25 of My Favorite Sub Plans for the Art Room!

Hey, friends! 

I'm so excited to be heading to Chicago in a couple of weeks for the National Art Educator's Association conference. Will you be there? It's March 4th - 8th and I'm stoked. Mostly I'm excited because I get to see YOU (hopefully!). I'll be with my friends at Prang in their booth on Thursday, March 5th and Friday, March 6th from 11am-2pm. I'll have a limited number of my books with me to sell and sign...but you don't have to buy a book to drop by. Prang is hosting a Build Your Own Palette party where you can create your own watercolor tray. So be sure and stop by...say hi and grab some swag!

While I LOVE going to NAEA, I hate the preparation for the event. Cleaning my art room, prepping supplies and...coming up with sub plans that I know will be a success for my sub and my students. 

For that reason...I put together a HUGE blog post with all of my favorite sub plan lessons! All of these are totally free, many come with free downloads and videos for your sub to play. So! Just click on the link and visit the post for each of these plans. I've used them all in my art room with success so I know you will too!

First up, we have this Colorful Village sub plan that can be done any number of ways...so feel free to customize to what suits you, your supplies, your sub and your students! In this lesson, my students used neon oil pastels and watercolor paint. 

Now, watercolor is NOT something I would have my sub use (unless I knew the sub and trusted they would have success) so...for the few days that you are gone, the students could work on this portion of the project: drawing 3-D houses and adding color. When you return, you'll have a project ready to jump right into...with watercolor!

An updated version of this lesson is one I did with markers! Instead of using oil pastels or watercolor paint, this lesson, which comes with a free download, makes for fewer supplies. This means less prep for you and your sub!

This lesson was always a wild hit with my students as they loved learning about the artist James Rizzi as well as created their own fun face buildings. This lesson calls for permanent markers and regular coloring markers...and that's it!

For this lesson, you can check out the video as well as the two free downloads here!

To see my students' creations, visit this post!

This fun lesson gets your artists creating drawings of their favorite art supplies! This lesson has two versions: one of the supplies with funny faces and personalities and another one a little more 'realistic'. Find the video lesson as well as free drawing downloads here. 

Tis the season for selfies! Here's a fun self-portrait drawing lesson that is inspired by the artist Romero Britto. You can find the lesson video here!

My students love creating castles! This lesson also involves limited supplies which is perfect for a sub!

This lesson not only comes with a video lesson BUT...tons of free downloads! This lesson is perfect for 2nd grade and up! Check it out here. 

My first graders drew themselves as scientists for years and they are ALWAYS the cutest drawings ever! You can check out the full lesson here.

To go along with that lesson, why not have your artists create these exploding beaker bottles?! I love these pop-up style drawing that transform...and so do the kids. Find the lesson here. 

One year, I had a pirate themed art show and had my students draw themselves as pirates. It was easily one of their favorite activities! You can check out the drawing video here. 

For some coloring sheets to go along with this lesson, check this post out!

To go along with the pirate selfies, here's a fun collage project you and your artists will enjoy!

How about drawing a pirate map?! I've got a video where I'll show your artists how to create their own. Find it here. 

How about a superhero selfie?! Another art show theme that I did was a superhero one. To kick things off, why not have your artists create a superhero selfie?! Find the video lesson here. 

This lesson can be tied with a book like The Dot (I always love having books for my sub to read that tie in with the lesson) and is a fun way to get students to really thing outside the box. I have a free download for this as well as a drawing video. Check all that out here. 

How about having students create little selfies that can later be used to create a school-wide selfie collab! Check out the video lesson here. 

Feeling a little more ambitious? These collages are so much fun for kids of all ages! Check out the video lesson here. 

These collages inspired by contemporary artist Greg Mike always give me so much joy as they are so much fun for the kids to create and funny to put on display. Lesson video here!

A CLASSIC that I did year after year with my students is this pop-up star lesson. It's a great line review. It also involves a writing activity that is precious: the students write about what makes them a star. This is the perfect art show piece so if you are looking forward to that and need a sub plan...here ya go!

This is a lesson that I created for as a sub plan years ago...you can find the details here!

How about a little origami? Man...if you want kids to go bonkers, just teach them how to create these cute cats and dogs with a little drinking dish! All the video lesson details here. 

How about this sweet origami lesson?! It's precious and the kids will love creating it. Video lesson here. 

Let's create some positive word posters to bring cheer to the hallways? Check out this lesson to do just that!

Are these not the cutest little wizards ever?! Let me show your artists how to create them here!

Aren't these Wayne Thiebaud-inspired cakes just the coolest? Wanna have your artists create them while you are away at NAEA? Then just click here!

Alright, friends! There's 25 sub plans for ya, hopefully you'll find something here AND...I do hope to see you at the Prang booth at NAEA on Thursday and Friday 11-2pm! We'll chat, take selfies and create!