Cassie Stephens: fall art projects

Showing posts with label fall art projects. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Woodland Creature Collage Lessons Inspired by Charley Harper!

One of my favorite contemporary artists is Charley Harper. I love his retro style (well, it probably wasn't considered 'retro' at the time!), his flat design and his subject matter: creatures! A while back, I created two fun fall lessons for my second and third graders featuring Charley Harper. These are quick lessons that you should have time to create just before Thanksgiving break.

I love creating mashup lessons with a mixture of artists. Including a nod to Vincent van Gogh just seemed appropriate for this nocturnal bandit. Of course, you could read about Vincent while the kids create by using my book Find Your Way!

What better way to learn about an artist and their life then by...going on adventures with them!?

This lesson does include an intro to Charley Harper so your students can become familiar with his work. They had so much fun drawing their raccoons!

Supplies needed and more details can be found in this blog post!

Both of these lessons are guided drawing projects. For this lesson, you can read more here.

Both lessons use the same art supplies which makes prep SO much easier!

If you are low on time, you could always shorten the project by eliminating the collage portion and just draw and add color straight to the construction paper. Also, cutting down on the size of the paper might help too.

No matter what you and your artists decide to create, I know you'll love learning about Charley Harper and creating your own woodland creature collages!

Let's Draw Sunflowers (and 3 Bonus Sunflower Projects!)

Hey, friends! I'm coming to you with my second sunflower themed lesson because, well, they are just so perfect for this time of year!

Recently, I shared a sunflower printing collage project here that I know you'll love:

This lesson is also perfect for a line and shape review as well as an introduction to collage!

Making your own sunflowers is also super fun! I have done projects like this with my students with kiln fired clay...but this one was done with salt dough clay. Recipe and details here!

If you are looking for a fun printing sunflower lesson with a nod to Warhol, you may want to check this lesson out!

Speaking of artist inspiration, this one was clearly inspired by Vincent van Gogh! To watch the full drawing video, just go here:

Now, more on Payons and how I use them in a moment! I have lots to say about this art supply from Prang. But first...

Did you know that Vincent is one of the seven artists featured in my decide-your-direction art adventure titled Find Your Way? There are seven world famous artists for you to go on adventures with!

I wrote this book for my students...as they worked, they loved to be read to. But I always struggled to find the perfect art history book for them. So...I wrote one! My book also includes art activities and biographies of the seven artists featured. To read snippets, find out more and get a copy, visit here.

Oh! Did I mention that I created over 80 illustrations to bring the book to life?! Yeah...this was a huge project and one that I know you and your artists will love. To learn more about how I read chapter books in my art room, visit here!

I also included actual quotes from the artists...that's what you see here in bold print. The other artists featured are: Hokusai, Frida Kahlo, Claude Monet, Augusta Savage, Leonardo da Vinci and Salvador Dali!

What better way to create artwork inspired by Vincent van Gogh than while hearing all about him in art class!?

Okay, now let's talk art supplies...

For this lesson, I am using Prang's Payons which are water soluable or watercolor CRAYONS! I had never played with them much before until the last couple years and I love them! They go on just like a crayon BUT...with the addition of water, the colors transform into watercolor. The colors are super vibrant and fun.

However...if you don't have those on hand or they are not in your budget, you can do THE SAME THING with Prang's markers! I used ton only buy a certain brand of markers (ahem, I think you know the ones I mean) until I discovered that they seemed to dry out quickly and just seemed like they didn't last as long. When I got my hands on Prang's markers, I was suprised: they are juicy and bright...AND work perfect for a project like this where you just add water! If you aren't familiar with this method, you can see it in action in this lesson of mine here.

Anyway, have fun friends! I hope there's a sunflowery lesson here that you and your artists enjoy!

20 of My Favorite Fall Lessons!

Fall is upon us, y'all! Thank goodness as I'm just about over these super hawt Tennessee temps! For the occasion, I thought I'd put together a big ole blog post of my very favorite lessons for fall. Some of these are advanced and would work well with older students too!

To find each of these lessons, just tap on the links. Nearly all of the lessons have a instructional video for your artists and some come with free downloads. As always, these are for you to use with your artists and I provide them for free. PLEASE do not reuse/repackage them and sell them as your own on TPT. I hate that I have to say that...but it happens.

Okay, grab those fall leaves and let's dive in!

Let's kick things off with this here sculpture lesson! These little pumpkins would be fun for any lil pumpkin to create and they are super easy! Sculpt in one class and paint the next. Done! Find the lesson here.

My students LOVED anything spooky! This lesson is inspired by a contemporary artist. I know your students will also love the paint smearing aspect of this project! Find it here.

Need a quick in-between-lessons project? Or one that's perfect as a sub plan? Then you may want to try this one with your students!

