There is nothing better than finding the perfect way to entertain your students while you are out for a day. Did I say entertain? I mean educate. Well, let’s be real, it can be both and ideally is both. As a young teacher, a little bit before the internet, I took a personal day and I came back to a faucet running and yarn strung everywhere. It wound around chair legs, to the flag pole, to the window handles and beyond. If only I had the tools we have today to help entertain my energetic students back then I might have saved a substitute from a hellish day and myself a good 45 minutes of classroom repair. But this is 2020, and I say use those resources if you have it! Here are some of my favorite and educational games, perfect for a sub day, a filler, a warm up… however you see fit.
*I have attempted to avoid any game that requires Adobe flash.
Online
- Art History PuzzlesStreet Art Drawing at The Tate
- Tangrams, A fun way to work problem solving and visual spatial skills.
- Mandala Maker, draw and paint and it reflects your design instantly into a mandala as you go with the ability to save and share.
- Logo Game, graphic design class anyone? (Please note, in this specific version the Playboy logo appears).
And, while we are the topic of Graphic Design, how about this Kerning Game? Or Type War? For those teaching vector art and Graphic Design, check out Shape Type. Or Type Connection is a game that helps you learn how to pair typefaces. - Color, how sensitive you are to matching hue, saturation, etc when the pressure is on. And Color Mixing?
- Met for Kids
- Sculpture class? Try 3D Slash.
In person play
- Blindfolded Sculpting Art Game
- Do you have cameras? Then try this photo scavenger hunt .
- Illustrate Idioms literally. Here is a kid friendly list of idioms.
- Design a sneaker. If you want, add a theme. Another idea, each student gets an artist to pay hommage to. See our
- Pinterest board with templates and inspiration.
- Post it note drawings. Everyone gets a post it note. Everyone makes a piece of art and post it at the end of the period. Inspiration. More Inspiration.
- Board Game! Pictionary, Art Out of the Box: Creativity games for artists of all ages, Pictionary can be improvised to be played online or on a board in person for sure.
