One Teacher's Journey: sub activities

Sunday, 5 April 2026

10 Easy Op Art Drawing Lessons Your Students Will LOVE!

No Prep One Day Art Ideas for Busy Teachers!

If you’re looking for engaging, low-prep art lessons that actually keep students focused at the end of the term, or year, Op Art is one of the best options to use.

I’ve used my Op Art drawing lessons for my:

early finishers
sub plans
fast, one-day art lessons
middle and upper elementary students

And the best thing is - students LOVE creating these illusion effects. All you need are some basic supplies and minimal to no prep time.

In this post, I’ll share a collection of my one day Op Art projects. You can be assured that these are classroom-tested, highly engaging, and designed for real teaching situations.

What is Op Art (and why students love it)

Op Art is a term used to describe art created with lines, patterns and shapes in such a way as to create visual illusions that appear to move, pop, or distort.

For students, it feels like magic.

For teachers, it’s a win because it:

builds drawing confidence
teaches line, pattern, and contrast
works for a wide range of abilities
requires minimal materials

If you’ve ever needed a last-minute art lesson, this is exactly the kind of activity that saves your day. These Op Art lesson use simple step-by-step drawing techniques to create a variety of bold illusion effects.

When you need something short and effective, these Op Art activities works as a warm-up, a bell ringer and even a quick creativity boost.

It’s simple enough to fit into tight schedules but still produces high-impact visual results. Lessons focuses on repetitive pattern building, helping students develop:

fine motor control
concentration
creative variation
ruler skills
measuring accuracy

So what makes these lessons different from others you've seen?

I am a full time Visual Art and Digital Media specialist educator, teaching students from ages 4-12, at a primary school. I do this every day, just like you!

These resources not only include the slides presentation for your large screen to run a whole class guided drawing lesson, they also include printable student guides for independent learners and early finisher drawing stations.

Upgrade to the Bundle and you'll have a bank of 10x go-to art lessons, these are the kinds of activities that you’ll come back to, again and again. With just paper and markers, students can create artwork that feels exciting, relevant, and rewarding. Such a great way to wind down at the end of a term or during the final weeks of the year.

Another option is to start the term with mini versions that you collate into a collaborative display for your annual art show.

Jump into my TPT store HERE to view the BUNDLE and individual products by clicking on the cover images below. open or watch the previews to learn more about each product.

Make It Even Easier for Your Future Planning

If you want to stay in the loop, getting updates about comprehensive, ready-to-use art lessons that you can trust, you can subscribe to my FREE Substack newsletter.

👉 Join Up Here

I share my:

time-saving lesson ideas
latest classroom-tested resources
and practical strategies for busy teachers

More Drawing Lessons for Early Finisher Engagement

When you have focused students that finish early due to their great time management, you need to have a great drawing lesson on hand that they can work on independently. This is where my End of Year drawing bundle will be a great resource to have in your back pocket. These lessons are structured in exactly the same way as my Op Art products above. Print the student guides for independent students to use while you help the res of your students complete their main projects.