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Imagination is more important than knowledge - Einstein

Bridging art and 21st-century technology, Creativity Express provides educators and parents with a comprehensive curriculum. Sixteen animated lessons provide students with the tools they need to understand, interpret and create meaningful art. Our art guides - Tickles, Furnace, and Ruby - keep students emotionally connected to the lesson content and motivated to learn. Creativity Express is most appropriate for grades 2-8, though many adults report that they are engaged by the curriculum as well.

Creativity is a key part of the educated mind

Through cleverly designed challenges and activities, our award winning program subtly tests learning, knowledge and progression. Interactive challenges reinforce the concepts presented and allow application of those concepts, all the while offering rewards as well as other incentives and motivators. Creativity Builders and Art Factory Lesson Plans provide the basis for hands-on activities. As Creativity Express is web-based, managing student accounts and progress is simple, organized, and efficient through our comprehensive Teacher Account Center⿻

The subscription flexibility and online content access resolve the installation and compatibility problems of traditional software. Internet delivery allows teachers, parents, and students access our content virtually anywhere. We offer multiple subscriptions tailored to meet the varying needs of parents and educators including Whiteboard/Open Access licensing and flexible pricing options. See our signup page for details, and browse the questions below for solutions to specific situations. Upon purchase a Welcome Letter arrives via email with detailed instructions on how to fully enjoy and utilize Creativity Express either at home or in the classroom.

Flexibly designed to meet your educational needs

Madcap Logic is an educational content provider with copyright and licensing restrictions. These licensing and legal specifications are found in our Terms and Conditions to which you are bound upon login to Creativity Express.

We are flexible in meeting the needs of our customers so please contact us if you or your organization has a specific request. Special discounts are given for larger charter, virtual or traditional school system orders.

Lesson Overview
The first two lessons of Creativity Express begin with the basic questions children ask about art. What is it? Why is it made? What does it mean? Who makes it? How do I understand it? Children begin by exploring the 'Language of Art'.

What is the Language of Art? Art is a universal way to communicate visually. There are no verbal barriers. From cave paintings describing a successful hunt, to classical portraits and landscapes, to modern art and sculpture, all artists are conveying a story, a message or a feeling through the language of art. Throughout Creativity Express, children learn to record their ideas and feelings using the language of art.

Children are introduced to Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, Salvador Dali and Paul Gauguin. These artists shared a passion for art and innovation, as well as having very individual styles. Through these historical figures children learn that failure is an essential part of the learning process on the way to finding their own individual style.

Creativity Builder Lesson Plans

Creativity Builder #1 - Create Your Own Language
In some cultures, art is closely related to language. For example, Egyptian hieroglyphics use pictures, or symbols, instead of words.

In this assignment, children create their own language, or “code” for common words, then build sentences. Then they lay out and design these symbols into a final artwork.

Vocabulary: Language of Art, symbol, Egyptian, hieroglyphics, message, visual elements, media, figurative, abstract, composition

Objective: Use visual elements to create symbols for words, then create symbols for multiple words to build sentences.

Creativity Builder #2 - Make a Comic Book
Stories are often told through the combination of visuals and words. But in this assignment, we’ll use only the visual language – just like Michelangelo did on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Children will create their own comic book, relating stories using pictures from current class subjects, or stories from their own experiences.

Vocabulary: comic book, storytelling, emotions, sequence, language of art, media

Objective: Use the language of art to create a story with a clear sequence of beginning, middle and end, then employ the proper media to develop the concept and story line.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Language of Art Lesson Plan #1 – How to make a Sketchbook
This lesson touches on the concept of a language of art, the visual language. It will introduce children to the basics of making a hand made book to record that language. The finished product will allow the children to use these books as visual journals for sketching, writing poems, technical notes or any other art related information. They can also be used as a communication between teacher and student. This sketchbook should be put together with a personal touch.

Vocabulary: journal, sketchbook, stitching, inspire, explore, elements, elaborate, influence, mistakes

Objectives: • Create and assemble a sketchbook from assorted materials • Describe and demonstrate the process of simple bookmaking • Use various media to create the cover design of the sketchbook • Create and implement, from a list of ideas, projects that are worked on outside the classroom • Draw out or sketch ideas from technical notes, dreams, or assignments

Language of Art Lesson Plan #2 – Descriptive Words and You
After participating in a discussion about the Language of Art as a visual language and Language Arts as a written language, children will be involved in a two-part assignment. The first will teach children about adjectives and descriptive phrases to help describe the color, shape, line and mood within works of art. The second will have children creating a drawing based on adjectives and descriptive words from a friend or fellow student.

Vocabulary: descriptive phrase, work of art or artwork, color, shape, line, feeling

Objectives: • Use language arts to learn about descriptive words and their use to describe works of art • Create their own list of adjectives and descriptive words • Use the words they have explored to create a work of art

Language of Art Lesson Plan #3 – Who Are You?
The children will create an artwork using mixed media to structure a collage. The collage will be constructed in stages to build up depth and illustrate, in layers, the chosen descriptive words. We recommend completing Language of Art Lesson Plan #2 before beginning this project.

Vocabulary: mixed media, collage, adjectives, materials, descriptive, wax resist, color wash

Objectives: • Develop a wide range of adjectives and descriptive phrases • Identify and describe elements of art (color, shape, line, feeling) • Create artwork that adheres to the specific elements and chosen adjectives and descriptive phrases • Create a project while experimenting with different, mixed media techniques

Language of Art Lesson Plan #4 – Taking a Risk
Even at young ages, children start to gather artistic information that will influence their future style. While that style is developing, the child should be introduced to different styles and mediums. Just as Leonardo da Vinci worked in multiple mediums, it is important for children to find out what works best in certain situations. Exploring different materials while developing a style can feel risky. But it is those choices that allow children to find the artist within.

This lesson is separated into two parts. These assignments allow children to take risks and discover along the way. Note: This project can be geared to the younger grades by simplifying the procedures.

Vocabulary: risk, choice, non-objective, silhouette, obscure, complex, reflect, explore, diverse, progression, enlarge, stretch, descriptive, expressive, variations, boldness, exaggerate, visual elements, negative space

Objectives: • Create simple shapes from descriptive words • Cut out shapes and utilize the positive and negative spaces created • Manipulate objects traded with other children and incorporate them into their work • Stay flexible and creative with the materials they ultimately use

Language of Art Lesson Plan #5 – Some of My Favorite Things
In this lesson we are exploring the concept of a passion as discussed in the Language of Art. In a child's life, a passion could include sports, an after school activity, a favorite subject, a family activity, or hobby. Some passions, like a favorite subject, can be enjoyed as individuals, while others, like sports, may be observed in groups. Our assignment allows any child or group of children to link a passion with the creation of a work of art. When children truly enjoy a certain activity, they give a lot of effort to see themselves succeed. We will give children the chance to see how passionate activities can mix with art assignments to help create an artistic style.

Vocabulary: passion, style, collaborate, identify, represent, spontaneous, deliberate, similarities, emotion, express

Objectives: • Discover how passion can be applied to their art work through outside activities • Learn to work as a group and collaborate on their input about passion and a project • Identify how groups can have the same passion and how they should be represented in the assignment • Formulate ideas in a sketchbook so they construct a plan to follow • Learn about and create a series to illustrate their passion

Lesson Overview
Artwork tells a story using emotions, feelings and pictures. 'Messages in Art' teaches children to ask questions when viewing art. How does it make you feel? What is it saying? What is the story that it tells?

Through their art, artists are able to communicate stories, messages, events and personal experiences. We understand more about the artist, when they lived and what they were trying to say, by looking deeper into their artwork. In 'Messages in Art', children uncover the meaning of Michelangelo's illustrations on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

As children learn to understand art through these stories and messages they can create their own projects with historical context or a basis in emotions and experiences. The stories and messages children create and the ideas they illustrate can become a major influence in their visual art. Allowing them to use those influences can be a great form of artistic communication. They will see ways to use their messages and stories to begin to understand the visual art messages of others.

Creativity Builder #3 - Warning Signs
Signage is often easiest to understand when it’s designed to work without words. Some signs of this type convey a warning, like the leaping buck that reminds you to watch for deer crossing the road. Others call your attention to something appealing, like the image of a cake that hangs over a bakery.

In this activity, children will use pictures to create their own signs.

Vocabulary: sign, signage, warning, message, communication, visual art, convey, silhouette, element, media

Objective: Design a sign that conveys its message without using words.

