Looking for some easy, quick one day elementary art lessons for sub plans? Emergencies happen, and your substitute may not have an art background. The good news is that sub days can still be creative, structured, and meaningful with the right low-prep lesson ideas.
What Makes a Lesson Substitute-friendly?
The best art sub plans are easy for a substitute to explain, use familiar supplies, minimize cleanup, and allow students to work independently. Whether you’re planning for a scheduled absence or an unexpected sick day, choosing substitute-friendly lessons helps the day run smoothly for everyone.
- Clear goals & instructions
- Simple & mess-free art supplies
- Allows students to work independently
- Visual examples
How to Make a Sub Tub for Elementary Art
I keep a stack of sub plan handouts in an easy-to-find place so they are ready to go. You can make your own sub tub ahead of time so you are prepared in case of emergency. Include things like seating charts, explanation of expectations & behavior management procedures, where to find emergency information (like fire or tornado procedures) and what students can do if they finish early.
SUB TUB FREEBIE
This guide will help you get started with 10 easy art activities to leave for a substitute. You’ll learn what a sub tub is, what to include in it, and which art lessons work best when you’re out.
Quick One-Day Art Activities for Subs
Sometimes the easiest sub plan is a simple project that starts and finishes in the same class period. Students get to create something they’re proud of, and you don’t have to worry about unfinished work waiting for your return.
Design projects stretch students’ thinking and give them a purpose beyond just free drawing. As they design, they make intentional choices about planning, personalization, message, and how color or shape supports their idea. All of these ideas can be used without the templates. Students can easily draw their own versions. If you’d like handouts to make things easier, they are linked below.
- Design a Graffiti Mural: Draw a building and then create an artistic mural on the side of it. What message do you want to show with your mural?
- Fashion Design: Students can design a t-shirt, sweater, dress or costume for a special occasion or to express their own style.
Animals in Cars!
With this design challenge, students will draw cute animals in uniquely designed cars. Inspired by Richard Scarry’s art.
- Creative Trucks: Use your imagination and create a unique design for a truck, car or plane! What will your vehicle be used for? What makes it unique and special?
- Design a Bookmark: Cut paper into rectangles and have students design positive bookmarks for the library. Bonus idea: you can photocopy these so students can swap with each other.
No-Prep Drawing Activities for Subs
Look & Spy Drawing FREEBIE
This free download contains 2 creative art challenges. First, a Look, Find & Spy drawing activity and then an A-Z challenge activity.
Choice boards are also a perfect print-and-go drawing activity. They are a fantastic way to provide a little bit of structure but give your students plenty of creative freedom! Simply print out the choice board and your students can pick one prompt to use for their drawing. Bonus: These can be used multiple times, as students can choose a different prompt on a different day.
- Here is a FREE sample of an Art Choice Board with drawing prompts!
Monthly Art Choice Boards
This resource comes with 12 different choice boards – one for every month of the year. Each board features 12 different seasonal drawing prompts, perfect for choice and creativity!
Free Balancing Act Sub Plan: Students practice using the art principle of balance as they stack together a bunch of objects into a “tower”. It’s fun, whimsical and creative.
Easy K-2 Elementary Art Sub Plans
For Kindergarten–2nd grade, art sub plans should be fun, simple, and low-mess. Clear step-by-step directions and easy clean-up are key. And yes… hide the glitter!
- Scrap Box Collage: Simply set out the scrap box and encourage students to cut out shapes and make creative pictures such as an animal, an abstract design, a house, a robot or monster.
- Art Centers: Set out a variety of options including activities such as building blocks, coloring, play dough, art puzzles, lacing cards or drawing boards.
- Line Drawings: Fill the page with different types of lines (such as zig-zag, wavy, loopy, straight). Then, color in the sections. Use this FREE worksheet and handout about types of lines as inspiration.
- Stencil Drawings: Set out all of the stencils you have and encourage students to make creative drawings with the stencils. Color in the shapes.
Primary Color Hands Drawing Project
This Free Sub Plan is perfect for Kindergarten – 2nd grade. It’s one I use every year with Kindergarten, because it’s very easy for a sub to teach and it reinforces the primary colors.
- Squiggle Stories: These are perfect for Kindergarten – 1st graders! Students draw a squiggle on a piece of paper. Then, they swap with a neighbor. They will then turn the squiggle into something else: a landscape, a creature or an object. Create a short written story about your drawing! Here are some pre-printed Squiggle Story worksheets. Here are two children’s books you can pair with this art project: The Squiggle and One Little Squiggle (Amazon Affiliate links have been used at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog.)
FREE Creative OOPS Drawing Sheets
Similar to the Squiggle Stories, students will turn these fingerprints, coffee stains and torn paper into little masterpieces. Read the book Beautiful Oops to introduce the activity!
Grade 3-5 Art Projects for Substitute Teachers
For grades 3-5, students can handle a bit more complexity, but you still want structure and defined goals. Look for art activities that have a clear design challenge while allowing choice and personalization. At this grade level, it’s still a good idea to keep art supplies to a minimum (don’t break out the acrylic paints or clay!) Here are a few of my favorites.
