Building Out an Art Calendar to Keep Your Students Busy with Something New Every Month
By Spramani Elaun
“Teaching” art can seem overwhelming, and creating an art calendar to keep your students busy with art all year long can seem impossible. The beginning of a new school year is both exciting but stressful for that very reason. While you’re mapping out all your projects and lessons for the year, art can sometimes take a backseat.
But I don’t want that to be the case for you or for your students! All it takes is some simple planning to get you going. I promise you, if you take some time to plan out your calendar, art lessons will flow better and be so much easier for you during the school year.
The best part of all this? There’s a simple, stress-free way to break it down.
In my course, Art Teaching Blueprint, I go over in detail how to create an art schedule (and the specific resources and materials you may need!) but here’s the basic idea to it.
Building Your Calendar
You’re going to start by counting up the number of teachable weeks in the school year. That may mean excluding the first two weeks of the year (when you’re still getting your class situated), weeks where you’re off for the holidays, and the last couple weeks of school (when you’re likely busy with testing). This number can vary depending on your schedule.
Now, you’re going to follow this formula:
# of teachable weeks / 5 domains = # of lessons per domain
- You might be asking, what’s a domain? The way I’ve developed my art training is by breaking down visual art into five different categories, or domains. Here is an example of two:
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- Drawing
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- Painting
Let’s say you’ve counted 30 teachable weeks for the year, that would mean:
30 / 5 = 6 lessons for each domain
Knowing you only have to teach six lessons on drawing, six on painting, and so on already makes your calendar seem a bit more manageable, right?
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you here. This formula is just the basis for your calendar, you now need to fill it out with more specific lessons, or themes.
Inspiration for Your Calendar
What you decide to teach for your lessons is completely up to you, but here are some tips and monthly theme inspiration to help you finish filling in your calendar.
I’d suggest trying to integrate art projects with the lessons you’re already planning on teaching, like the Great Lessons, astronomy, physical science, etc. With this information, decide which domain makes sense for each topic. For example, if you’re learning about dinosaurs, put clay on your art shelf for students to create their own tyrannosaurus; or let them experiment with watercolors as they learn about the cosmos.
You might also want to think about holidays or special events as you map out your lessons. For instance, Earth Day is in April, so your lessons that month can focus on nature and the earth.
Here are a few other themes for each month to get you started.
Monthly Theme Ideas:
September
- The Big Bang
- Cosmic Education
If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for my FREE mini-course—I share a lesson on cosmic rock painting
October
- World Peace
- Fall Leaves
November
- Outdoor Nature Crafts (leaves, rocks, sticks, natural paints)
December
- Cultural Geography
Think about crafts from different cultures around the world, like Japanese origami, skull paintings from Mexico, etc.
January
- Winter Snowflakes
Students can cut out snowflakes from pieces of paper, or paint a sheet full of them—each with its unique shape and design.
February
- Zoology (like dinosaurs, birds, insects, etc.)
March
- Geography
Students can create maps of places they’re learning about in other lessons this week.)
April
- Botany (seeds, plants, trees, etc.)
May
- Astronomy
Summer
- Beach or Ocean
Hopefully this is enough to get you started!
There are SO many ways to organize your lessons, and that’s the fun part of all this!
You can teach each lesson in succession (six straight weeks of drawing, followed by six straight weeks of painting, etc.) or rotate each lesson throughout the year.
I cover a few specific ways in Art Teaching Blueprint, and even give you a few sample calendars to follow.
So if this still feels overwhelming, make sure you check out my art certification, to enroll or email me directly at info@Spramani.com with any questions.
I’ll also be sharing a specific art project each month on the blog, so make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter for even more ideas throughout the year.
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