Creativity Builder #4 - Monkeying Around
An artist’s feelings about his subject can dramatically affect the stylization used when portraying that subject. This lesson encourages children to explore those boundaries, by giving them an opportunity to caricaturize a person they know with the features of an animal.

Vocabulary: caricature, quirks, personalities, stylization, variety, exaggerate, subject, traits, props, symbolism, portray, figurative, non-figurative, reveal, media

Objective: Create a caricature of a person that combines human characteristics with animal characteristics; use non-figurative elements as symbolism in portraiture.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Messages in Art Lesson Plan #1 – Your Own Story
While we all can look at the same thing, we don't all notice the same things or think about what we see in the same ways. This activity shows children how one work of art can spark a variety ways to think about the message of that art. You may want to refer back to the section in the Messages in Art lesson that talks about story and message in a work of art.

Vocabulary: story, designated artist's name, oil on canvas, plot, rising action, falling action

Objectives: • Think of a story based on a work of art • Develop a story with a plot that has a beginning or rising action, middle or climax/highest point of interest, and end or falling action • Support the idea for the story with evidence from the artwork

Messages in Art Lesson Plan #2 – There's History in Your Masterpiece
Throughout the Message Movie, our two animated characters are viewing examples of world famous art and learning about the messages that are seen in them. Do people see the same images when their eyes are closed and stories are told? This lesson will incorporate cross-curricular lessons that include history along with art history. Connecting world history with the art class allows children to make self-imaginative pictures while listening to historical stories. Those self-imagined pictures will then be created in a 2D medium of choice.

Vocabulary: history, story, include any historical vocabulary words relating to the story

Objectives: • Translate a history lesson into a creative project • Illustrate this story through the chosen media • Utilize the media successfully to convey the idea

Messages in Art Lesson Plan #3 – It's Bugging Me!
As we learned in the Messages in Art lesson, emotions conveyed in art can be very powerful. Including ideas or emotions is one way that artists force us to perceive things differently. This lesson combines the physical structure of bugs with an emotional response.

Vocabulary: emotion, form, shape, variety, sculpture, additive sculpture, two-dimensional, three-dimensional

Objectives: • Combine found objects in unusual ways • Retain the basic bug look while communicating an emotion • Include the parts of the bug's body: head, legs, antenna, etc. • Apply imaginative details beyond the realistic details of a bug

Messages in Art Lesson Plan #4 – That's My Comic Book!
Stories can be told and illustrated in different ways. Comic books are one way artists illustrate their stories. Comic book artists use their imagination to develop their stories in two languages; both the written language and the visual language. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, however, uses only the visual language. Artists can tell a story through a sequence of panels. In this assignment, children will have the opportunity to create their own picture or comic book.

Vocabulary: comic book, sequence, storytelling, language of art, media

Objectives: • Use visual arts as the language of art to create a story with a beginning, middle and end • Employ the proper media to develop the concept • Create multiple pictures in a sequence to portray their story

Lesson Overview
Lines are easy to draw at any age. However, to truly understand their flexibility, children should have the opportunity to delve more deeply.

The 'Line' lesson introduces children to Edgar the Mouse. Through his animated adventures children encounter various styles of lines and learn how artists use them to convey emotions: thin lines to convey lightness and happiness, thick lines to convey heaviness or sadness, scratchy lines to help show fear, and jagged lines show anger. A fun trip to the office of Dr. Linear gives them 'Straight Talk About Lines'.

Moving forward to more complex applications of lines, children learn how artists are inspired by nature. Then, the lesson covers the use of implied lines and line of sight found in famous artworks.

Creativity Builder #5 - Lost In a Maze
This project stresses freedom and ease of use with lines. Some lines are soft and curving, and others are jagged and angular. In this lesson, students will use lines of different types to create a maze. They can make up designs of their own or complete one of the mazes from the Idea Gizmo.

Vocabulary: maze, line, style

Objective: Draw interior lines in a maze that reflect the style of the outer walls. Design a maze that has some dead ends and at least one path to the exit.

Creativity Builder #6 - Edgar's Further Adventures
In the lesson, we followed Edgar the mouse through a story that used many different types of lines. Using expressive lines as described in the Line Lesson (straight or jagged, curved, thick, thin, scratchy), children will make up a new scene for Edgar and draw it with lines that reflect the emotions he's feeling.

Vocabulary: lines, mood, emotion, scene, reflect, canvas, convey

Objective: Create an interesting situation for a fictional character, and assign an appropriate emotion to the character. Use lines of different styles to reflect the emotions of a character.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Line Lesson Plan #1 – Exploring Line
In this lesson, the children will name and create many types of lines. They will then use a variety of lines to form designs. The project is abstract and similar to Pop Art with very bright colors and free lines. This activity gives the children the freedom to explore lines and discover what they like.

Vocabulary: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, parallel, abstract

Objectives: • Demonstrate the many types of lines • Create a piece of art using lines as the basis

Line Lesson Plan #2 – Lines in Many Cultures
After viewing and analyzing the use of line in the artwork of several cultures, children will use the element of line in designing and producing a piece of art that shows self-expression.

Vocabulary: ceremonial, culture, artifacts, names of cultures used in art examples

Objectives: • See and discuss the use of line in the art of other cultures • Create a personal work of art using line design

Line Lesson Plan #3 – Wire Sculpture
In this lesson, children will explore the concept of an "implied line" in their artwork by making a three dimensional work of art out of a piece of wire. They will also discover how only one continuous line may be used to create art.

Vocabulary: implied line, continuous, two-dimensional, three-dimensional

Objectives: • Discover that lines are not only found on a two-dimensional surface such as paper, but can also be three-dimensional • Create a three-dimensional work of art • Discover that art can be created using only a single line

Line Lesson Plan #4 – Lines of Emotion
In the Line lessons, Tickles and Furnace view works of art in which artists express emotion through lines. In this printmaking activity, children will learn to use lines to portray emotions and communicate their story. The creative techniques of printmaking allow the children to produce an identical image several times, thereby focusing on the main subject of the printing block. The printing process then becomes the means to tell a story expressively.

Vocabulary: printmaking, pattern, line, emphasis, variety, brayer, proof

Objectives: • Explore the techniques of block printing • Create a collage/print composition • Incorporate an emotion into the work of art through the use of line

Lesson Overview
Understanding the difference between shape and form can be somewhat confusing for children. We use these terms casually in varying definitions. In the Shape and Form lesson, we delineate between these two concepts in the strictest artistic sense. This enables children to comprehend the meanings of the words when creating their own art.

Line-Shape-Form. This is where the lesson begins, with the sequence of artistic transformations to create dimension in art. It's easy for children to see how sculptures have form, but how to you create the illusion of form on a flat sheet of paper? 'Shading in a Shape' demonstrates how shapes take form by lighting or shading them. Understanding silhouettes involves rotating an ice hockey playing Furnace and then snapshotting his form.

What about the Masters? In 'A Shady Looking Figure' children manipulate the different stages of Michelangelo's artistic process, showing the transformation of simple shape into of what is now a finished artwork.

Creativity Builder #7 - Shape Into Form
In this lesson, children will be introduced to the Japanese art of origami and transform a flat piece of paper– which is just a shape - into a form.

Vocabulary: shape, form, sculpture, technique, origami

Objective: Understand and explain the difference between shape and form. Convert shapes into forms, as is done with origami.

Creativity Builder #8 - Standing Tall
Forms are often represented by shapes. The shaded drawing of a pear shown in Shape and Form, seeArt 'Creating a Good Shape', is an example. In this activity, children will transform a flat drawing (shape) into a sculpture (form) using a model sheet as a guide.

Vocabulary: shape, form, model sheet, sculpture, graphite, accuracy

Objective: Understand and explain the difference between shape and form. Draw a model sheet with poses of a character from more than one view. Create a sculptural form from a model sheet.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Shape & Form Lesson Plan #1 – A Silhouette of Shadow
We have worked with shadows in other lessons, but in this lesson we are looking at shadows from a different perspective. A shadow is two-dimensional, but can represent a three-dimensional form. This project allows the children to explore the concept of shape and form with the same object. By looking at a three-dimensional form, the children will create a two-dimensional silhouette.

