Weave magic with this next project! Simple strips of paper can be used to create mesmerizing patterns as your students carefully weave an artwork. You can use seasonal or themed colors to fit this easy, mess-free activity into any classroom unit. Your kids will love watching their creations come together as they work!
Learn More: Kids Activities Blog
38. Watercolor Apple Tree Craft
These beauties will be the apple of your eye! These charming, three-dimensional apple trees will teach your kids about design, color mixing, and nature! Help them paint the trees by blending watercolors on coffee filters to begin. Once dry, affix them to toilet paper tube “trunks” and add some colorful pom-pom “apples.”
Learn More: Fun Littles
39. Cardboard Ice Cream Cones
Everyone loves ice cream! By designing their ice cream cones and toppings using colorful paper cutouts, your students can enjoy a sweet art lesson.
Learn More: Crafting a Fun Life
40. Paper Strips Reindeer
Add to the festive joy with this abstract reindeer! To bring it to life, your students will simply overlap brown strips of construction paper before adding horns, a pom-pom nose, and googly eyes. Suitable for holiday cards or decorations, this craft certainly makes a cheerful addition to the season.
Learn More: The Keeper of the Cheerios
41. Paper Bag Monsters
Unleash creativity with paper bag monsters! Your students can design unique monsters from paper bags by playing with the number of ears, horns, or eyes they choose to add. Once finished, these fun creations can be used for puppet shows and read-aloud activities; adding endless possibilities to the classroom.
Learn More: I Heart Crafty Things
42. Sparkly Scale Fish
Your students will create underwater magic as they bring these sparkly scale fish to the surface! Folded papers for scales and added sparkles bring a 3D element to this paper plate craft that’s inspired by the classic book The Rainbow Fish. Dive into a world of glitter and imagination with this special aquatic project.
Learn More: Natural Beach Living
43. Solar System Mobile
A journey through the cosmos awaits your little astronomers! Using colorful spheres and strings, your students will construct a mobile that represents our solar system. Together, you’ll explore the order and relative sizes of these celestial bodies. The finished product will serve as a wonderful visual aid for space exploration and learning.
Learn More: BBC Sky At Night Magazine
44. Sand Art Bottles
Who doesn’t love vibrant sand art? Guide your students in filling clear bottles with different shades of colored sand- watching as they create mesmerizing patterns and designs. Through careful layering, they’ll discover the beauty of color harmony. This project is just the thing to develop their fine motor skills while offering an exciting lesson on texture and aesthetics—and creating a beautiful finished product that would make a perfect gift!
Learn More: Busy Kids Happy Mom
45. Papier-Mâché Fruit Bowl
Let’s plunge into the messy world of papier-mâché! Your students will shape bowls using newspaper pieces, flour, and water, before leaving them to set and then painting them with lively colors. The trick to easily getting that perfect bowl shape? Use an existing bowl as a mold! This tactile experience will be a classroom favorite as it promotes creativity and three-dimensional thinking in an enjoyable way.
Learn More: Red Ted Art
46. Underwater Aquariums
Embark on an underwater adventure with your students! With a shoebox, fish cutouts, seaweed, and shells, they can create their very own aquatic environments. This hands-on art activity is great for not only teaching them about marine life, but also allowing each child to craft their own personal world.
Learn More: YouTube
47. Clay Pencil Holders
Let the molding fun begin! We bet your students will have a blast shaping clay into creative pencil holders. Whether they choose animals or abstract designs, they’ll love having a functional piece of art. This hands-on project is just the thing to nurture their sculpting skills and solidify their understanding of space.
Learn More: Broogly
48. Fairytale Castles
Get ready to have fairytales come to life in your classroom! Encourage your young builders to craft dreamy castles using recycled materials. As they design towers and drawbridges, they’ll learn about architectural elements while connecting to the enchanting world of fantasy.
Learn More: YouTube
49. Nature Printmaking
Introduce the beauty of nature into your art lessons! Start by going on a nature walk with your kids to collect leaves and other natural items. Then, guide your students in using these materials as stamps with paint or markers to create stunning prints! This is an inexpensive, hands-on way for them to learn about plant varieties and colors.
Learn More: Mas & Pas
50. Friendship Bracelets
Friendship bracelets are always crowd-pleasers, but they can be tricky for young kids with limited motor skills. Good news—we found an easy hack that’ll help you introduce your 1st graders to the joy of crafting their own woven bracelets! Using thin cardboard or cardstock, your kids can create their own simple looms. Then, it’s a simple matter of inserting colored thread into the slits until their very own bracelet appears!
Learn More: Cutesy Crafts
51. Beaded Wind Chimes
Create enchanting wind chimes with your students! Your kids can string together colorful beads and bells and then attach them to sticks or dowels. The finished chimes will add a magical touch to the classroom and turn it into a space filled with delightful sounds.