My students LOVE drawing sheets and love creating silly characters! This sheet (and video!) is totally free! Have students practice draw along with me on a dry erase board before diving in on their own Candy Corn Characters. Find the video and this free download here.

Oh man! Did my students love this lesson! We used Gelli plates and Dollar Tree sunflowers to print these on bright and bold copy paper. To give them an Andy Warhol look, we used puffy paint for the outline. These are always show stoppers! You can find the lesson details here.

If you want to share printmaking with your students but don't want the mess...than have you ever tried Marker Printing?! It's so fun and easy! Check it out here, you'll be amazed!

To deck the halls with a little bit of spooky, why not try these big-eyed owls on for size? This lesson incoorporates weaving, collage, watercolor painting and more! You can find the lesson video and details here.

I'm a HUGE fan of Celluclay! For your older students, they could make a pumpkin head planter! Any plastic planter will work...or even a plastic water jug! All the details can be found here.

If not a pumpkin, how about a skull?! I loved making this big guy...and the spider palm plant at the top was just so funny! I think I need to add some eyes to him though, what do you think? All the details here!

Did someone mention eyeballs?! All you need for this is plaster wrap, aluminum foil and paint! I made tons of these for my Halloween tree. You can check out the process video here. Middle schoolers would LOVE this!

Aliens and monsters are always fun to create during this time of the year. I love this lesson because students work BIG and use their bingo daubers (you know I love 'em!). You can check out the lesson details here.

Did someone mention monsters?! These Loud Mouth monsters are inspired by the artist Greg Mike. I also paired it with a lesson for students to have choice in what their monsters could be saying. You can find the handouts for this as well as the video here.

Looking for some collage lessons?! This one is a riot! I love how all of the Franks turn out differently. Let me walk your artists through the process here!

Here's a lesson I did every year because it was always such a hit!

Need a lesson on painting landscapes? I loved this one and each turned out so colorful and happy. We looked at many fall landscapes and the colors of the fall. You can find the lesson details here.

One of the most popular lessons on my blog is this one! When I did it, I used homemade Gelli plates which are a total pain to make! So if you have Gelli plates you'll love this lesson...and it will be so much easier! You can find the details here.

Need a fall collage lesson? I did this one with my first grade and they loved it! We painted, printed and collaged. You can check out the details here.

Need a fun fall weaving lesson? This is it! I would recommend this with small groups if you are working with children in second grade and younger. I did this with my third graders in the spring...so maybe, for this time of year, this would be best suited for fourth grade and up. Lesson here!

More monsters, you say?! Look no further! Here's a lesson I used as a sub plan!

And I saved one of my All-Time Faves for last...this Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night inspired hauted house lesson! All the details here!

And there you have it! Happy fall, y'all!

14 of My Favorite Fall Art Lessons

It's officially my favorite time of the year: FALL! I love it mostly because I'm super into Halloween and all things spooky. I also love that the days are finally cooler...but I do hate that I have less daylight time. Regardless! Fall's my fave and this here post is full of my fave fall art lessons...

AND, like usual, these lessons are free and if you tap the link, you'll be lead to the lesson post which has all the details and (usually) a video for you to share with your students.

So...here you have it: My Favorite Fall Art Lessons!

Let's kick things off with this Van Gogh-inspired haunted house! My students, especially my older ones, LOVE making spooky drawings. All the details can be found right here.

Who doesn't love MONSTERS for this spooky season?! I've got several in this blog post, starting with this one. I created this as a sub plan and my sub and kids loved it! Full video lesson here.

This lesson was one I came up with years ago that I love doing with my third graders and up! Weaving is always a hit. Here's the video lesson here. AND a book I wrote with all sorts of fibers lessons like this one.

Can you believe this is first grade?! I KNOW! Lesson with video and contemporary artist connection here!

I always do paper weaving with first grade and sometimes second graders at the start of the school year. This one is always a favorite. All the details here!

These leaves are PRINTED...with markers! An easy and fun printmaking activity that you can find out all the details about here. Complete with lesson video.

Sunflowers are perfect this time of year. You can find tons of these flowers at Dollar Tree and they are perfect for making these Andy Warhol-inspired prints.

One of my favorite things for this time of year: BLACK LIGHT. It's spooky and fun and the kids LOVE it! This lesson on monsters where we used neon paint and oil pastels was a hit with my fourth graders. Lesson and video here.

Need a collage and shape lesson? WITH contemporary artists connections? Here you go!

Back in olden times, we didn't have these fancy things called Gelli-Plates. No, y'all, we had to make our own! And I share how in this post but...I wouldn't recommend it. It's not vegan-friendly. It's labor-intensive. And they don't last very long. So...splurge on those gelli-plates cuz you can still do this process!