Take your Year 5 or Year 6 class on a journey to China with this ready-to-teach Chinese Art KS2 lesson planning pack as you explore hundreds of years of Chinese art history together. With everything from dragons to Ming vases, these Chinese Art lesson plans offer your class the chance to undertake a host of fun, creative and challenging Art projects as they learn about Chinese Art and create some impressive artwork of their own.

Each of these six Chinese Art KS2 lessons comes completely ready for you to deliver. The included slideshow presentations will give your class some context and history as to the particular area of Chinese art they are studying (such calligraphy, terracotta warriors or Ming vases) before showing some step-by-step photo instructions giving suggestions and tips for how children can recreate artwork to reflect what they have been learning about. There is even an instructional video modelling how to paint the Four Gentlemen. Each lesson pack also comes with a set of printable resources to support children as they create their Chinese artwork, such as worksheets, picture cards, challenges and instructions sheets. Everything is included so you can relax knowing that you have outstanding Art lesson planned and ready to go. All you need to do is grab some paint or clay from the Art cupboard!

This scheme of work is also part of a Topic Bundle. Perfect if you are teaching 'China' as a cross-curricular topic.

Lesson 1: The History of Chinese Art

The first lesson in this series gives your Year 5 or Year 6 children the chance to explore the history of Chinese art. They will examine different works of art from different times in Chinese history, looking out for common themes, colours and style, and commenting on what they think of different paintings, drawings and sculptures.

They can also use timeline cards to match up artworks with their correct period in the history of China, giving them an overview of how Chinese art has developed over time.

This History of Chinese Art KS2 planning pack contains a wealth of teaching resources to help you deliver this lesson, including a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow for the teaching input, differentiated activity ideas and a range of printable resources.

What's included:

Lesson plan
Slides
Activity ideas
Picture cards
Viewfinders
Differentiated worksheets
Timeline cards

Lesson 2: Dragons

Your KS2 class will explore the importance dragons play in Chinese art and culture with this Chinese Dragon Art lesson for Year 5 and Year 6. The included slideshow presentation teaches your class about dragons in Chinese culture and examines some examples of dragons in Chinese artworks.

During their independent learning time, they can then either follow two differentiated step-by-step instructions to draw their own dragons, replicate a dragon from the famous Nine Dragons scroll or create a Chinese dragon using salt dough!

This Chinese Dragon Art lesson plan pack for KS2 comes with everything you need to deliver this lesson, including an easy-to-follow lesson plan, a slideshow, differentiated activity ideas and a range of helpful printable teaching resources.

What's included:

Lesson plan
Slides
Activity ideas
Help sheets
Nine Dragons picture cards
Salt dough instruction sheet

Lesson 3: The Four Gentlemen

Delve deeper into the world of Chinese art with this Four Gentlemen Art lesson for KS2! The lesson starts by exploring what is meant when we describe an art form as being linear and explores the importance of lines and brushstrokes in Chinese art.

Your Year 5/6 class will then find out about the Four Gentlemen and learn how to use brushstrokes to paint bamboo, plum blossoms, orchids and chrysanthemum in the traditional Chinese style...with the help of some step-by-step video tutorials!

Fully planned and ready to deliver to your class, this Four Gentlemen lesson is a great way for your children to not only become more familiar with the art of ancient China but also to develop their painting and brushstroke skills.

What's included:

Lesson plan
Slides
Activity ideas
Four Gentlemen instructional videos
Four Gentlemen picture cards
Help Sheet

Lesson 4: Calligraphy

This Chinese Calligraphy Art lesson for children in Year 5 or Year 6 builds on their knowledge of the importance of brushstrokes in Chinese Art by looking at Chinese calligraphy. During the teaching input, your class will find out about calligraphy as an important art form and be able to have a go at creating some characters.

When they come to do their independent work, they can then continue to practise a variety of increasingly complicated Chinese characters, making sure to complete each stroke in the correct order. There's also the chance to write their names in Chinese-style characters.

This lesson comes with an informative slideshow for the whole-class input, a detailed lesson plan with differentiated learning activities, and a range of corresponding printable teaching resources to support your children as they create their own Chinese calligraphy character artwork.

What's included:

Lesson plan
Slides
Activity ideas
Chinese character cards
Chinese alphabet cards

Lesson 5: Terracotta Warriors

This Terracotta Warriors lesson plan for Year 5/6 children will teach your class about one of the greatest finds of the 20th century. They will learn about the discovery of the Terracotta Army in 1974 and take a look at some photos that show the incredible scale of this amazing discovery. They will also explore how every single Terracotta Warrior is completely individual.

The slideshow presentation then goes on to show children a step-by-step process for how they can use clay to make their own miniature Terracotta Warrior. Alternatively, they can work as a class to create their own Terracotta Army by drawing their own warriors.

This Terracotta Warriors lesson plan pack comes fully prepped and ready for you to teach to your class. There's an easy-to-follow lesson plan, a slideshow for the whole-class input, differentiated activity ideas and a range of handy printable resources.

What's included:

Lesson plan
Slides
Activity ideas
Picture cards
Differentiated warrior templates
Terracotta warrior example sheet

Lesson 6: Ming Vases

This Ming Vases Art lesson, the final lesson in this Chinese Art series, allows your Year 5 or Year 6 class to find out a little about the history of the Ming dynasty before introducing them to the famous Ming porcelain.

Looking at a variety of examples to identify common colours, themes and patterns, your KS2 class can then use what they have found out to draw their own Ming vases or even use porcelain paint to create their own plate in the Ming style.

This Ming Vases planning pack comes with everything you need to teach this lesson (lesson plan, slideshow presentation, printable resources) leaving you free to enjoy a great Art lesson without the need for tons of preparation!

What's included:

Lesson plan
Slides
Activity ideas

Art Lesson Plans & Primary Resources For Teachers

Investigating Patterns

Paper Art

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Cityscapes Art

Super Sculptures

Earth Art

Chinese Art

Viking Art

Australian Aboriginal Art

Japanese Art

Art of Africa

In Flanders Fields