1. Utilize Tate Museum’s project packs. The packs offer a range of activity ideas to explore with learners of different ages and levels or to spark further collaborative activity ideas of your own.
  2. Bookbinding! There are so many good resources out there, like this one. Consider having students make a sketchbook. That could be an activity by itself or students can then use that sketchbook for future art club creations and activities.
  3. Speaking of Sketchbook, check out all these sketchbook prompts we’ve collected.
  4. Paper Mache projects! Ideas here. 
  5. Carve Stamps!

    (click picture for link)
  6. Making Monsters! There is plenty out there on drawing a monster, one fun step-by-step tutorial here. 
  7. Play The Monster Game!
  8. Drawing robots, check out Mark Kistler videos.
  9. Talk to sneaker artist Steve Camargo. You can find him on YouTube or book your art club’s own live Zoom session.
  10. School beautification. Art teacher Shari Magdalene shared a project she did involving her art club. “Our district’s art classes all do a lesson on a theme for our Arts Alive show. This year’s theme was “Whose Shoes?” My middle schoolers did a big installation based on the work of Peter Max, all on recycled cardboard. Sixth graders made an enchanted garden, Art Club did flying sneakers drawn from observation and embellished, 7th graders worked in small groups on big psychedelic Converse sneaks!”

  11. Cindy Lumpkin’s Art Club created these Mixed Media Cityscape Reliefs. “Everyone started with a 14″ wide piece of cardboard and a 14″ wide piece of 1″X4″ wood. They glued them together at a 90-degree angle on day 1 and we allowed them to dry while they worked on designing a ” unique” city in their sketchbooks. On week two I turned them loose with wood and cardboard to create their city base. Then the next week I gave them craft sticks, secures, wooden shapes to add all of the interesting windows and doors and things. Next week the students painted all of it black with acrylic paint and when it was completely dry we used oil pastels for color.”
  12. Paper quilling, directions for beginners here. Great way to recycle scraps of paper. 
  13. If you can spring for a sticker maker and/or a button maker, students love making both. If you can’t buy a sticker maker, you can also upload your designs (either made on the computer or handmade and scanned) and make them using an online service. 
  14. Nellie Trowbridge Mitchell’s students did a community service project.  “Last year my students did an art supply drive. We asked my art students to bring in art supplies for kids in foster care. The art club kids decorated canvas tote bags and we filled the tote bags with the supplies. It was really successful and the kids enjoyed it! I bought the tote bags on Amazon but you could probably get someone to donate them.”
  15. Beth Ann Hargrove has some fun with memes. “We also took strange artwork throughout history and made memes from them. That was hilarious. The Renaissance has no shortage of odd paintings that make humorous memes. I basically made a Google slide full of artwork and then put it up on the smartboard. The kids had scrap paper and then we would read them aloud and vote on the funniest one. We just had to lay the ground rules to keep it school appropriate, they are middle schoolers after all.” She shared the images used in this resource, “What the Meme!” 
  16. Have your art kids reproduce famous artworks. It was a popular trend during Covid. 
  17. Host a Movie Night. Some movie ideas here. 
  18. Be inspired by what Vincent Bal calls Shadowology. See his Instagram. 
  19. Be inspired to create support for Ukraine.
  20. Play Luck of the Draw.
  21. What art maker type doesn’t like to play with Mod Podge? Some ideas with what to do with Mod Podge and where you can purchase Modge Podge. 
  22. Have you done Citra Solve image transfers? You can buy this non-toxic product here. 
  23. Scanner Art, check out our lesson here.
  24. Make some stencils and do some “safe” graffiti with Spray Chalk. *Please note in reviews of this product, it will wash off surfaces but can still leave a stain that dissipates. Obviously, ask permission. 
  25. Hop on the pixel art trend. Here is a simple graph paper tutorial. From there, take sticky notes and make a big version, like this kit that can be purchased. Instead of driving yourself crazy looking for the right color sticky notes, make them. Cut colored copy paper the size of a sticky note and use repositionable glue and you have a custom sticky note. 
    . Get inspired by seeing these Post-it Note Art Works and check out a sticky note mural made at Apex High School.

50 fabulous Art Club ideas

Everything you want to know to launch and run a successful Art Club