Drawing Exercises for the First Week of School

These worksheets were inspired by my Art Jenga game—I put prompts within each square and have students get as far as they can and then vote on their favorites. You can also create groups and give the prompts to one student in the group as the other student(s) guess what the prompt was. This is a great icebreaker for the beginning of the year! I have had students ask for it so many times that I created a second one with additional prompts.

I also love that it challenges students’ vocabulary and creativity. They need to get really specific in their drawings in order for the specific words to be clear. For example, for the “Enthusiastic Fruit” prompt, students may be able to draw a happy fruit, but getting the word enthusiastic to shine through is difficult. How do you convey to an audience that a bubble is powerful and not just strong? Students will be thinking with a high level of creatively to effectively draw their designs.

It’s also nice for students at the beginning of the year to see the unique viewpoints of their classmates. Some students “get” certain prompts easier than others, so it’s great for them to see each other as artists and creative thinkers!

Personification is a major tool that I and my students have used to convey these prompts, so these would be a great way to introduce an art lesson that includes any kind of anthropomorphism.

My kids have so much fun with these! Click on the images to download them or visit my store here and let me know how it goes!