Vocabulary: two-dimensional, three-dimensional, silhouette, shape, form

Objectives: • Observe a three-dimensional form and translate it into two dimensions • Trace a form into a shape • Create a finished silhouette out of the three-dimensional form

Shape & Form Lesson Plan #2 – From Form to Form
The Shape and Form lessons clarify the difference between a shape and a form. These terms are often misused. We frequently say the word shape when we are referring to an object's form. For example, the shape of an apple is a circle, but the form is a sphere! Another complication is the introduction of implied form. A picture of an apple may be two-dimensional, but it still implies that the apple is a form and not a shape. This assignment will help clarify these terms and their correct use.

Vocabulary: implied form, compare, two-dimensional, three-dimensional, shape, form

Objectives: • Compare a shape and a form • Recognize the implied form of an object • Manipulate clay to create a form • Display the different examples together

Shape & Form Lesson Plan #3 – Geometric or Organic
In this assignment we take the study of forms a step further. Most organic objects can be found in nature, most geometric objects are man made. For example, a flower's form is organic, a mailbox would be considered geometric. However, those principles do not always apply! For example, a crystal may be geometric, and a stuffed animal may be organic in form. The children will explore this concept by making a collage.

Vocabulary: geometric, organic, form, collage

Objectives: • Learn the difference between geometric and organic • Place objects in categories depending on their implied form • Create a collage illustrating these categories

Shape & Form Lesson Plan #4 – Fill Out the Forms!
It is sometimes helpful to see forms without detail or design. It gives children the opportunity to see just the form without confusion of a pattern. In this activity, the children will create a sculpture using found objects. But, in this case, they will paint the sculpture one solid color to accentuate the forms.

Vocabulary: sculpture, form, solid color, texture, found objects

Objectives: • Collect found objects that are good examples of form • Assemble the objects into a standing sculpture • Display the sculpture in a solid color to show its form

Lesson Overview
Children begin learning about color with its foundation - value. It is important that children understand the use of the word "value" in art. This lesson simplifies the complex concept by exploring and discovering what happens when we look closely at the values in artwork.

From old black and white movies to a talking zebra, children discover the difference that black and white can make. They play hide-and-go-fish with value and value contrast to emphasize different elements within art. Using value to create lighting is explored through famous artworks and the help of Tickles' 'valuemometer'.

Creativity Builder #9 - Scramble Your Hues
Children apply dots of light and dark values to a black and white picture, demonstrating how the use of different values creates a unified whole picture. Children select a black and white image, arrange random hues on top of that image, and discover that their image is still very recognizable. This activity shows children that we rely heavily on value to make visual images readable.

Vocabulary: color, value, hue, scrambling, variations

Objective: Identify light and dark values within colors. Add hues to a black and white image while preserving the original value structure.

Creativity Builder #10 - This Sounds Shady
Children learn the three basic drawing techniques that are used to create values: hatching blending and stippling. Working with a subject of their choice, they will try their hand at all three techniques, and they'll have an opportunity to develop new techniques of their own.

At the conclusion of this lesson, children will find themselves drawing forms more confidently and convincingly.

Vocabulary: hatching, blending, stippling, value, form, shading

Objective: Recognize light and dark values from observation and indicate them in their drawings. Use the hatching, blending, and stippling techniques when desired to indicate lighting and form.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Value Lesson Plan #1 – How Pastels Can Make a Gray Scale
Pastels are the key to this introduction to Value. You may wish to refer back to a section of the Value Lesson while doing this activity. One of the best methods to see value is to create a gray scale. A gray scale shows multiple values of gray from light to dark. Children should use only white and black pastels to create their gray scale chart. This value gray scale chart will consist of about 8 blocks. The blocks of value will then aid children during a simple arrangement in a still life activity.

Vocabulary: value, pastels, gray scale, still life, abstract, spray fixative

Objectives: • Learn how to use pastels • Discover the technique of using pastels on rough paper • Explore the mixing of pastels to create a gray scale • Observe basic still life shapes and draw them, choosing the values from the gray scale chart • Create a simple, abstract image of shapes and values represented in the still life

Value Lesson Plan #2 – Shadows Show Values
The children will be working outside for this project. The outside shadows chosen for this activity should have a variety of shapes that can also include negative space. Working with shadows will help the children discover a wide range of natural values. By combining the two elements, negative space and natural values, the children will gain a better understanding of what they see.

This activity will introduce a new medium, conte crayon. Conte crayons are similar to pastels but are made into a harder composition that does not come off the paper as easily. We will show the children how to create a variety of values. They should add and layer different amounts of the conte crayon to give a darkness to certain values, especially the shadows.

Vocabulary: negative space, conte crayon, natural value, value scale, value shapes, abstract

Objectives: • Choose a shadow area that shows a variety of shapes including the negative space • Learn how to draw and create a watercolor-like effect with conte crayon • Use the medium to darken areas of the drawing and create the richness of shadows • Create a work of abstract art originating from a natural form

Value Lesson Plan #3 – Drawing Values From Desert Photographs
In this activity, we will introduce values found in black and white photographs. Those values create shapes to help the children recreate the photograph but not in fine detail. As the children use a variety of lead pencils, they will create a value drawing of shapes, shadows and forms seen in the desert photographs. The shapes are created by the many different values in the photograph. Children should try to identify the main values, as many as their pencils will allow. Instruct the children that the best way to achieve a balance is to focus on light, medium and dark values. These should help simplify the variety of shapes in the landscape.

Vocabulary: elements, simplify, identify, recreate, torchon or tortillon, tone, value, shadows

Objectives: • Learn to focus on light, medium and dark values • Create shapes using only values

Lesson Overview
Who invented the color wheel? Spoiler alert - it was Isaac Newton.

Although children work with color in art all the time, it is important to stop and really look at color to gain a better understanding. We begin this lesson with a fundamental study of how the color wheel works by teaching hue, saturation and value in a whole new way. An interactive color wheel allows children to mix and match using all three variables.

Then we ask, What does color do in a work of art? How does the color we choose affect the outcome of our own artwork? Children learn monochromatic and analogous colors, and the use of complementary colors for visual effect in artwork and signage.

The Color lesson gives children a solid foundation from which to build their own work.

Creativity Builder #11 - Anything But Plaid
Anything But Plaid provides an outline of a chameleon – nature's own quick-change artist. A chameleon blends in to its surroundings when it needs protection. Our chameleon can blend in using monochromatic or analogous colors to its surroundings (color him to match a bed cover), or stand out using complementary or contrasting colors (a bright yellow chameleon is easy to spot on top of the TV).

In this activity, children design color schemes for their own chameleons to make them either blend in with the surroundings or stand out.

Vocabulary: analogous, monochromatic, complementary colors, chameleon, camouflage

Objective: Understand the concepts of complementary colors, analogous colors, and monochromatic colors, and apply those concepts to create a desired effect.

Creativity Builder #12 - Make Up a New Holiday
Children create their own logo or sign for a fictional holiday, and experiment with the use of use visual imagery as a means of communication. Complementary colors will be used to draw attention to their designs. This activity will help children convey their own thoughts and feelings while utilizing color to its fullest.

Vocabulary: logo, color wheel, complementary colors, combines / combinations, attention, graphic shapes, signage, visual imagery

Objective: Use complementary colors to call attention to their artwork; create visual imagery that communicates a message.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Color Lesson Plan #1 – A Complement to You!
Complementary colors allow artists to draw attention to areas where they want the viewer to focus. In the Color lesson, we discussed complementary colors and their use in banners and team colors. In this activity the children will be creating their own banner. It will give them the opportunity to draw attention to something that is important to them, while giving them an example of the impact complementary colors can make.

Vocabulary: emphasize, complementary colors, combinations, symbols

Objectives: • Use two complementary colors to create their project • Draw and cut out images that portray their interests • Make a connection between complementary colors and the emphasis they create

Color Lesson Plan #2 – Hide and Seek
We talked about the ability to emphasize or de-emphasize an area of a picture by using color. The monochromatic or analogous color schemes will hide an object while a complementary color scheme will emphasize an area. In this assignment, the children will be creating two works of art, each using a different color scheme. They will then compare and contrast these color schemes to better understand the use of each.

Vocabulary: emphasize, de-emphasize, analogous, monochromatic, complementary colors

Objectives: • Create a monochromatic or analogous color combination • Create a complementary color combination • Compose color themes on line drawings provided to portray their story • Work with the color schemes to either hide or show an object in their work of art

Color Lesson Plan #3 – The Musical Color Wheel
As we learned in the Color Lesson, Newton found out how colors relate to the sounds of music. This discovery enabled artists to use a color wheel to mix and combine multiple ranges of color. This also gives us the opportunity to discover combinations of color and music. This assignment will focus on the visual representation of music, notes and color. The children should let their imaginations run wild and create a spontaneous work of art to make Sir Isaac Newton proud!

