Halloween is around the corner and with the students all excited about costumes, candy and all things creepy, it can be tough for art teachers to not fall victim to doing the typical seasonal activities. My rule of thumb for holidays is that whatever I do, it has to have an instructional purpose and be different.

I found this lesson (with easy instructions) when I hosted an after school activity last year. This is the perfect time to share it with you so that you can adapt it to your heart’s content. What do you get when you challenge your students to make a cyclop eye by folding paper, origami style? An instant winner that will engage your students in a lot of creepy fun!

I suggest you practice making one for yourself a couple of times to get the hang of it. You basically make all the folds first, work on the eyeball, fold everything and finally work on the eyelid.

Let your students make several if there is time however this lesson took 45 minutes to do with a group of students from grades 1-5. What would a witch eye look like? A zombie? An animal? See all the possible variations on this?

Once you have made the folds, and you have guided the students to draw and outline their eyeball, it’s up to the student to create the eye details however they like. Veins, bloodshot eyes, the sky’s the limit. We used oil pastels because I love how vibrant the colors are but feel free to try water color, pencils, or whatever you like using in class.

The final part is to fold everything closed and work on the eyelid. Again, your students should have the freedom to make the eyelid however they like. How about adding strips of curled paper for eyelashes to give it that realism? Adding texture?

This lesson was a hit with my group of kids and know your students will feel the same. I would love to hear back and see how your Cyclop eye turned out and the variations your students came up with. Feel free to share over at the Art lessons For Kids Facebook page.

Happy Halloween lovely readers!