Instantly download these ready-to-use Recycled Art lessons for your KS2 class. Inspire your class with materials that would usually be recycled or wasted and create gorgeous junk model sculptures from them.

Challenge your Year 3 or Year 4 class to experiment and play with their creativity as they think about appropriate joins, materials and paint to use when creating recycled art. How will they overcome different obstacles as they create art to represent something or send a message to their audience.

This download comes with everything you need to teach five packed lessons of creating and experimenting with recycled art. Each lesson comes with a detailed lesson plan, differentiated activity ideas, PDF lesson slides and all the supporting printable resources.

Joining Techniques

In this initial Recycled Art lesson the children will explore and experiment with different ways of joining and attaching cardboard and other recycled materials together. This will inform and assist them in later lessons in this scheme.

This lesson will look at and discuss different glues and tapes, commenting on how effective they might be on different materials. This will guide the children as they experiment with different joining techniques, commenting on the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Everything you need for this lesson (apart from the recycled materials) is included: a detailed lesson plan, printable supporting resources and PDF lesson slides to guide your teaching input.

Finding Inspiration

Hand it over to your class as they explore, experiment and become inspired by the recycled materials available to them. They will consider what could be made from the different materials and reason their ideas with groups and partners.

This open lesson will spark your KS2 class's imagination as they discuss and explore materials, experimenting with ways they can create their own recycled art.

This lesson comes fully resourced with printable supporting resources, lesson slides and a detailed lesson plan.

Animal Sculptures

In this lesson the children will use their ideas from their inspiration lesson to create their first piece of artwork. They will focus their ideas on animals and any familiar shapes they can find in the recycled materials they have available.

Encourage children to select and choose their materials appropriately and the joining techniques they have learnt about previously to create their artwork.

This lesson comes with a detailed lesson plan, PDF lesson slides and accompanying printable resources.

Cardboard sculptures

In this penultimate lesson, children will look at different sculptures made out of cardboard, including sculptures by the American visual artist, Michael Leavitt. Children will consider how these sculptures were made before revising their knowledge on joining materials.

Children will learn how to layer cardboard to create a sculpture. Alternatively, challenge children to make a collection of animal slot-sculptures.

This lesson comes with everything you need to teach a successful Art lesson, including detailed planning, slides for input and printable resources.

Artwork with a Message

Explore existing recycled artwork with your class using the linked artists in the provided lesson slides for this lesson. The children will explore how artwork can convey messages and discuss these messages as a class.

The class will then try to emulate the message of protecting our ocean and its wildlife from plastic pollution using their own artwork.

Everything you need is provided, including a detailed lesson plan, PDF lesson slides and printable resources.