Art Integration Ideas
Map of Canada project with plasticine
sculptures of points of interest, Grade
4, Jessie Hamilton P.S., Lively
Totem pole (in progress),
Grade 4, Jessie Hamilton
P.S., Lively
Inukshuks, created from found stones
and hot glue, Grade 4, Jessie Hamilton
P.S., Lively
Model of the precipitation cycle, Grade
7, Lansdowne P.S., Sudbury
Environment mural, North Bay Hydro,
North Bay, by Grade 12 West Ferris
S.S. students
Close-up of mural in progress
Mobiles created for a Parenting class (Family Studies), Grade 10, West Ferris
S.S., North Bay
Poem created within a copy of J.E.H.
McDonald’s Tangled Garden, by Liana
Blaskievich, Nipissing University
September 11,
Liana Blaskievich,
Nipissing University
Models of ancient Roman architecture,
Grade 9
Learning the other arts (Dance, Drama, Music) through
visual arts:
Set, prop, lighting design
Costume design and masks
Leotard design
Figure drawings of dancers
Draw/paint/sculpt to music
Link music time periods to
art history
Advertising for shows
(posters, tickets, programs)
Musician sculptures,
drawings, paintings
Papier mache music notes
Acoustics in architecture
Dance step markers
Face painting
Band logos, web sites
Make a music box
Storyboarding
Puppet-making
Musical instrument design
CD/album covers
Music note posters
Create music videos
Photography of musicians,
dancers, actors
Tableaux (human
sculptures)
Lighting design
Draw emotions in music
Make sculptures from old
instruments
Illustrated timelines
Music/art
elements/principles
Learning French through visual arts:
French art history
Design masks/historical
French costumes
Travel posters/ postcards of
French-speaking countries
Vocabulary diagrams
Picture French dictionaries
Carnaval (snow sculptures,
weave belts, Mardi Gras
masks)
Flag design for French
countries
Posters for French history
3D maps of French countries
Poster for French music
group
French café menus and
invitations
Create educational board
games in French
Create marionettes for
French puppet show
French comics
French drama sets
Flash cards
Illustrate French literature
Collage from French
magazines
Illustrated French cookbook
French architecture
Passport design
Create art to French music
Learning geography through visual arts:
Maps (2D, 3D)
Province collage
Models of 7 wonders
Cycles/habitat/ecozone/clim
ate dioramas
Topographic models
Cultural arts and crafts
Landmark sculptures
Picture maps
Visual travel journals
Cultural clothing
Cultural textile patterns
Leaf relief sketches
Explosion boxes (variety of
info)
Flag designs
Landscape designs
City design
Travel pamphlets
Stamp designs
Post cards
Board games and puzzles
Scrapbooks
Travel posters
Passport design
Natural disaster posters
Soil models
Art/Geocache (art locations
and/or tasks)
Learning history through visual arts:
Historical dioramas/models
Illustrated journal
Period costumes
Visual timelines
Depictions of historical
events
Family trees
Coats of arms
Pioneer crafts
Propaganda posters
Election posters
War art
Brass rubbings
Ancient jewellery
Fossil sculptures
Battle maps
Art history as social
commentary
Time capsules/memory
boxes
Mosaics/tapestries
Architectural design
Political cartoons
Hieroglyphics
Artifact creation
Board games/puzzles
Scrapbooks
History on film
Learning English/language arts through visual arts:
Illustrated stories
Posters for stories they have
read
Literature content collages
Link literature and art time
periods
Create literature puppets
Title pages/book jackets
Storyboards
Literature comic books
Book binding
Words morphed into designs
Plot map
Setting maps / illustrations
World wall quilt
Literary device
posters/models
Photo essay
“Shakespeare in a box”
Character costumes and
masks
Dioramas
Graffiti
Character mobile
Create picture books
Create advertisements
Written art critiques
Literacy soul story
Character cartoons
Totem pole novel study
Theme poster
Idiom pictures
Journalism
Myth cartoons
Research essay on an artist
Literary scrapbook
Author memorials
Learning mathematics/numeracy through visual arts:
Patterning (tessellations /
M.C. Escher)
Quilt pieces
Perspective drawing
