Virtual Learning Art Class Resources: 5 Super Affordable Art Activities For Teachers on a Tight Budget

If you’re a teacher on a budget, we get it. You’re constantly having to scrimp and save and come up with inventive and cheap projects. And with online learning, the prospect is even more daunting. How can you be sure that your students will have access to materials required for a lesson? How can you make each art class as accessible as possible? 

Virtual learning, homeschooling, and hybrid learning models require new levels of flexibility from you and your students. Art class has never looked like this before, and we know that sometimes means scrambling for new ideas, and having to think on your feet. At IPaintMyMind we’re constantly thinking about how to provide relevant, helpful, and robust resources for teachers, parents, and students alike.

(In that vein, check out for our brand new downloadable IPaintMyMind Arts Education Curriculum & Resource Guide: A Comprehensive Creative Experience for e-Learning, Hybrid Learning, and Homeschooling, which just launched!)

Here’s five ideas for super easy and accessible art activities that can be easily transferred to virtual learning formats. Let us know if you incorporate any of them in your classes! 

Collage Art

Collage is perfect for distance learning! Everyone has old magazines, newspapers, or paper hanging out around the house. Ask your students to cut out their favorite things, patterns that catch their eye, great color combinations, or whatever suits their fancy. They can then arrange, layer, and align their images to create a mood collage. Ask them to create a collage that represents how they’ve been feeling. That way, when the class presents their collages you can see what your students have been up to and provide a place for them to connect to others, even if they might be physically isolated. 

Flower Pressing

This next option is a great way to get your students out and about. Ask them to go on a walk in their neighborhood and gather flowers and leaves. They can then press their flowers between the pages of a heavy book. After waiting a few days, they’ll have a pressed and preserved flower or leaf! Each student can add these flowers to drawings or collages by gluing them on. You could also ask them to look up what the flowers and leaves that they picked are called and where they usually grow. This is a great way to get familiar with local nature and connect science to art.