Below you’ll find an easy step-by-step tutorial for how to draw a Terrarium and a Template Page. Drawing plants that include their root system can also make a bright and colorful springtime painting.

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Terrarium Drawing

A drawing of a Terrarium, made with the help of an easy step by step tutorial.

Here’s a fun painting project that can help integrate more art with your plant studies. And if you use a few aids (like a jar template to trace) to get started, you’ll find that students as young as kindergarten can learn how to draw a terrarium.

This project was always a teacher favorite back when I was in the classroom, but there are three things that I would consider vital to making it work with a room full of kinders … or even 5th graders. One, use watercolor paper so the paint colors look their brightest. Two, have a chipboard jar template ready for tracing so everyone gets off to a quick start. Three, use liquid watercolor paint so students can just concentrate on painting, and not mixing the right amount of water with the paint.

Please be advised though, that it’s best for you to test your crayon and paint combo first before you hand it out to a roomful of students. I’ve found recently that some brands of watercolor will actually just sit on top of and cover up the crayon, and not leave a nice white line. It’s rather disappointing to get to the final paint stage and not have that work. Especially if you are only 6, and it’s one of your first paintings.

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Terrarium Template page, available as a free download.

Open Draw a Terrarium PDF Tutorial

watercolor terrarium painting — Terrarium Painting by a student

watercolor terrarium — Another student painting, by a kindergartener

A Terrarium Painting in a Recycled Art Journal

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Terrarium Template Page

Open Terrarium TEMPLATE Page

A Terrarium Painting in a Recycled Art Journal

Materials to Draw a Terrarium

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Watercolor Paper.
Real watercolor paper always makes the watercolor paint much more vibrant.

Pencil.
The Ticonderoga brand are the most reliable, make nice dark lines when you need them, and are the easiest to erase.

Eraser.
Large erasers you can hold in your hand do a much better job than just the pencil tip erasers, especially when erasing leftover pencil lines after tracing.

Crayola Crayons.
This classic brand always works well.

Rounded Watercolor Brush.
A good paint brush can make all the difference in the world. Who can paint small details with one of those big floppy brushes? This style with a sturdy rounded tip were my hands down favorite.

Liquid Watercolor Paint.
These paints are so easy to work with, leave such bright colors and last for a long, long time. Well worth the investment.

Non-Spill Paint Cup.
Train your students to leave the matching brush in each cup after they use it, and you have an easy system with very little cleanup.