Scale enlargements
Geometry
Architectural and
engineering designs
Computer animation
Data Graphs
Golden Mean / ratios
Origami
Kaleidoscopes
Net mobile
Proportions
Mazes
Tangrams
Currency designs
Fractals
Fraction circles
Fraction flags
Number pyramids
Symmetry
Venn diagrams
Puzzle making
“Math-o-lanterns”
Graph paper mosaics
Learning physical/health education through visual arts:
Posters for circuits
Health pamphlets and
collages
Models
Team logos and uniforms
Banners
Playbooks
Tournament schedules
Field and floor lines
Trophies and plaques
Sports photography
Birth control mobile
Ads for school sports
Health and phys.ed. videos
Stadium design
Movement videos (slow mo)
Quinzee snow sculpture
designs
Olympic flags
Tournament t-shirts and
posters
Team web-sites
Sports timelines
Mascot costumes
Mural in gym
Nutrition food guide
Sports cards
Substance abuse posters
Illustrated Healthy menus
Equipment design
Healthy menu design
Learning religious studies through visual arts:
Illuminated manuscripts
Study religious art
Tissue paper stained glass
designs
Mandelas
Draw stories from the Bible
Make rosaries
Bible collages
Comparative art – world
religions
Church architecture
Religious murals
Advent calendars
Commandments scroll
Religious holiday crafts
Posters or sculptures for
stations of the cross
Palm crosses
Sun catchers
Illustrated prayers
Bible comics
Bible puppets
Nativity scene sculptures
Beatitude booklets
Study church architecture
Jesse tree
Create a crucifix
“Shroud of Turin” print
Learning science through visual arts:
Models (cells, solar system,
mitosis, DNA, food chain,
motor, lever)
Medical illustrations
Cycle diagrams
Dioramas of ecosystems
Title pages, posters
Science fair displays
Flower, leaf, vegetable prints
Papier mache volcano
Lab/scientific drawings
Sculpture of reproduction
stages
Environment posters
Microscope drawings
Sun dials
Freezing point sculptures
Light spectrum
Photography (optics)
Architectural and
engineering designs
Crystals
Science murals
Nature collages/leaf prints
Mobiles
Claymation
Re-create historical
inventions
Safety brochures
Weather vane sculptures
Tornado pop bottles
Art conservation
Milk carton planter
Animal tracks casting
Learning aboriginal perspectives through visual arts:
Art created from nature
Research local aboriginal
culture
Aboriginal art styles
Beading
Pow wow costumes
Birch bark sculptures
Moose tufting
Quill work
Spirit guide sculptures
Family totems
Dream catchers
‘Morrisseau’ self-portrait
Haida personal masks
Soapstone pet
Heritage mural
Learning character education through visual arts:
Character bracelets
Comic strip for your future
self
Character mask
Character scrapbook
Identity necklace
Virtue posters
Character word art
Personal coat of arms
Symbolic sculptures
Draw your perspective
Character collages (good
vs bad)
Character quilt
Learning social justice through visual arts:
Citizenship word art
Videos about social
justice issues
Diversity sculptures
Injustice posters
Comic books on SJ
themes
Bullying awareness
through design projects
Issue collage
Identity quilt
social scrapbook
Community vision artworks
Local video documentary
Personal perspective
installation
Critical mural
Special education through visual arts:
Scheduling drawings
Anxiety sculptures
Texture manipulatives
Painting therapy
Social skills prints
Graphic novels
Stories through images
Differentiated drawings
‘blind’ sculpture garden
Visual journal
Selected references:
Cornett, C. (2011). Creating meaning through literature and the arts.
(4th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Donahue, D., & Stuart, J. (Eds.) (2010). Artful teaching. New York, NY:
Teachers College Press.
Edwards, D. (2008). Artscience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Goldberg, M. (2012). Arts integration. (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Jarvis, D., & Naested, I. (2012). Exploring the math and art connection.
Edmonton, AB: Brush Education.
Steele, A., & Ashworth, E. (2013). Walking the integration talk: An artsci
project. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning, 4(2), Article 6.