Fourth grade art students are ready for new challenges, like trying out perspective or exploring tessellations. These projects are all well within their abilities but will also encourage your students to push themselves to create cool new works of art they’ll be proud to take home and show off. We’ve got art projects for 4th graders in every medium, so there’s something for all classrooms.
“I believe the art room is a joyful place where every child’s imagination can bloom and grow, with the right amount of nurturing!” says elementary art teacher Caroline M., known on Instagram as @scs.artteacher. “I love creating mixed‑media projects with my students, especially those that celebrate nature and the world around us.”
Caroline encourages art teachers to embrace a wide array of materials and supplies to encourage creativity at home and school. “My goal is to provide an environment that supports curiosity, celebrates process over perfection, and is ultimately a welcoming space where every student’s creative voice and spirit will grow and flourish.”
Explore some of Caroline’s favorite 4th grade art projects below, along with ideas from Lauralee Chambers (@2art.chambers) and Yvette Ackerman (@ackermans_amazing_artists), two more Instagram favorites. Visit their pages for more details and photos of each project!
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4th Grade Art Projects
Courtesy of @2art.chambers
Origami Pencils
Lauralee notes that she loves doing a lesson on “pencil power” at the beginning of the year. Origami pencils give kids a bit of a challenge, just enough to encourage a growth mindset and set them up for a terrific year ahead.
Start by having kids paint or draw in the branches on their background paper of choice. To make the petals, students will be amazed at the cool effect they can get when they double-dip their brushes in two colors of pink paint, then “stamp” the brush down and twist.
This can be a quick project when you use supplies like Roylco butterfly frames and Hygloss cellophane sheets. For a more complex project, have students trace and cut out their own butterfly frames from black construction paper.
Start by spending time looking at pictures of castles from around the world with your class. Then, lead them through a guided-drawing session to create their own castles with the details of their choosing.
Geometric black-and-white patterns contrast beautifully with neon in this striking project. Try it around Valentine’s Day or any time you need to brighten up your art room.
If you haven’t tried foil-marker printing with your students, what are you waiting for? You’ll need water in spray bottles to create that beautiful blended effect. It makes the perfect background for patterned black-and-white leaves.
Here’s another terrific 4th grade art project contrasting color with black-and-white. This one teaches students about depth and 3D effect, as well as shapes like cylinders and ellipses.
Capture the magic of a snowy day with this painting project. Lauralee notes that this lesson teaches composition, texture, and value. Plus, kids will love adding the white paint splatter for snowflakes!
Put the power of symmetry to work by having students paint one half of a spider along the crease of a folded page. While the paint is still wet, fold the paper and press gently to create a balanced spider painting.
For this project, students take a close look at one part of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” and re-create the brush strokes with oil pastels. Spend some time telling them about the artist’s life while they work. “Talking about art is just as important as creating,” Lauralee reminds us. “We hope to nurture well-rounded students who can appreciate art. Not all of them will become artists, but all will need to be visually literate in this world of images.”
Every kid will be excited to create these vibrant cupcakes! Art teacher Caroline from @scs.artteacher uses Crayola Model Magic for this project. Try using silicone cupcake “wrappers” as molds for the bottom.
What better way to urge kids to shoot for the stars than by asking them to draw themselves as astronauts? Chalk pastels give these drawings their vibrant color, with each student choosing the “groovy” design that suits them best.
This modern artist’s style is sure to strike a chord with students. Use the foil-printing method to create colorful backgrounds after students draw the pumpkins.
Students can develop real confidence in their artistic skills through directed drawing sessions. This makes them much more likely to try more drawing activities on their own too.
What a brilliant twist on gingerbread art! The background uses the popular foil-marker printing method. (Caroline notes that this time around, her students used Dab-o-Ink bingo daubers.) Students can sketch any style of gingerbread house they like; it’s the perfect project for those crazy days that lead up to winter break.
Start by having students draw their own patterned paper—Lauralee’s kids used metallic markers on black paper. Cut out acorn caps from their designs, then add them to acorn bottoms cut from wood-grained scrapbooking paper.
Talk with your students about the differences between our left brain and our right brain. Then, ask them to illustrate the part of their brain they feel is their strongest. (Or they can do both!)
When you rip the top layer off a piece of cardboard, you expose the cool textures underneath! Use them to create these fun sandcastle collages—add some real shells for detail if you can.
Use color theory or explore all the colors of the rainbow with this simple project. Lauralee used empty heart-shaped candy boxes, then had students cut strips of construction paper and roll them into tight scrolls. Glue them into place once you have a design you like.
Here’s another project that’s fun for learning color theory, as well as perspective and drawing 3D shapes. Let students choose their own way to “fill” each black-and-white box with color.
Need a simple project with fantastic results? Try these little Crayola Model Magic pumpkins. Use a stiff piece of cardboard to add the segments to flattened balls of clay in colors of your choice. Make the vines from green wire or pipe cleaners.
Circle weaving on paper plates is a pretty standard primary art project. So we love the twist Yvette Ackerman puts on it, using the circle weaving as a background with black paper silhouettes glued on top.
Here’s another surprisingly simple clay project. Roll out a slab of clay, then drape it over an object to create a ghost shape. Cut out the eyes and mouth with a craft knife or pointed stick. Spooky and cool!
Make this a simple project by starting with rainbow-colored paper. Then, guide kids through tracing shamrocks with black markers, adding patterns and using negative space for interest.
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