Sketchbook Prompts Drawing Fans - Elementary, Middle School Art Curriculum Ideas

Turn “I don’t know what to draw!” into “That gives me an idea!” with this huge bundle of sketchbook prompts. Reach even your most unenthusiastic, elementary, middle school, or high school student. With 600 drawing prompts to choose from, there will be no short supply of sketchbook ideas.

Plan weekly sketchbook assignments bell ringer activities, and even be prepped with last minute art sub plans. There are three levels of prompts designed to increase in complexity.

The drawing prompts for elementary are meant to be fun and engaging to get kids sketching. While the middle/high school prompts touch upon representational, abstract, and symbolic ideas as well as design projects. Many of the ideas are perfect for students applying to a specialized high school program for the Arts.

FEATURES

• 600 unique drawing assignments your students will love, so you don't have to spend all your time coming up with ideas
• Clear, crisp printing to make a professional looking resource for your lessons
• Basic to advanced drawing prompts to help spark ideas
• Step-by-step assembly directions with pictures, so you don't struggle figuring out the best way to put it together
• Simple, clean design that enables students to focus on the task at hand

EXAMPLES OF SKETCHBOOK ACTIVITIES

• LEVEL 1: A paintbrush.
• LEVEL 2: Draw a chicken dressed as a ballet dancer.
• LEVEL 3: Trace your hand. Then, draw what it would look like to peel back a part of your hand to reveal a series of robotic wires, switches, and gears.

WAYS TO USE THE FAN DECK FOR ART JOURNALING

1. These sketchbook prompts make great bell ringers. Ease kids into your art lesson with a “do now” to focus their attention. Then, have them finish it as their weekly or bi-weekly homework assignment.
2. This fan deck makes an awesome fast finisher activity. My students were required to have a sketchbook in class so they could work on something of their choosing. Have a set of decks prepped in advance so students can peruse them for drawing ideas. Consider breaking each deck apart into two smaller decks so more students can share them. In this case, a 2” binder ring works just fine.
3. If you’re a TAB (teaching for artistic behavior) teacher, this is a wonderful resource to have in your lessons. It’s a great vehicle for self-exploration and to encourage experimentation on their own terms.
4. Going to be absent tomorrow? Leave these drawing prompts as art sub plans with your substitute teacher to have students pick a sketchbook assignment for the day. For this purpose, you might find it easier to have a small, hand-selected deck you keep in your sub tub with prompts that use dry art media such as pencil, markers, and colored pencils.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. Why use a drawing fan deck? We all know kids can sometimes get stuck overcoming what to draw on that white piece of paper. This encourages creativity because their minds need to be exercised and challenged.
2. How many sheets of paper does each fan use? That depends if you choose to print it one-sided (51 sheets) or two-sided (26 sheets). I give more specifics in the PDF download about why I chose to make it one-sided.
3. Who is this designed for? I designed these sketchbook assignments for art teachers and children of all ages.
4. What materials do I need? Cardstock paper is preferred for durability. But regular copy paper that's been laminated would work, too. You also need a hole puncher, 2.5" or 3" book binder ring, and scissors (and/or a paper cutter). I chose to cut it with scissors because both ends of the pencil graphic needed to be cut with scissors anyways.

YOU WILL RECEIVE

• 3 Non-Editable PDFs (Contains sketchbook ideas for elementary through high school to draw and step-by-step assembly directions)

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Created by Amie Bentley, © Glitter Meets Glue Designs, LLC