Vocabulary: color Wheel, musical notes, Sir Isaac Newton, shapes, abstract

Objectives: • Create a music-inspired work of art with watercolor pencils • Decide what colors and lines are to be used to create a flow with the music • Create shapes using water over the watercolor pencils that correspond to the music • Spontaneously alter their artwork depending on the changes in the music

Lesson Overview
Colors convey different emotions, but how? In 'Warm & Cool Colors' children learn how colors can represent feelings. For example, most people relate dark blue to sadness, and many people connect red to excitement or anger. There are personalities associated with colors as well. In animation, red characters tend to be energetic, passionate and fiery.

How do artists use warm and cool colors to create emphasis in their work? What emotions do certain colors represent? Children explore Pablo Picasso's use of color throughout his career and discover why they're sure the red car will win the race. Understanding the differences between warm and cool colors in this way will help children express their own ideas more clearly and create more meaningful projects.

Creativity Builder #13 - Colors In Your Cart
A trip to the grocery store will show you a variety of the warm and cool colors that are used on different products. KitKat candy bars are wrapped in red. Junior Mints has a green logo, and Nestle Crunch bars are packaged in blue. M&M's come in bags of yellow and brown, but during the holidays the bags are red and green.

In this activity, children design wrappers for real or imagined candy or other products, using warm and cool colors to help describe the product. Exploring the emotional differences between warm and cool colors helps children create more meaningful artwork.

Vocabulary: warm colors, cool colors, logo, invent, invention, mock-up

Objective: select warm and cool colors to make a product design more descriptive; understand the reasons behind some of the color choices they see on various products.

Creativity Builder #14 - Colors In Tights
What child doesn't wish for superhero powers? In this activity, children design a new superhero, select an appropriate color for their superhero, and decide what personality and powers complement their superhero's color scheme. The choice of warm or cool colors should emphasize his or her superpowers.

Vocabulary: warm colors, cool colors personalities, passionate, radiate, unique, abilities, complement, represent, emphasis/emphasize, costume

Objective: Relate warm and cool colors to various personalities and abilities, Understand what warm and cool colors can contribute to their own artwork.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Warm & Cool Colors Lesson Plan #1 – Science of the Rainbow
Children will demonstrate their understanding of the spectrum (rainbow) by creating a weaving to demonstrate the order of the spectrum. They will create a second weaving to reinforce the relationship of warm and cool colors. As a science extension they may create a color disk that demonstrates the blending of the colors of the spectrum to form white light.

Vocabulary: spectrum, white light, wavelength, warm and cool colors, warp, weft

Objectives: • Create a weaving to demonstrate an understanding of the colors in the spectrum • Use a second weaving technique to explore the relationship between warm and cool colors • Make a color disk to demonstrate the concept of white light

Warm & Cool Colors Lesson Plan #2 – Descriptive Warms and Cools
After viewing the Creativity Express lesson on warm and cool colors, the children will brainstorm a list of adjectives describing these colors. Then they will use these words in a creative writing assignment that compares and contrasts the effects of these colors. The second part of the lesson will be to create a tissue paper mosaic to demonstrate the effect of the color choice on art.

Vocabulary: warm colors, cool colors, advance, recede, mosaic

Objectives: • Compose a narrative story comparing and contrasting summer and winter activities by using warm and cool adjectives that describe them • Select warm or cool colors to demonstrate the effect they have on a work of art

Warm & Cool Colors Lesson Plan #3 – Warm Thoughts and Cool Ideas
After reviewing warm and cool colors, children will create an abstract painting that expresses an emotion. They will then experiment with changing that expression of emotion by using different colors.

Vocabulary: emotion, abstract, warm and cool colors

Objectives: • Create an abstract work of art that expresses an emotion • Observe the effect of changing the color palette

Lesson Overview
In 'Making Paint', children are introduced to the way in which painting styles and methods changed dramatically with the invention of paint in tubes. We begin by answering the questions: What is color made of? How did these colors evolve over time? How are individual pigments made? How was Van Gogh's artwork made possible by the invention of paint from tubes?

Children travel the timeline of 'Color Evolution', and learn about the speed and mobility having paint from tubes enabled. Then they use chemistry to create their own paint from elements in nature.

The contextual foundation of 'Making Paint' gives children a small introduction to the understanding that life was not always as it is now, and will continue to change for them as they get older.

Creativity Builder #15 - Become An Inventor
From the wheel, to the light bulb, to the automobile, to the computer - inventions have continually added to our lives over the Centuries. As adults, we have watched these inventions appear and change. To our children, these recent inventions have always been a part of their lives. It is hard for them to understand that life was very different generations before their own history.

In this activity, children will be challenged to dream up new inventions of their own and imagine how they may change the lives of others far into the future.

Vocabulary: invention, inventor, generations, conceptualize, whimsical

Objective: Conceptualize a new invention and create an image that shows it in action.

Creativity Builder #16 - Design a Sarcophagus
Ancient Egyptians made paints in many colors, especially blue, red, green, yellow, white and black. They often used these paints to decorate the tombs – called sarcophagi - of their leaders, or Pharaohs. In this lesson, children play the role of an Egyptian artist who is decorating a sarcophagus for a Pharaoh.

This activity asks children to explore the past and gives them a small introduction to the understanding that life was not always as it is now, and will continue to change for them as they get older.

Vocabulary: Pharaoh, sarcophagus, Egyptian, color palette, hieroglyphics, symbols

Objective: Understand the color palette that was used by Egyptians, and incorporate those colors into new artwork. Design a sarcophagus, using symbols and pictures that tell the viewer something about that particular Pharaoh.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Making Paint Lesson Plan #1 – The Places You Could Go!
One of the advantages afforded by the invention of tubes was the ability to paint anywhere. As we discussed in the Making Paint Lesson, the portability of tubes made it easier for the Impressionists to paint on location. This activity will give the children the chance to use their imaginations to take them on location. They will also use their critical thinking skills to consider what they would need to paint "en plein aire". This lesson is easily adapted to a variety of grade levels by simply rephrasing questions and adapting the activity.

Vocabulary: en plein aire, invention, Impressionist, imagination, location, medium, tools

Objectives: • Use their imaginations to create an environment • Utilize their critical thinking skills to compile a list of necessary art tools • Explore geography to enhance the written portion of the activity • Use their language arts skills to complete the story portion of the activity • Create a simple drawing or painting portraying their written story

Making Paint Lesson Plan #2 – The Color of Time
Stopping to observe the world around us gives a new perspective to something we see everyday. By looking at how our environment changes during the day, we can learn to observe where we live. Following the discussion on time of day in Making Paint with Claude Monet, this lesson will look at how light changes our environment and how color choice in a work of art can portray that change. By looking at their school or neighborhood as it changes during the day, the children will explore light in their own world.

Vocabulary: light, environment, time of day, change, series

Objectives: • Observe works of art and discuss light and colors used • Compare the differences in color used for different times of day • Create their own artwork illustrating these ideas

Making Paint Lesson Plan #3 – Paintbrush, What Paintbrush?
As we learned in the Making Paint lesson, paint tubes were invented in the 1800's. But what if another tool used in painting was never invented - the paintbrush? The children will explore the history of and alternatives to the paintbrush. They will get the opportunity to work with other tools in place of the paintbrush to compare the effectiveness. This gives the children an opportunity in trial and error.

Vocabulary: history, invention, paintbrush, alternative, tool

Objectives: • Learn or research the history of the paintbrush • Compare the difference in using an alternative to the paintbrush and the actual tool • Create their own artwork illustrating these alternatives. .

Making Paint Lesson Plan #4 – Mixing it Up!
Many of the inventions we take for granted came before us and have helped our lives. It is hard for children to understand what life was like generations before their own history. The invention of metal tubes made it much easier to paint. But in this era, we don't know what it was like before paint came in this easy form. This activity will give the children a chance to experience what it must have been like. They will get to make their own paint and compare it to paint that is available now. The contextual foundation of this lesson will give them a small introduction to the comprehension that life was not always as it is now.

Vocabulary: mixing, era, generations, take for granted, tempera paint

Objectives: • Make the connection of past and present • Mix their own paint and use it in a project • Compare the paint they made to paint that is available

Lesson Overview
What can a Cyclops teach you about eyes? Even with one eye, it's clear that eyes are the main part of an expression, adding life and feeling to artwork. In this lesson, children explore the many expressions of eyes.

