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Lesson Plans

Spark creativity with Crayola lesson plans. With hundreds of activities, the learning possibilities are endless. 

Sketched Selfies

Creating a self portrait can help build self-awareness. Students will explore some famous self portraits by noted artists, then create one of themselves.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Creating a self portrait is an introspective art form and can lead to a heightened sense of self-awareness. Many noted artists have created self portraits. Have students view some examples such as those made by Frida Kahlo, Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt van Rijn, Andy Warhol, and others. Many artists create several self portraits. Ask students to discuss why they think artists want to depict themselves in different ways. Then ask them to think of how they would portray themselves. What emotion would they portray? Can one image capture a person's character?

  • Step 2

    Ask students to look in a mirror or use a smartphone's flipped camera to observe their faces. Have them practice various expressions - happy, sad, surprised, silly, etc. Then ask them to draw a portrait of themselves displaying one of the expressions they experimented with.

  • Step 3

    When the self portrait is done, have them present it to the class and discuss how they captured their feelings on paper.

Standards

SEL: Self-Awareness: Understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. 

SEL: Self-Awareness: Recognize one’s strengths, emotions, and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose. 

Adaptations

Artists also create portraits of others, and one of the most famous is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Much has been written about her smile. Some have said that the viewer interprets her expression based on their own feelings at the time. Have students look at this masterpiece. Ask them what emotion they see. Is it a happy smile? An enigmatic one? Is she wistful? Fearful? Do they think da Vinci wanted to convey a specific emotion or leave it up to the viewer?

Challenge students to create a non-traditional self portrait that conveys who they are on the inside rather than presenting how they look on the outside. Have them include words that describe them and and their interests and add symbols to their illustrations that depict important aspects of their life.