This candy shoe art lesson is one of my students’ favorites. Here’s why they love it and how I teach it.
Why Students Love It
I think my students love this lesson because it involves two things they are interested in, candy and shoes. This is a low risk, high reward project that doesnโt require complex drawing skills or complicated art supplies. Most students can tailor their design to their skill level and still be proud of their final outcome. In addition, with many shoe styles and candy packages to choose from, it provides a lot of choice which is essential for this age group. My students tend to enjoy lessons that have opportunities for exploration, creativity and freedom of choice, rather than โcanned artโ where the final outcome looks the same for the entire class.
Who Loves This Lesson?
This lesson can be adapted for almost any age group but it is perfect for upper elementary, middle school or beginning high school art students. This age and skill level is prefect for creative problem solving and applying the skill of recreating logos or details from the package to resemble the product. I also love this lesson because it requires few supplies and is a nice break from messy projects. It is also a perfect art lesson for a long term sub assignment.
Candy Shoe Art Lesson Objective
When applicable I like to make a connection between the art lesson and art related careers. After all, as an educator one of my main goals is to prepare my students for the future. This candy shoe art lesson provides the perfect opportunity for students to make a connection to the career opportunities of graphic design. My students learn the role and responsibilities of graphic designers. I explain how creating a candy package involves typography and font design as well as creating an eye catching color scheme. After my students analyze the color scheme of the candy wrapper, they apply their knowledge of what makes a good design and the color scheme to create custom shoes.
Prepping the Lesson
Before I teach the lesson, I print out eight different shoe templates and make at least 12 copies of each shoe design. I do this to save time but you can also have the students draw their own shoe outlines. You can also save your own candy packaging but I created a printable set of 38 candy packages that I print and cut apart for each student to use.
After I have introduced the lesson, my students select their candy wrapper and shoe. They can randomly select from a hat or I typically place them on a counter and have the students create a line to choose their candy. Maybe quietest tables, students who have finished their previous art lesson or students who put the most effort into their bellwork, I make them work for the first pick! There are enough images available, that each student will have a candy that is unique to them.ย Next, the students choose the shoe template that best suits the candy they have selected. I do the same thing and have students go to another counter to choose their shoe template.
How I Teach the Lesson
Students begin sketching their designs and ideas on the shoe template with pencil. They will apply what makes a good shoe design, flowing wrap-around design, clever use of graphic space, knowing your shoe design surface, and personalizing color and style. After drawing the elements from the wrapper onto the shoe, students begin adding color to the design with markers, colored pencils or both. Then, students check their craftsmanship and add highlights, shadows or fix line art, if necessary. To finish the design students add a border to the top or add emphasis around the shoe to the top that mimics a design, pattern or color used in the shoe design.
Lastly, the students cut the color printed image of the candy wrapper and glue it into the negative space around the shoe. A nice finishing touch is to add a frame with a piece of construction paper that matches the color scheme. I have students use a rubric for self-evaluation or peer-evaluation when assessing the final outcome of their learning.
Overall, this is an engaging lesson that covers so many concepts, a connection to art related careers and of course – a subject matter that is sweet and enjoyable to create. My complete Candy Shoe Design Art Lesson is available here.ย It includes the eight shoe templates and 38 printable candy package images.
I hope you enjoy the lesson, Trista
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