Eyes are a powerful element in any work of art. First, children take a trip around the world to see how eyes are depicted in different countries and cultures. Then they travel through time to learn how and when artwork changed to become more 'personal'. In 'Eyes Compete the Story', animation allows children to move only the eyes of a character, showing how the arch of an eyebrow can change the entire the entire story of the picture.

Creativity Builder #17 - Animated Expressions
What do eyes tell us? If eyes are, in fact, the "window to the soul", they tell us quite a lot. In art, the eyes help tell the story and convey emotion. In this activity, children create articulated faces that allow them to explore and experiment with a wide variety of expressions.

Vocabulary: expression, emotion, assemble, convey, articulated

Objective: Identify specific emotions conveyed by a variety of eye shapes. Create their own articulated faces that can be used to experiment with expressions.

Creativity Builder #18 - A New Kind of Eyewear
Eyes convey a surprising amount of emotion. To demonstrate this fact, children will create several pairs of paper eyeglasses that show a wide range of emotions. This activity is designed to enable children to create artworks of their own that incorporate eye expression that best tell the story.

Vocabulary: expression, emotion, suspicion, incorporate, convey

Objective: Create paper eyeglasses that fit onto their heads. Draw and identify many different emotions conveyed by eyes.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Eyes Lesson Plan #1 – Whose Eyes Are Whose?
Emotion expressed with the eyes can alter the look of the whole face. But, if the eyes are all we see, much can still be gleaned from the emotion being portrayed. In this activity, the children will be creating a character in the dark using just the eyes. Instead of drawing the eyes, the children will be tearing paper to create the eyes and the emotion to be expressed.

Vocabulary: emotion, background, expressive, stylized

Objectives: • Tear paper into shapes that resemble eyes and eyebrows • Portray an emotion through the eyes • Assemble a work of art demonstrating different emotions through the eyes

Eyes Lesson Plan #2 – An Emotional Story!
To further the discussion of conveying emotion through the eyes, the children will use characters from their own imagination. Not only will the children be creating a story in which the characters interact, but they will also solve the issue of positioning and direction. To add a dimension to telling a story through the eyes within a work of art, the children learn to position characters so they are looking at each other and interacting.

Vocabulary: line of sight, conveying emotion, direction, expression, character

Objectives: • Look at the character expressions and discern between different emotions • Create a story containing three characters • Design the characters and decide how they interact within the story • Complete a work of art illustrating their story

Eyes Lesson Plan #3 – The Eyes Have It!
The eyes can be a focus or emphasis within a work of art. Artists have used numerous techniques to focus the viewer's attention to the eyes. In this activity, the children will use the eyes to construct a work of art. The emphasis and focus will be the eyes, but the children will use their imagination to finish the drawing around the eyes.

Vocabulary: emphasis, technique, imagination, focus, construct

Objectives: • Find a magazine image of eyes as a basis for the project • Use their imagination to design the person around the eyes • Create a cohesive work of art that begins with the eyes but ends with a complete portrait

Eyes Lesson Plan #4 – Eyes and Symbols
As we discussed in the Eyes lessons, the use of the eye as a symbol was common in many cultures. The eye became quite stylized and distinct. This activity gives the children the opportunity to work with an eye symbol or make up one of their own. It also introduces a new medium, sand. Some cultures have used sand as an art medium. We will discuss these art forms and their connections to the cultures that created them.

Vocabulary: symbol, culture, medium, coverage, Southwest American Indian, Tibetan, Australian Aboriginal

Objectives: • Utilize an eye symbol or an original eye symbol in a work of art • Create a work of art from colored sand • Develop a creative design incorporating a symbol

Lesson Overview
How can you bring art to life? In the 'Movement' lesson, we provide tools to help children add movement to their artwork. They begin with an interactive activity to demonstrate: 'Bringing Art to Life' has children move different elements of famous paintings to create movement, then animating to see 'Where Will it be in 15 Seconds?'

Children learn techniques to show movement in a still painting by positioning characters in dynamic poses and using lines of action. Elaborating on the concepts introduced in 'Making Paint' and "Portraits', children are 'Moving Through Time' to see how these same techniques have been used throughout history, and changed over time.

Creativity Builder #19 - Movement in Art
In the Movement lesson, children learned that adding movement to an image often increases its appeal. However, translating this concept into a two-dimensional work of art that achieves poses with movement can be difficult.

In this activity, children make moveable marionettes with articulated joints that can be posed in all sorts of movements, which the students can then copy into their own artwork. Using these marionettes helps the students see how the body's many parts are positioned in various action poses to easily incorporate those movements into their own work

Vocabulary: marionette, line of action, articulated joints, movement, balance, two-dimensional

Objective: Create marionettes with articulated joints. Design poses for their marionettes that have strong lines of action and show movement clearly.

Creativity Builder #20 - Mind the Gap
Animating a character requires hundreds of different action poses. This lesson asks children to complete an animated sequence by adding a middle, or "inbetween" to a series of animated poses. This helps children to get the feel for making some of those poses and continue their study and use of movement as an element in their art.

After downloading some key poses from the Idea Gizmo or drawing their own key poses, students will create some "inbetween" poses. These are the poses that fit between key poses and help create the illusion of movement.

Vocabulary: visualize / visualizing, inbetween, key pose, animation, movement, illusion

Objective: Visualize and draw a character pose that fits smoothly between two other character poses.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Movement Lesson Plan #1 – Moving to Movement and Still
Children will demonstrate, through dance, the physical differences between objects in motion and objects that are still. Depending on the age of the children, they may be more willing to participate. However, the ability to demonstrate the two concepts is helpful at any age

Vocabulary: movement, still, opposite, mimic, pose, out of balance

Objectives: • Differentiate between movement and stillness in their poses • Identify and compare these concepts within other children's poses • Physically create their own representations of movement and still

Movement Lesson Plan #2 – Capture the Line!
This activity expands on Movement/Stillness Lesson Plan # I by giving the children the opportunity to draw from movement. The children will work with the concept of "line of action," also known as the "gestural line," through the combination of drawing and posing.

Vocabulary: line of action, movement, pose, medium, gestural line

Objectives: • Demonstrate the concept of "line of action" through their own movement • Illustrate this concept through the chosen media • Create multiple images based on the concept

Movement Lesson Plan #3 – What Happens Next? Paintings in Motion
As we discussed in the Movement lessons, artwork can show movement in a two-dimensional picture. In this activity, children will use their language arts skills to create a story. Upon viewing a work of art, children will be asked to use their imagination to explain, "What happens next?"

Vocabulary: story, imagination, moment in time, descriptive, future

Objectives: • Understand the passage of time within a work of art • Demonstrate the language skills necessary to write a story • Verbalize their idea of what happens next in the work of art

Movement Lesson Plan #4 – Movement / Still Collage
This activity is easily adapted for all ages. The use of magazine images gives the children the flexibility to be as simple or complex as is feasible. By separating magazine images into two categories, children will learn to differentiate between movement and still in images.

Vocabulary: movement, still, collage, categories

Objectives: • Manipulate the images and use the proper art skills to create the project • Demonstrate their understanding of movement and stillness • Express creativity in placement of the images

Lesson Overview
Artists make choices to draw your eye to an area of their work. Emphasis is one of the tools they can use to accomplish this. Defining emphasis in art can be difficult; this lesson makes it simple for children to understand.

Children are introduced to methods artists use to create emphasis in their artwork, essentially tools to lead the viewers eye where you want it to go. A few ways to emphasize something, or make it stand out, are contrast (value or color), size, lighting and structure. Each of these topics are covered in detail in later lessons.

Here, interactive activities an the use of famous artwork allows children to manipulate the differences these choices make in the 'message' of the final artwork. This understanding sets the stage for the study of artistic methods, giving them specific tools to create their own 'messages'.

Creativity Builder #21 - Let's Go Out to the Movies
In this activity, we use a familiar concept – an animated movie - to encourage children to emphasize main characters by creating a movie poster. Children will design their own movie posters, and then make three different versions of the posters to give the most emphasis to the movie’s hero, the movie’s villain, and the movie’s title.

Whether children use value or color contrast, size, lighting or structure to create emphasis on certain characters is up to them. The goal is to allow children to explore the techniques used by artists to draw the eye to a particular area of their work.

