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Login Create AccountThe end of the school year is approaching, and it’s a great time to give your students art challenges to change things up. An art challenge is a creative problem for your students to solve. They can be used with groups or individuals and work for a wide variety of topics.
I love that art challenges push my students to think creatively and promote natural collaboration. They also provide unique opportunities for students to practice their problem-solving and communication skills. Finally, they often use materials you can easily find around your classroom.
Get your students thinking outside the box with this one-day art challenge. This challenge works well with grades K-12.
Challenge
Add a googly eye to a sheet of paper and make a creative two-dimensional piece of artwork. You cannot use the googly eye as a feature of a face. You must think outside the box.
Materials
I like to provide students with a variety of materials. However, you can also limit students to just one medium.
Procedures
This project is great for 3rd through 12th grades. While most challenges can be done in one day, here I like to allow two to three days to give students enough time to truly get the hang of the technique. Depending on your students’ skill level, you could try this with younger students. They may just surprise you!
Challenge
Use the paper quilling technique to design a simple, creative image.
Materials
Procedure
Put all those paper and cardboard scraps to use as students work to create a standing structure with a moving element. This challenge works for 3rd through 12th grades.
Challenge
Design a standing structure that has a moving feature.
Materials
Procedures
All in all, art challenges are a great addition to any classroom, and you will be fascinated with the ways your students choose to solve each challenge. Get ready to be blown away!
What successful art challenges have you done in your classroom?
What tip would you give someone trying art challenges for the first time?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.