21 Self Portrait Art Lessons for Elementary Students & How to Teach Them
Below you’ll find a collection of elementary self portrait lessons plans that share a wide variety of ideas and media, so you can find one that is perfect for you and your students.
Drawing a self portrait in elementary school is a great way to have students practice drawing faces and bodies, and give them an outlet for self expression too. After all, when it comes to drawing a picture of yourself, it’s a chance to portray how you WANT to be seen, not necessarily how you ARE seen. Add some different media to the equation, and all kinds of creativity is possible.
This goal of this collection is to offer as many different art lesson options as possible, so you can find the one that is perfect for you.
Those that have yount students who are still learning how to draw bodies, might enjoy what I call the Doodle self portrait, while older ones might be more inspired with pop culture, and prefer the Nightmare before Christmas self portrait. Having lots of options means you can come back to this list again and again, as I believe it’s not possible to do TOO many self portrait projects throughout the year.
There’s a wide variety of media options here too: markers, crayons, pencil crayons and watercolor. All teach different skills, and create a very different looks from each other.
Not sure how to teach self portraits to elementary students? Not to worry, each linked project has a step-by-step tutorial that you can either print or share on a screen in your classroom. The nine step lessons show students how to draw each one, and then complete it with color or paint.
Learning new skills is great, but it also helps to often remind students that a self portrait is most importantly a representation of themselves. It’s easy to turn on auto-pilot and just imitate what one sees. A self portrait though, is a chance to show the world what makes them so unique.
Modigliani Self Portrait
• Description: Draw in the stretched out style of Modigliani
• Grade Level: 2-5
Self Portrait with Patterns
• Description: Create contrast with the density of lines
• Grade Level: 2-5
Self Portrait for Kids
• Description: Drawing half a face is easy and teaches proportion
• Grade Level: 2-5
Goals Self Portrait
• Description: Practice drawing eyes, and goals writing project.
• Grade Level: 2-5
Watercolor Self Portrait
• Description: Draw and paint in a loose style with watercolors
• Grade Level: 2-5
Minecraft Self Portrait
• Description: Draw yourself using only boxes
• Grade Level: 2-5
Lego Self Portrait
• Description: Customize a familiar shape like a Lego person
• Grade Level: 3-5
Sunglasses Self Portrait
• Description: Practice drawing face proportions, add creative expression inside the glasses
• Grade Level: 3-5
We Can Do It Self Portrait
• Description: Draw a simple pose and add your face to it
• Grade Level: 4-5
Nightmare Self Portrait
• Description: Draw yourself in the style of Tim Burton
• Grade Level: 2-5
Cubist Self Portrait
• Description: Make a cubist drawing of their face and finish with hair and clothing
• Grade Level: 3-5
Pencil Self Portrait
• Description: Use pressure to change the value of a pencil line, and draw a detailed self portrait.
• Grade Level: 3-5
Cartoon Self Portrait
• Description: Draw a cartoon face and add your hair and clothing
• Grade Level: 3-5
Abstract Self Portrait
• Description: Draw a face with lots of closed spaces and color in randomly
• Grade Level: 1-5
Doodle Self Portrait
• Description: Draw yourself and add details. Make note of them with word bubbles
• Grade Level: 1-5
King Self Portrait
• Description: Use a crown template to help draw a large portrait that fills the paper
• Grade Level: K-5
Nate Williams Self Portrait
• Description: Mix drawing and lettering in a creative format
• Grade Level: 3-5
Big Eyes Self Portrait
• Description: Draw a face with unusually large eyes, like the artists Margaret Keane
• Grade Level: 2-5
Leger Self Portrait
• Description: Draw a face in a very bold style like the artist Leger.
• Grade Level: 4-5
Van Gogh Self Portrait
• Description: Draw a portrait in the style of Van Gogh
• Grade Level: 4-5