Vocabulary: emphasis, element, structure, composition, balance, lighting, contrast, value, complementary colors, analogous colors, color contrast, value contrast

Objective: Design a movie poster that has balanced emphasis on the hero, the villain, and the title Use contrast with value or color, size, lighting or structure in ways that enhance or diminish emphasis on certain elements.

Creativity Builder #22 - Rockin' With the Beetles
This activity explores the use of emphasis in a fun and humorous way, giving children the opportunity to create without becoming discouraged. Children are challenged to create artwork that shows three bug characters playing in a fantasy insect band. Through lighting and color contrast, students will give the most emphasis to one of the bug musicians, making the viewer’s eyes go to that bug first.

Vocabulary: emphasis, composition, element, lighting, contrast, value, complementary colors, lighting, analogous colors

Objective: Design a composition with three elements, and give one of those elements more emphasis than the other two.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Emphasis Lesson Plan #1 – What is Emphasis?
This specific principle, emphasis, allows artists to use any medium or technique to achieve a certain dominance in their artwork. In some artwork, emphasis can be a complex arrangement of elements. In other artwork, it may be a simple collection of patterns, lines or contrasting elements. We would like this lesson to take the children on an exploration of emphasis in other artists' work and in the simple form of emphasis in their own artwork.

Since there is such a wide variety of possibilities to illustrate and explain emphasis, this assignment will be separated into discussion and creation. The children will view and discuss emphasis in images of art and then use of the concept to produce a work of art.

Vocabulary: emphasis, principle, unity, contrast, structure, theme

Objectives: • Identify emphasis in works of art • Identify the type of emphasis within those areas • Create a collage using emphasis

Emphasis Lesson Plan #2 – Made You Look!
Artists seek to find an effective method to show a specific focal point in their work. A focal point can be created by emphasizing certain elements in a work of art. In this assignment, children will learn how a dominant color can be a form of emphasis in an abstract picture. All focal points do not have to be centered! It is important that the children learn, not all pictures are centered to give emphasis. Therefore, the children should be given the opportunity to arrange their focal point into an off-center composition. This arrangement will help show the importance of the chosen color.

Vocabulary: focal point, dominant, centered, off-center, saturate

Objectives: • Use color as a form of emphasis • Create an off-center focal point in their artwork • Utilize the medium to create an abstract artwork

Emphasis Lesson Plan #3 – Dots, Shapes and Lines
In this activity, we will take multiple elements and separately construct a piece of artwork that shows an emphasis in structure. Structure sounds like the artwork should be built. Well, in a way, that's what we would like to have happen. The children will "build" a work of art that makes the viewers look at a certain area of their work

You may be asked, "How do I make someone look at the part of the painting that I want them to?" The answer is by making that part stand out, while the other parts are more in the background. This project should have three elements in it; background (watercolor), an emphasized element (the dominant color in watercolor and a secondary element (the cray-pas, or oil pastel, design).

Vocabulary: emphasized element, secondary element, cray-pas, watercolor, brush head

Objectives: • Construct a painting with the three elements, background, emphasized element and secondary element • Create a dominant color area that is apparent • Use the oil pastel or cray-pas in different ways to help create structure within both artworks

Lesson Overview
The styles of portraits are as varied as the subjects in the portraits themselves. Depending on the culture, the period in history and the media used, portraits can be difficult for the students to understand or relate to. Who are these people? Why are they wearing those costumes? What were they like? Through this lesson children will see portraits with a new view.

Portraits reveal a lot of information about the subject. Children explore the timeline of portraiture to see how artists have changed their techniques and styles through the centuries. Then they become 'portrait detectives' to discover how artists compose portraits using symbolic props to paint a picture of a person's life.

Children study the four self-portraits by Rembrandt, and learn why photographs are portraits too.

Creativity Builder #23 - Looking Into the Future
In the Portrait lesson, we talked about self-portraits and how they reflect changes that happen during the artist’s life. Self-portraits are created so that the viewer learns something about the subject of the portrait.

In this activity, children will project themselves into the future for an imaginary self- portrait. What might their life look like 10 or 20 years from now? They can add anything they like to their artwork, including jobs, pets, friends, vacations, and inventions.

Vocabulary: self-portrait, props, background, visual cues, reveal

Objective: Create an imaginative future self-portrait; understand how self-portraits visually reveal many things about a specific time in the artist’s life.

Creativity Builder #24 - Caricature to Wear
In the Portrait lesson, children learned about caricatures – portraits that exaggerate features of a subject to make them look funny. Here we take exaggeration in another direction. Children create a whimsical mask of an imaginary character. Big googly eyes, bat’s ears, and scary fangs are suddenly fashionable in this activity.

Vocabulary: caricature, mask, exaggeration, portrait

Objective: Design a caricature with exaggerated features. Fashion a wearable mask from construction paper.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Portrait Lesson Plan #1 – A Time Portrait
We looked at artists' self-portraits in the Portrait lessons to see how an artist's paintings reflect the changes over his or her life. We can see differences in how they portray themselves over the years. Following the same idea, it is just as interesting to see how the children have also changed in their brief history. This lesson will explore personal history and the changes the children see in themselves. By creating a time portrait, the children will observe themselves as others have seen them, in past photographs, and how they see themselves, through a self-portrait drawing.

Vocabulary: self-portrait, history, observation, progression, chronological order

Objectives: • Observe the transitions in artists' self-portraits as well as in their own photographs • Use a mirror to draw a self-portrait • Identify the pictures as a series of portraits • Translate their observations into a mixed media work of art

Portrait Lesson Plan #2 – Be a Portrait Detective
As we discussed in the Portrait lessons, it is often hard to relate to the person in a painting created long ago. A great way to engage the children in this process is to ask them to be detectives. Once the children begin to decipher the clues in a painting, they will become more connected with its subject. In this activity, the children will use their language arts skills to uncover history, while using their creative writing skills to create their own history for the subject. By putting the pieces together, the children will acquire the ability to look at portraits in a new way.

Vocabulary: clue, detective, portrait, subject, periods in history, symbols

Objectives: • Observe a painting and use language arts skills to discuss clues • Use creative writing skills to create a biography of the subject in the painting • Relate the history within the painting to the corresponding period in history

Portrait Lesson Plan #3 – The Faces We See!
Portraits are found in many places. They are even found where we don't often think to look - for example, a postage stamp or a coin. In this two-part lesson, children will first explore the variety of portraits that are not painted and, they will have the opportunity to create their own portrait on a coin. In the second section, the children will look at portraits created using a theme. This is a fun activity that stretches the imagination of the children to see themselves through other objects.

Vocabulary: currency, diameter, tapestry, bust, postage stamp, theme, fantasy

Objectives: • Discover other medium, besides paint, where portraits are found • Create their own portrait based on a form of currency • Use a theme to create a portrait

Portrait Lesson Plan #4 – Patron and Artist
As the teacher, you are the patron and you want your portrait painted. And as the patron, you may decide what your artists will paint you to look like! The children will be the artists and you will give them the directions of what the portrait should show. How would you like them to paint you? What symbols will you demand to be present? It is up to you! In this assignment, the children will get a taste of what it was like to be hired to paint a portrait. The fun part will be to see what they come up with!

Vocabulary: patron, commissioned, symbols, background, props, hire

Objectives: • Listen and follow directions pertaining to the patron's requests • Sketch out versions of the portrait before beginning the painting • Create a painting that displays the patron's requests

Lesson Overview:
History can be a difficult subject to capture students’ interest. There is very little association between history and their own lives. In the Time lesson, we touch on the differences between the past and the present by comparing everyday life.

Children learn that art is a useful tool in exploring how life was lived in the past. Paintings serve as records of life long ago and help identify changes in a changing world. In addition, artworks contain visual cues that enable us to understand what life was like during many different time periods.

To widen their horizons children travel a timeline beginning in 4,000BC where they 'Experience a Different Culture'. Then they test their knowledge playing ‘Fact or Fib’ - a game show featuring a cast of historical contestants.

Creativity Builder #25 - Something Old, Something New
In this activity, children will approach art using similar techniques as artists in the past, but with a present-day reference. Children take an existing classical work of art or portrait as a design source and use modern day props, clothing, inventions, and other elements to bring the image into the 21st Century.

Vocabulary: work of art, props, elements, update, personality, composition, invention, subject, culture shock, visual cues, modernize, technique

Objective: Reproduce the composition from an older work of art while updating the props, clothing, and other elements with modern-day items.

