The Crayola company has much more to offer than just crayons and markers! You can find lots of lesson plans on their website. Each lesson can be easily adapted to fit into your curriculum, and to match the academic level of your children. These lesson plans are easily downloadable, include many different subjects, and are are entirely free.
To begin using this resource, start by going to Crayola.com. Click on the side of the link called “For Educators”. Next, you need to find the link that says “Lesson Plans”. You can select from two tabs, one that will show you lesson plans designed for Early Childhood, and the other for lessons more appropriate for K- 12 students. If you are trying to put together a lesson plan on a specific topic, you can type that keyword into their search engine, and it will show you pre-made lesson plans that might fit what you are seeking. Otherwise, you can use the drop down boxes to select a theme, a grade level, or a subject. Subjects include : Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and, of course, Visual Arts. When you have those set to your specifications, click the “Search By Category” button. You will soon be looking at a list of lesson plans that fit those parameters.
There is also a drop down box which lets you select a certain kind of Crayola product that you want to use. I found this helpful when I was designing Art lessons to be used at a day care or after school program. I knew what kinds of materials we had, and was able to find lesson plans that used them. While Crayola has some very interesting products, you don’t necessarily need to have them in order to use the lesson plans on this website. Substitutions work well.
In addition to the lesson plans, there are coloring sheets. Find them by clicking on the tab at the side of the page that says “Coloring Pages”. While some are just for fun, others contain math concepts, letter recognition, word games, and pages that can be used to practice handwriting. There are pages for Science, and Social Studies as well. There are also coloring pages for specific seasons, or holidays. I have used this website often, to create quick lesson plans on a moment’s notice. These resources can also be used to supplement an existing lesson plan, with more material.
Image by Pink Sherbet Photography on Flickr