1st and 2nd Grade Painting & Drawing Activities

Transform an old chair into a chalkboard canvas! This painting activity is a useful and creative way to add some quirky charm to your existing furniture.

Teach children how to upcycle dried-out markers with this homemade paint-making activity!

Create a self-portrait from natural materials in this collage craft activity!

Your child will have fun creating an Earth Day Plate that he can eat off as often as he likes!

Inspire a love for the written word by creating an illustrated nature poetry book with your kids.

Show your child the solar system and let them explore the stars and space by creating a painting. It's a fun and easy way capture your child's imagination.

Boost those first grade reading and writing skills with this sweet Mother's Day poem idea.

Make a Korean paper fan! This activity is a great way to help your child explore different cultures while she builds her fine motor and arts and crafts skills.

Learning about how plants grow is a building block in the early grades science curriculum. Put a fun twist on this life science concept with these cup monster friends!

If your child enjoys drawing, here's a fun way to learn about compound words that uses art as a visual aid.

Understanding how a map works is tricky for kids, so why not make it into a fun activity for the whole family?

On Father's Day, delight Dad--and stretch your early reader, too!--with this adorable ABC book of "Fun with Dad."

Spark your child's interest in international sporting events by creating a banner of world flags.

Prepare for some scary Halloween counting practice! This game encourages players to knock down cylinders and then add to determine their scores.

In this activity you'll use coffee...to paint! It's a wonderful way to provide your child with a hands-on experience with natural dyes.

Cornucopia still life painting is a great activity for your young artist to look at light and shadow, textures and composition in creating art at Thanksgiving!

Encourage your child to create a tribute to their past, and explore future dreams and goals with this narrative assemblage.

This Labor Day, help your child explore various occupations by discussing the tools workers use on a daily basis at their jobs.

The fish most kids see is usually filleted, and it's hard to see how it came from a lake or sea. This cool gyotaku activity blends life science with art!

Teach your child about the art of ancient Australia by creating your own handprint art just like Aboriginal artists did thousands of years ago.

Give Hallmark a run for its money with these handmade printed cards.

Create an outer space painting with chalk, water and black paper in this art project that explores the solar system.

Make your own Matryoshka out of simple craft materials in this easy how-to!

A food groups plate shows your child what category her foods belong in. Make a food groups plate with your child before dinnertime.

Encourage your child to explore her favorite fairy tale, and learn about characters, plot, setting and story sequence as she draws her own pictures.

Guide your first grader through a map drawing project inspired by her favorite fairy tale. Its masked as a fun art activity, but it also packs learning punch!

Thank Mr. Jackson Pollock for an afternoon of messy art and educational entertainment.

Learn about the ancient art of Japanese calligraphy with this New Year's activity about kakizome.

Make a unique painting while learning about sea life.

Kids paint a still life of a vase of flowers using colors found side by side on the color wheel, just like Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers.