By 2nd grade, students have a better grasp of basic art concepts and will therefore love a chance to try out new techniques and materials. That’s why they’ll embrace these imaginative art activities for 2nd graders, which use a wide variety of media to create amazing results.
We partnered with one of our favorite art teachers on Instagram, Ms. D. (@art.party.with.ms.d), to bring you these fantastic 2nd grade art projects. “Beautiful art + happy students + teaching about a wide range of artists will always be a winner for me!” she says. Be sure to visit her page for more details and photos for each of these projects, plus many more fantastic ideas for the primary art room!
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2nd Grade Art Projects
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Paper Bag Art Portfolios
What an easy way to assemble student portfolios! They can decorate the outside of the bag any way they like, then stow their best projects away in it throughout the year.
Learn more: Paper Bag Art Portfolios
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Arctic Landscapes
Chalk pastels and spatter paint create the dreamy night skies in these landscapes, while a holographic scratch board provides the water. Students can choose from a variety of arctic animals like seals, narwhals, or walruses.
Learn more: Arctic Landscapes
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Yayoi Kusama Flower Sculptures
These mixed-media sculptures were an #internationaldotday project, but they’d work anytime. Students can learn about Yayoi Kusama’s work and try using materials like chipboard, Kwik Stix paint sticks, air-dry clay, and more.
Learn more: Yayoi Kusama Flower Sculptures
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Lois Mailou Jones Flower Paintings
In addition to learning about this amazing artist’s work, students can learn a whole lot of art skills with this project, including color mixing, drawing, balance, overlap, and more.
Learn more: Lois Mailou Jones Flower Paintings
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Laminated Hearts
Start by having students paint gold frames on poster board. Laminate the frames, then have kids paint their hearts directly on the plastic for a super-cool effect.
Learn more: Laminated Hearts
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Insect Fascinators
Ms. D’s 2nd graders do several different insect projects to tie in with what they’re learning in the classroom. This wearable art project is totally unique: Kids create their insects on transparency sheets with permanent markers, then add them to fascinators made from stiffened felt. So incredible!
Learn more: Insect Fascinators
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Paper Butterflies
These gorgeous butterflies take inspiration from contemporary Mexican artist Lourdes Villagomez. The wings are a collage of bright paper scraps, with symmetrical details drawn on the butterfly and added in the background.
Learn more: Paper Butterflies
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Koi Pond Dots
Here’s another fun #dotday project, this one using paper sculpture techniques to create the fish and flowers. The backgrounds are made with watercolors, giving students practice with color mixing.
Learn more: Koi Pond Dots
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Foil-Embossed Flowers
Foil embossing creates an impressive effect with simple supplies. These pieces feature a Mexican folk art design, but you can use this technique for any type of design.
Learn more: Foil-Embossed Flowers
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Folded-Paper Color Wheels
Ms. D’s students generally do several projects involving origami each year. The “magic circle” is a really cool way to learn the color wheel while making STEM connections.
Learn more: Folded-Paper Color Wheels
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3D Butterfly Life Cycle
This is such a unique take on butterfly life cycle projects. It’s an impressive step up from the traditional paper plate project, with 3D details on a natural-looking frame.
Learn more: 3D Butterfly Life Cycle
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Geometric Spheres
Ms. D found inspiration in the work of Mexican artist Eduardo Terrazas for this 3D project. The spheres are made from strips of card stock and transparency sheets, with bold geometric designs for the background.
Learn more: Geometric Spheres
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Scientific Insect Illustrations
Many kids love to draw but might not realize there are actually a number of professions that use this skill. In this project, Ms. D’s students start by drawing an insect from memory, without looking at a photo or illustration. They add more details as they study their subjects, building to true scientific illustrations with diagrams and labels.
Learn more: Scientific Insect Illustrations
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Pipe Cleaner Hats
Need a quick fun project that encourages creative thinking? Try these wearable pipe cleaner hats. Ms. D notes that she sped up the process a bit by giving kids simple plastic headbands to build on. But if you have more time, this makes a good STEM challenge as kids figure out a structure that keeps their creations firmly on their heads.
Learn more: Pipe Cleaner Hats
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The Proudest Blue Collage
Share this beautiful book with your students, then help them re-create the cover with paint, chalk and oil pastels, and origami boats.
Learn more: The Proudest Blue Collage
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Insect Terrariums
Here’s one more insect art project for 2nd graders, and it’s possibly the best one yet! Kids make origami insects and add details with colored pencils and Sharpies. The terrariums use construction paper, cork, and artificial plants for a really impressive result.
Learn more: Insect Terrariums
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Lunar New Year Street Scenes
This project is from 2022 (the Year of the Tiger), but you could switch out the animal featured in these scenes to match any year. The overlapping city scenes help teach the concepts of foreground, middle ground, and background.
Learn more: Lunar New Year Street Scenes
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Robot & Gear Collage
Ms. D says this is one of her students’ favorite 2nd grade art projects, and she loves that it teaches them so many skills. Students create drafts to improve craftsmanship and planning skills, also tackling proportion and resizing before they create their ultimate collage. So much learning in one fun project!
Learn more: Robot & Gear Collage
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Silhouette Self-Portrait
As a Georgia teacher, Ms. D was excited to share the work of fellow Georgian Reginald Laurent with her students. They kept his colorful pieces in mind as they built these beautiful collages around silhouettes Ms. D made using Canva.
Learn more: Silhouette Self-Portrait
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Flower Still Life Collage
This mixed-media collage really does use a bit of everything: from pastels and tempera paint to fabric and painted paper. Before they started, students learned about a variety of Black artists like Clementine Hunter and Benny Andrews, using their work for insight.
Learn more: Flower Still Life Collage
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Silly Animal Anatomy Drawings
If you’ve seen those fun diagrams with terms like “cloven flouncers” for sheep feet or “snorty snoot” for a pig’s nose, you’ll know exactly where Ms. D got the idea for these hilarious drawings. Your students will be so excited to create their own!
Learn more: Silly Animal Anatomy Drawings
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Foil-Printed Snowflakes
Explore the world of printmaking by creating monoprints with foil and washable markers. Metallic pens add sparkling detail to these winter masterpieces.
Learn more: Foil-Printed Snowflakes
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Textured Cactus Drawings
The soft color-washed background sets off the stark black-and-white textures of these cactus drawings perfectly, reminding students that color isn’t the only detail that brings artwork to life.
Learn more: Textured Cactus Drawings
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Sunflower Quilt Collages
When students explore the work of Faith Ringgold, they learn how quilting is truly an art form in itself. Follow up the lesson with these mixed-media sunflower pieces using fabric pieces for textile accents.
Learn more: Sunflower Quilt Collages
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Ghost in a Jar
Looking for a unique take on a Halloween art project for 2nd graders? Try this one, based on the adorable work of contemporary artist Heidiroo!
Learn more: Ghost in a Jar
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