Teaching with D&D: D&D for Kids - Art Lesson #5

My favorite trip as a school teacher was when I brought my class to the Philadelphia Art Museum. The enjoyment of seeing and creating art is a skill some would say. Where is better to learn that skill outside of school? The Philly Art Museum!! Actually, most major museums have outstanding educational programs and after public libraries, museums are one of the best community resources. I signed up my class for a “Math in Art” class because that seemed pretty cool. I can’t find that class on their website now as the class has probably been updated to the “STEAM in Art” class they currently offer. The exact lesson plan escapes my memory, but I remember learning about perspectives and how we see the golden ratio almost everywhere in art. Everyone left feeling smarter as a new way to look art and the world had been introduced.

Art can be a broad subject, and it’s fun to show students its many facets. Consider teaching shapes, colors, spaces, patterns and perspectives. So how do we bring art teaching to Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)? You could ask your player-students to draw their own characters, create their own banners, or draw a scene that your adventurers have encountered. You could work on designing weapon modifications or introduce architecture by having everyone create a building. You could even introduce some of the original art work that was created for the game, which has over 40 years of history. Let’s first show the artistic nature of mazes and labyrinths.

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Lesson Plan #5: D&D and Art

Lesson Objective: Learn the difference between a maze and a labyrinth. Create a dungeon for a future D&D game.

1) Warm-Up: Say, “Artists and craftspeople work similarly to scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.” What does this statement mean? Answer: We all start by asking questions, defining problems, planning, practicing and then doing! (5 minutes max).

2) Teach: When was the first recorded maze or labyrinth in art? Answer: Over 4,000 years ago according to some sources. Search the Internet for images under: (mazes and labyrinths, Egypt and in Crete). Show different artworks that use mazes or labyrinths. Note the differences and similarities. Soon ask where we see all this in a D&D game? “Dungeons = mazes”

Talk about how getting through mazes and labyrinths involve problems that can be solved. Creating each maze or labyrinth starts with an idea, then planning. How much space is there to work with? Will there be different rooms or areas? Traps? How wide