Creativity Builder #26 - A Voice From the Past
In this activity, children create time capsules with a twist. Instead of showing what their lives are really like in modern times, they’ll create fictional representations that might fool historians in the future. Children are encouraged to mix up the past, present and future to create a work of art that shows a nonsensical version of his or her world, teaching then to imagine what people in the future would think about that world if they came across their artwork.

Vocabulary: time capsule, element, historian, ridiculous, fictional, work of art

Objective: Visualize fictional elements and incorporate them into their artwork. Understand the basics of time capsules

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Time Lesson Plan #1 – A Triptych in Time
After observing and studying great works of art, children will then discuss the art relative to the time period in which it was created. Next, they will demonstrate an understanding of several styles of art by creating a triptych of three different techniques. Advanced students will have the opportunity to explore a different medium within Impressionism.

Vocabulary: triptych, Realism, Impressionism, Pointillism, Cubism, Surrealism, pictograph, impasto, art movement, style, technique

Objectives: • Compare painting styles from different time periods • Apply their understanding of different painting styles to create a three paneled triptych • Discuss how art reflects the time period in which it was created

e Lesson Plan #2 – Art in Time
Art reflects the time in which it was created. In this lesson, children will analyze the difference between specific components of art within certain time periods. They will demonstrate this knowledge by creating a drawing reflecting the uniqueness of the time period selected.

Vocabulary: profile, grid, Pharaoh, era, popular, hieroglyphics

Objectives: • Compare works of art within a time period to determine stylistic similarities • Demonstrate awareness of detailed components in a piece of art • Create a drawing reflecting the unique style of a certain time period

Time Lesson Plan #3 – Story Quilt Picture
Children will examine art for instances of historical information and social commentary. They will relate the story they think is being told. They will write a story from their own life and time period. Finally, they will create a mixed media artwork that demonstrates their understanding that historical viewpoints and social commentary may be expressed in art. In this project, they will experience the use of language within a work of art

Vocabulary: quilt, pattern, mixed media, historical, social commentary

Objectives: • Realize that social perceptions are seen in art and evaluate these perceptions from a relatively recent, yet historic, time period • Understand the historical perspective found in the artwork of Faith Ringgold • Write a story about their lives in the current era • Create artwork using mixed media techniques • Explore the use of words in a piece of art

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Lesson Overview
This cross-curricular lesson opens the world of math and art to children. Understanding the connection between math and art allows children to see both subjects from a different angle. Children who tend to be more artistically inclined will be able to view math within their artistic realm, while those students who tend to be more mathematically inclined will be able to connect with art within their mathematical realm.

Math influences art in many ways. The lesson begins with a study of the Fibonacci Sequence, Golden Mean and Golden Ratio. Its not complicated with animation! Next children explore proportions and shapes in nature with the 'Golden Math Machine'. They learn to easily draw their own Fibonacci Spiral and Pentagon. They discover why Leonardo DaVinci's Vitruvian Man was a groundbreaking study of human proportions.

Math influenced history as well. Children take a trip back in time to learn how the Egyptians and Greeks used mathematical foundations for their artwork and architecture, and how those same formulas are used today.

Creativity Builder #27 - Gridlocked
In the 'Math' lesson children learn about how the Egyptians used grids to make their proportions consistent. In this activity, children will use a math-based grid system to accurately copy the proportions of an image.

Vocabulary: grid, Egyptian, proportion, accuracy

Objective: Measure and draw horizontal and vertical lines one-inch apart to create a grid. Copy an original image, square by square, onto a grid they have created.

Creativity Builder #28 - Get Your Proportions
In visual arts, "proportion" refers to the size relationship of one thing to another. For example, a dime is about three fourths the diameter of a quarter, or a certain tree you're looking at might be two times as tall as the girl standing next to it. These size comparisons can also be made within a single item. For example, a window might be twice as tall as it is wide, or a person's eyes might be halfway between the bottom of their chin and the top of their forehead. In the Math lesson, children learn that the visual world around them is based on these proportions.

This activity teaches children how to achieve mathematical accuracy in proportions as they draw. Children visually measure the dimensions of what they're drawing, and transpose those dimensions into their artwork. With this method they become more aware of visual proportions in the world around them, thus enabling them to draw proportions with greater accuracy.

Vocabulary: proportion, observation, equal, divide, dimension, width, height, accuracy, diameter, transpose, silhouette

Objective: Look at a subject from a distance, visually evaluate the proportions of the subject, and recreate those proportions in a drawing with reasonable accuracy.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Math Lesson Plan #1 – The Golden Mondrian
Artists experiment with a variety of creative techniques and influences, and thus arrive at their own original, expressive art. In doART, we will mix Fibonacci's golden rectangle with Piet Mondrian's use of vertical and horizontal lines. To bring these two dynamics together, children will work in a series. The series will allow the child to develop a sequence of vertical and horizontal lines that will intersect to create rectangles. Children will experiment with placement by composing their image using rectangles of color.

Vocabulary: hue, analogous and monochromatic colors, complementary colors, series, golden rectangle, Fibonacci

Objectives: • Develop a series of rectangular, original, self-inspired works of art • Create rectangles by crossing a number of vertical and horizontal lines • Show a balanced number of white rectangles and colored rectangles

Math Lesson Plan #2 – Tessellation Station
A tessellation allows children to explore geometric shapes and their spatial connection. This assignment will utilize mathematical concepts in conjunction with the child's own imagination. Each child will use a Fibonacci shape to create a tessellation. The common shapes that can tessellate easily are the square and equilateral triangle. By incorporating a natural image like a bird, butterfly, insect, starfish, flower or the like, within the geometric shape, the tessellation will simultaneously look organic and geometric.

Vocabulary: Tessellation, sequence, simplify, repeat, geometric, organic, Fibonacci

Objectives: • Simplify a natural shape to work within a geometric shape • Use a geometric, repeated shape to create a tessellation • Create a finished work of art from the natural object shape

Math Lesson Plan #3 – Fabulous Fibonacci
This is an assignment that can be easily adapted to any age group. The idea of moving and placing colorful shapes in random patterns, similar to mosaics, has been around for a long time. But it is an excellent way to explore spatial concepts without intimidation. In this activity, the geometric shapes are supplied in a .pdf for the children to use. The children can create their artwork from their imagination and in any color combination they desire. This is a free exploration.

Vocabulary: Geometric, shapes, explore, imagination, combination, realistic, abstract, mosaic, Fibonacci

Objectives: • Cut out and color various geometric shapes to use in the artwork • Arrange the shapes into either a recognizable or abstract mosaic-like image • Either verbally or in written form explain how and why they used the Fibonacci shapes the way they did

Lesson Overview
Visiting a museum can be more than looking at old bones and portraits. Wander the halls and discover why a museum is like a time machine, full of both art and artifacts.

In 'Museums' children learn the function of museums, which includes public display, preservation, and education. 'Conservation and Restoration' interactively teaches the scientific four-step process to return an aged piece to its former beauty. What about forgery and theft? Children learn about how some very famous artwork got away, and why Michelangelo created a forgery.

Creativity Builder #29 - You're the Designer
The world is filled with many different types of museums. However, not everyone lives near a museum. A great alternative to an actual visit is to hold a virtual one where children can create and plan their own.

This activity gives children an idea of what it is like to be involved behind the scenes at a museum. Children begin by visualizing new museums that contain whatever objects they like. Then they create floor plans to show where all of the exhibits will be installed. Lastly, post-it notes with their art and artifacts are arranged for display.

Vocabulary: exhibits, art, artifacts, floor plan, visualize, function

Objective: Understand the role of museums and develop an idea for a new museum. Design a floor plan that shows where art and artifacts will be located in their museums.

Creativity Builder #30 - Forgery
Throughout history, artists have copied each others work in order to try new techniques that they could use for their own artwork. In the Museums lesson, children learned the important difference between copying artwork to learn and creating a forgery. In this activity, children copy a work of art, but they'll make small changes so that it's recognizably different from the original.

Vocabulary: forgery, media, visual cues, technique

Objective: Understand the difference between copying artwork to learn from it, and copying artwork to create a forgery. Improve their artistic skills by copying a work of art and making changes to it.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Museums Lesson Plan #1 – Teacher Ideas for a Museum Visit
You may ask yourself, how can I take my whole class to a museum and what would we do when we get there? First, the experience of seeing real art close up is irreplaceable. There is nothing like giving children the chance to see the originals. Secondly, many museums have great programs for school visits. If the museum close to you, however, does not have a special program for students, we have included guides for you and your children to take along.

