Having a stash of early finishers art activities is the best way to solve one of the biggest struggles an art teacher encounters, the early finisher. Despite my best efforts to keep everyone at the same pace, I always have a few students who finish their artwork before the rest of the class. To satisfy the needs of my students and myself, I created short and fun activities for my students to complete when they are finished with their work. When creating my early finishers art activities, I wanted a variety of activities with a range in skill level, needing little to no instruction, and most of all high in engagement. Here is the list of activities I created and how I made them.
Finish the Drawing
This is a wonderful creativity exercise. Students are provided with a simple scene or image and they add their own creative flair to finish the drawing. For example, I draw the bottom of the ocean, a view out the window or inside the doors of an elevator. The students can create a realistic image or make it surreal!
Grid Drawing
This is a perfect activity for students who would like to work on technical drawing skills. I used a photograph I took and placed a grid over the image. Next, I created another larger grid with the same number of squares. I labeled both grids with letters and numbers to help students enlarge the photograph with the correct proportions. The student creates a line drawing, then can add shading or color to finish the drawing if desired.
Roll-A-Drawing
This activity forces students to get out of their comfort zone and create an unforeseen drawing. Each activity I created has a different theme, such as a Basquiat inspired portrait, a landscape or a tall sandwich. The students roll a die or just pick a number to dictate what they will be drawing next. Most activities require students to combine 4-5 images and the end result is often goofy and unpredictable.
“Design A …” Drawing
My students can put themselves in the shoes of a designer for this activity. I provide students with a simple line drawing of things like a soda can or t-shirt. As the designer they finish by adding detail to the product or create a logo for the product. Students can design a house as an architect or create an original t-shirt or shoe as a clothing designer.
Scrambled Grid Drawing
This activity was a bit more time consuming. I used simplified versions of well known artwork, such as the Mona Lisa that I got from a stock photography website. I used a grid to cut the artwork into 20-25 squares. Each square was given a coordinate of a letter and number. The students use the coordinates and an enlarged grid to draw the scrambled image. Similar to the grid drawing, this activity comes with the challenge of not seeing the big picture until completion.
Zentangle Drawing
For this series, I created a large line drawing that had sections or areas to fill with Zentangles. For example, a sea turtle has several sections in the shell as well as the head and fins. On the same page, I provide 5 examples of Zentangle patterns to fill each area of the drawing. My students use the provided Zentangles, modify the patterns or make up their own complex patterns for each space. Color is always optional.
Choice Drawing
This activity is similar to a drawing generator. I provide students with 2 sets of choices and they combine the choices together to make a drawing of their choice. For example, first the students choose a subject: portrait, landscape or still life. Next, they choose a style: cartoon, gesture or shading. This activity is ideal for my students who need direction, but want more creative freedom.
Pixel Art
For this activity I found flat simplified images that would be easy to translate to pixels. For example, a single palm tree on an island in the ocean or a hamburger. I created a grid, similar to ¼’ graph paper with the same proportions as the image. The student can use the reference image to create an enlarged pixelated image and add color if desired.
Coloring Pages
Coloring can be calming, and for some students less intimidating than drawing activities. To make the coloring pages relevant to art, I chose 5 artworks my students would recognize. The paintings are simplified into line art and include a lot of shapes and spaces for coloring to keep them busy for a while.
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Odds & Ends
Lastly, I created 5 unrelated activities. 3 of the 5 include templates, such as a blank comic strip, Flexagon and cube. The cube template includes 6 different Op Art designs. Students draw each design in the 6 squares, then cut, fold and glue to create a cube. In addition to the templates, I created a Surrealism activity where the student adds a surreal drawing inside a blank eye. Finally, an activity I call Alphabet Soup, where students select 5 different letters, write a noun for each letter and combine all 5 things together in one drawing.
I created 5 activities for each of the 10 categories described above. This will allow my students to complete all 5 activities from the category that is most engaging. Or for my students who like variety, they have many different activities to choose from. I keep these activities in file folders for students to choose as needed. I do keep a few of the activities in my sub tub for emergency sub plans. In addition, I have used the scrambled grid drawing as an assessment tool. Early finisher activities keep my speedy artist engaged and keep me available to my students.
Thanks for reading! – Trista
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