Design a Shoe
Students can either draw their own shoe and decorate it, or you can use shoe templates like these!
- Design Your Own Flag: Create a personalized flag using symbols, colors, and images that represent who you are.
- Create an Abstract Artwork: Use geometric and organic shapes to design a bold and expressive abstract composition.
Design a Maze
Drawing a maze is a wonderful creative design project that challenges kids’ spatial skills. It also provides for lots of creativity and choice.
Middle School Art Sub Plan Ideas
A strong middle school art sub plan should have a clear, specific outcome and easy-to-follow, step-by-step written directions. At this age, students need structure and defined expectations, especially when a substitute is present. I used to teach middle school at the beginning of my career and I think the following ideas would work well with 6th-8th grade.
- Zentangle Animals: Lightly sketch an animal silhouette. Fill in the animal with structured patterns. Use black and white OR add color! Use these pattern handouts to inspire pattern ideas.
- Logo Design: Invent a business and create a logo to go with it. Use colors and imagery to represent your business.
- Geometric Shaded Animals: Practice value and shading with these geometric shaded animals or creatures. Free download!
- Design a Creative Alphabet: Practice drawing fonts and play around with typography.
Doodled Name Designs
Create a design using your name. Add patterns and doodles to make it look creative and unique.
Printable Art Sub Plan Activities
Coloring Pages
Coloring activities are great to leave as a choice for a day you will be absent or to leave as an extra “early finisher” activity. Encourage careful craftsmanship and blending with different colors. Here are a few fun coloring options.
- FREE Growth Mindset Coloring Pages
- FREE Growth Mindset Coloring Bookmarks
- FREE Kindness Coloring Pages
- Positive Affirmation Coloring Pennants
- Famous Art History Coloring Pages
Collaborative Posters
These beautiful posters come together and teach the power of teamwork, with each kid coloring a portion and then combining them together!
Starry Night Collaborative Poster
This is a large 40” x 28” collaborative coloring poster. Each student colors one sheet and then they are assembled together to create a giant Starry Night banner!
- Growth Mindset Collaborative Poster: “We Can Do Hard Things”
- Color the World with Kindness Coloring Poster
Art Word Searches
Word searches are a fun way to reinforce art vocabulary, strengthen pattern and word recognition, and improve spelling skills.
- Check out these art-specific word searches, filled with rich art vocabulary words or make your own!
Art Skill Builder Activities for Sub Plans
Days with a substitute teacher can still be a great opportunity to teach and practice important art skills. Here are a few ideas that work especially well.
- Easy Grid Drawing: Using a grid helps students break an image into smaller sections, making it easier to copy and stay focused. It’s structured, quiet, and great for building confidence with drawing.
- Symmetry Practice: Similar to the grid drawings, practicing drawing images with mirror symmetry helps with balance and careful observation. Students can find a face or symmetrical picture in a magazine, cut it in half, glue it to a piece of paper and then draw the other side.
Elements and Principles of Art Worksheets
This resource has 33 print-and-go worksheets that are great for independent work.
Having a collection of reliable art sub plans means that you won’t have to scramble for lessons at the last minute. When you build a bank of easy and clear lesson plans, your students can stay engaged and creative even when you’re not there. Plan ahead now and you’ll feel prepared for the rest of the year.
The best kindergarten art sub plans are simple, use low-mess materials and are easy to explain in just a few steps. Projects that focus on basic skills such as shapes, primary colors or lines are beneficial. Simple directed drawings, shape collages or stations keep students engaged without requiring complicated set up or clean up.
The best one-day art projects for substitutes in art class are independent, structured, and use only a couple of simple supplies. No-prep art sub plans like drawing challenges, choice boards, grid drawing activities, or creative prompts work especially well.
- Clear lesson plans with easy-to-follow instructions
- Printable worksheets or handouts
- Visual examples of finished work (optional)
- Classroom expectations and behavior procedures
- Seating charts and supply locations
- Any special notes, including the name of a nearby teacher who can help if needed
Having multiple elementary art sub plans organized by grade level makes it easy for substitutes to choose an activity. The more detailed and structured your plans are, the more successful the day will be. Check out my free Sub Tub guide for more details.
I like to keep a minimum of 2 options per grade level available at a moment’s notice, in case I am out for multiple days. Prepare ahead of time by making photocopies of all of the handouts you will need and organizing them by grade level in your sub tub, binder or on an easy-to-access shelf. A small collection of emergency art lessons ensures you’re prepared without feeling overwhelmed.
Leave clear instructions for your substitute teacher about what students can do who finish early. Simple extensions like adding more detail, building up the background, deepening the coloring and shading, incorporating pattern, or writing a short artist statement can keep students engaged. You can also stock your sub binder with extra drawing prompts, word searches, choice boards, how-to-draw books, coloring pages, or origami so there’s always a backup plan.
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