Learn More: YouTube
52. Pirate Ship Building
Ahoy, mateys! Lead your young sailors in constructing pirate ships with recycled materials. They’ll dive into understanding buoyancy and engineering while embracing their inner pirates. It’s a perfect blend of play and learning!
Learn More: YouTube
53. Coffee Filter Butterflies
Unveil the beauty of butterflies with this next idea! Using washable markers and coffee filters, your students can craft lovely butterflies. They’ll start by coloring their coffee filters with markers. Then, using an eyedropper or spoon, they’ll introduce water and watch their marker colors run; exploring color blending and symmetry in the process.
Learn More: One Little Project
54. Dream Catchers
Let’s capture some dreams! Let your students weave their thoughts and aspirations into beautiful dream catchers using yarn, beads, and feathers. Displaying them in the classroom after crafting will surely inspire everyone to chase their dreams.
Learn More: Meraki Mother
55. Collage Faces
Who are we, really? Get ready to explore individuality and diversity with your students by creating collage faces using magazines, colored paper, and fabric. Provide as many different supplies as you can gather and let your kids’ creativity run wild. S They’ll enjoy matching different textures to facial features, and it’s the perfect opportunity to discuss what makes each of us unique.
Learn More: Deep Space Sparkle
56. Marble Painted Planets
Ready to take a galactic journey? Help your kids learn about planets with marble painting! Cut out some large paper circles and oval rings and place them at the bottom of shallow boxes. Then, help your little artists create mesmerizing designs by rolling paint-covered marbles around in the boxes.
Learn More: Tippytoe Crafts
57. Sock Puppets Theatre
Turn those old socks into charismatic characters! Your pupils can stitch or glue on eyes, attach yarn as hair, and then dress their puppets for a class puppet show. This project isn’t just about crafting; it’s a doorway to storytelling, imagination, and performance, all while making use of recycled materials.
Learn More: Cupcakes and Lace
58. Seasonal Tree Art
Four seasons, four masterpieces! Your students will love finger-painting trees in different colors to represent the different seasons. This is a colorful project that will slot right into lessons about the environment and the ever-changing face of nature.
Learn More: Montessori From The Heart
59. Spaghetti Art Mosaics
Who said pasta’s just for eating? Let your students arrange dyed, uncooked pasta in clay to form creative mosaics. Vary the pasta shapes depending on what your kids are interested in or what theme you’d like to introduce. The possibilities are as endless as your supermarket’s pasta aisle.
Learn More: Buggy and Buggy
60. Abstract Salt and Glue Paintings
Mixing salt and wet glue? The result is magic on canvas! This multilayered creation aims to give your little ones plenty of opportunities to show off their creativity. Your kids will start by coloring simple backgrounds, then adding images outlined in glue right on top. While the glue is still wet, they’ll scatter salt over it. Lastly, let them use eye droppers to drip watercolors over the salt to create a color-blending effect.
Learn More: Meri Cherry
61. Recycled Robots
Time to build a bot with recyclables! Old boxes and bottle caps will take on new life as your students engineer their own make-believe robots. It’s a lesson in recycling, problem-solving, and the joy of giving personality to a pile of old parts.
Learn More: Artsy Momma
62. Tin Foil Sculptures
Here’s a project where sculpting is made simple and shiny! With tin foil, your students can create everything and anything from animals to abstract shapes. This accessible, malleable material is a perfect way for your young artists to explore form and structure, as the possibilities are endless!
Learn More: YouTube
63. Shadow Drawing
Here’s an art lesson in light and shadow! By placing objects on the sidewalk and tracing their shadow’s outline on paper, your students can craft unique silhouette drawings. This is a great way to make a science lesson about light and shadow more memorable and engaging.
Learn More: Rookie Parenting
64. Story Stones
Tell a tale with painted stones! Have your students draw or paint characters on smooth stones and then use them as imaginative storytelling props. Enhance literacy and creativity as they craft their own narratives using these small, illustrated tokens.
Learn More: Early Impact Learning
65. Wax Resist Watercolor Painting
This is another multilayer project that will engage your kids as the images reveal themselves. Start by letting them sprinkle wax crayon shavings in various patterns on paper. Next, you as an adult can iron over the wax; melting their designs into a new creation. Lastly, your kids will add their finishing touches by painting over the cooled wax with watercolors.
Learn More: The Artful Parent
66. Classroom Quilt
A classroom quilt is a wonderful way to create a community project that is collaborative but still gives each of your kids the freedom to express themselves. Here’s an easy way to make one in your class—with no sewing required! Have each of your little ones design a paper quilt square and then assemble them as a visible display.
Learn More: The Savvy Age
67. Paper Quilling
Rolling and shaping paper into intricate designs? That’s paper quilling! This delicate art form enhances fine motor skills and opens a world of creativity. Provide your kids with some precut paper strips and instructions, and let their imagination run wild. These make wonderful keepsakes or cards for loved ones.
Learn More: Inna’s Creations
30 Must-Try Activities For Elementary Students: Indoor And Outdoor Ideas