Vocabulary: Create your own from the field trip agenda

Objectives: • Use and follow directions in the Student Guide • Participate in the activities adding their unique perspective • Complete post-visit activities

Museums Lesson Plan #2 – Hold your Own Exhibit
There are many facets to holding an exhibit in a museum. To give the children an idea of what that entails, they will be holding their own exhibit. Each child will have their own role. They can either choose the art and decide where it will be displayed, like a curator and an assistant curator, give tours and tell something about each work of art, like a docent, protect the art during the exhibit, like a guard, give the viewers something fun to do after they have seen the exhibit, like an educator, or be an artist that is having their artwork displayed in the exhibit. This is a fun and exciting activity for an open house or parents' night.

Vocabulary: Exhibit, curator, docent, guard, educator, responsibility, plaque

Objectives: • Understand the position they have been given and the responsibilities that go along with it • Have knowledge of the other children's positions • Collaborate with the other children to plan the exhibit • Take part in holding the exhibit within their role

Museums Lesson Plan #3 – Go Explore a Museum!
Throughout the Creativity Express experience, children have viewed images of art. Where do these images come from? Mostly museums! Especially for educators, there are endless art resources at museum websites. Every museum has its own collection and mission on how to bring art to the public. By visiting their websites, students and teachers alike can explore and learn more about the world of art. In this assignment, the children will visit a variety of museum websites and wander through the virtual halls of the world's museums.

Vocabulary: website, collection, exhibition, home page, calendar of events, library, education

Objectives: • Access a variety of museum websites to research artists and works of art • Explain the path taken to retrieve research information • Create a work of art using information from museum websites

Lesson Overview
For this last lesson in Creativity Express, we take the opportunity to look back at what the children have experienced. As a parent, you know that the learning environment can greatly influence how any child learns. But there are, of course, also the influences that come from outside: an influential person, an extra curricular activity that is of interest, a situation that resonates. These are all so important to the success of any child. In''Inspiration' we detail the learning experiences of artists throughout history.

'It's All Who You Know' explores ways that famous artists influenced and inspired each other. Children learn about the techniques they studied, the paintings they made, and how you can learn from their methods. Anyone can be an artist, but like any other field of study it takes practice. Learn from others, then develop your own individual style!

The idea of seeing something from a new perspective, like art, is exactly what Creativity Express aspires to do for your children.

Creativity Builder #31 - The Director's Chair
Artists also get their inspiration from many sources – friends, other artists, books, nature, you name it. In this activity, children will get inspiration from a favorite movie, then design some elements for a movie of their own.

Vocabulary: design, lighting, sets, costumes, props, inspiration, element, incorporate, analyze, elements of art, influence

Objective: Identify elements or techniques in a movie that make it unique, such as lighting, costumes, and set designs. Create original designs for movie elements.

Creativity Builder #32 - Show Off Your Style
In the Inspiration lesson, children learn about the various ways artists find inspiration form the works of others. However, their own unique style always shows through in their artwork, regardless of where they found their inspiration. Some artists even had well known personality quirks and traits that dramatically influenced their artwork. In this activity, children explore just what their own personal artistic style might be, and then express it in a work of art.

Vocabulary: personality, style, quirks, traits, vibrant, unique, charcoal, unique, inspiration, flamboyant

Objective: Have an understanding of their own personality, and how it relates to their artistic style. Express their personal style in a work of art.

The Art Factory Lesson Plans

Inspiration Lesson Plan #1– A Haiku of You
There may be many influences throughout an artist's career. Influence can come from the world around the artist, from the past, from other artists or in numerous other ways. As we discussed, some influences can come from other countries as well. The influence of Japanese art during the Impressionist period was quite apparent. In this activity, the children will use the poetic form of Haiku to influence their work of art. They will then create a silk screen that portrays the feeling of their Haiku.

Vocabulary: Haiku, influence, silk screen, syllable, Impressionist

Objectives: • Use their language arts skills to create a Haiku • Portray the general meaning of the Haiku in their work of art • Create a silk screen print using the process provided

Inspiration Lesson Plan #2 – An Influence on Me
Now that the children have completed the first 16 lesson modules, they have seen many works of art and have been introduced to many artists. In this activity, the children will look back and consider what artists have influenced their own work. By writing a letter to an artist, the children will have a chance to explain how and why an artist influenced their own art. The children will then create an original work of art illustrating those influences.

Vocabulary: influence, style, medium, inspiration, original

Objectives: • Review the artists and artwork within the 16 lesson modules • Write a letter to an artist describing how the child was influenced by them • Create a work of art that displays some form of similarity to the artist's work and influence

Inspiration Lesson Plan #3 – The All About Your Friend Collage
This activity will give the children a chance to learn more about their fellow classmates, just as the Impressionists created art together and learned about each other. It is best to pair off the child with someone they do not know very well. The children will ask each other questions, create a work of art about their partner and learn about someone else in the process. After asking questions and listening to the answers, the children will each create a collage about their partner.

Vocabulary: collage, partner, listen, illustrate

Objectives: • Ask questions of their partner and write down their answers • Select images from magazines to create the work of art • Create a collage to illustrate the partner's answers

I am a homeschool parent searching for an art education program to supplement my child's elementary core curriculum requirements.

You will enrich your child's education by choosing the Homeschool subscription. Our Teacher Account Center allows you, the educator, to track individual progress and comprehension of the lesson content.

The Creativity Builders and Art Factory Lesson Plans are available both in the Student lesson content and in .pdf format for download in the Teacher Account Center. These supplementary materials guide parents - even those with no prior Art Education - through relevant teaching topics providing outlines of each lesson and guides for hands-on activities.

My child is quite creative, but art has been cut from school. What can I do to help my child stay involved in the arts on a limited budget?

Your child will benefit a home user subcription. You may not be able to take your child to the Louvre Museum in Paris, but Tickles, Furnace and Ruby can. For less than the price of parking, your child can view the works of the Masters housed in collections worldwide and learn their secrets. The Glossary builds vocabulary, and the Creativity Builders and Art Factory projects provide guidance and inspiration for hands-on activities. With engaging animation, charming characters, and a curriculum that meets the National Standards for the Visual Arts, Creativity Express is much more that a replacement for traditional art class.

I am an Elementary School Teacher with multiple classes during the school day. How can I incorporate Creativity Express in my daily lessons?

Your first decision will be whether you wish the students to have individual accounts where they have access to the curriculum from home as well as during class. The students can upload .jpg images of artwork into their portfolios, and the Teacher Account Center allows you to monitor their performance on assessments. The price per student is quite low, and discounts are available for larger schools. See our store for details.

The Whiteboard/Open Access license allows you (a single teacher) to access and/or project the content from a school computer for your multiple classes throughout the school day. Though you can quiz the class using the online assessments, no individual student reports are generated. Students are still able to purchase individual account access through our signup page for home use.

In my classroom, students who finish their assignments early are allowed 'free' computer time. I would love have Creativity Express available for enrichment, but I'm not actually teaching the curriculum.

Our animated lessons appeal even to younger grades. The Whiteboard/Open Access license allows you expose your students to the world of art and creativity, though they may feel that they are playing! Many parents use Creativity Express as a 'reward' for their children who have completed their traditional course work. Your classroom can offer the same enrichment for your students. The 16 lessons will operate in 'unlocked' format so that children may move freely through the lessons; though students may take the assessments any number of times, no tracking will take place and no individual reports can be generated.

I am a Virtual School Administrator. Our students take courses year-round and our enrollment is difficult to predict. How can I add Creativity Express as a course offering, and easily manage our account?

Creativity Express was specifically designed for the flexibility you require. Our Teacher Account Center allows you to add students, assign them to classes, and view reports at the click of a mouse. Student licenses are easily purchased through your Account Billing Portal so that you can immediately increase your student load as needed. Discounts are available for larger schools. See our signup page for details.

I have a studio where parents bring their children afterschool for art enrichment. I believe the children would benefit from Creativity Express in addition to my hands-on activities, but I only have the children for a limited time.

Whether you are teaching a summer course or have children in a private studio or museum group, we have flexible plans. The only choice is whether you are planning on whiteboard teaching, or whether the children have individual accounts for additional access away from class time. For Whiteboard/Open Access Licenses offer summer, semester, and yearly pricing. See our signup page for details.