Chinese New Year – Year of the Horse Drawing for Elementary Art

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with this fun and flexible Year of the Horse directed drawing! Includes step-by-step drawing guides, roll & draw games, and creative design choices inspired by the Chinese Zodiac • Perfect for elementary art grades 1–5!

★ Why Teachers Love This Chinese New Year Art Project

✔︎ Combines Lunar New Year traditions with age-appropriate drawing instruction
✔︎ Includes both structured and choice-based drawing options for differentiation
✔︎ Covers grades 1–5 with scaffolded steps, from beginner to more advanced skills
✔︎ Ideal for classroom, art centers, sub plans, or early finishers
✔︎ No prep required—just print and teach!

★ What’s Included (33 Pages)

✔︎ Step-by-step directed drawing pages for both horse body and horse head (4 pages)
✔︎ Choice drawing guides with a variety of eyes, manes, tails, and Chinese designs (3 pages)
✔︎ Roll & Draw game sheets for playful, randomized creativity (3 pages)
✔︎ Printable drawing templates (blank, partial, and full horses) for different skill levels (7 pages)
✔︎ Visual instructions for coloring and outlining using marker, crayon, and pencil (4 pages)
✔︎ Print & Go pages perfect for younger students or independent centers (2 pages)
✔︎ Chinese Designs for students to choose from when adding designs to their horse (4 pages)
✔︎ Teacher Instruction for multiple coloring styles and student adaptations (5 pages)

Total: 33 PDF pages (including duplicates for body/head formats)

★ How It Works

This Year of the Horse directed drawing activity offers flexible ways to engage students with both structure and creativity.

1. Start with Directed Drawing
   Begin with the step-by-step guides for either the full horse body or the horse head. These are great for whole-class instruction or art centers.
2. Explore Choice Drawing
   Students can personalize their horses by choosing from different eyes, manes, tails, and symbolic Chinese designs provided in the choice guides.
3. Play the Roll & Draw Game
   Let students roll dice to randomly select drawing features. You can find a digital dice roller on the Expressive Monkey blog:
   👉 Online Dice Roller Simulator
   Or on the Expressive Monkey YouTube channel.
4. Use Drawing Pages for Independence
   Choose from several horse drawing pages—some fully drawn, some partially drawn—to match student ability. These work well for early finishers, students with IEPs, or absentees.
5. Finish with Color
   Students outline their designs in black marker, then fill in with crayons, colored pencils, or markers—with red used to echo Chinese New Year traditions. Instructions include a 3-step visual for this process.
6. Display the Art
   Optional: Have students pick their own lucky color and share why. This adds personal meaning and builds classroom connections.

★ FAQs

Is this resource suitable for younger students (grades 1–2)?
Yes! It includes simplified Print & Go pages with partially drawn horses, perfect for beginners.

Can I use this for a sub plan?
Absolutely. The visuals and step-by-step instructions make it easy for subs to follow—no experience with drawing required.

Do I need special art supplies?
Nope. Crayons, markers, and pencils work just fine. For best results with wet media, use 90# drawing paper.

Is this specific to the Year of the Horse?
Yes. This is one in a Chinese Zodiac series. It focuses specifically on the Horse and includes themed design elements.

Can students complete this independently?
Yes. The combination of step-by-step visuals, roll & draw options, and ready-made pages makes it ideal for art centers and independent use.

★ National Standards

VA:Cr1.2.1a – Use observation and investigation in preparation for making a work of art.
VA:Cr2.1.2a – Experiment with various materials and tools to explore personal interests in a work of art or design.
VA:Cr2.3.3a – Individually or collaboratively construct representations, diagrams, or maps of places that are part of everyday life.
VA:Cn11.1.4a – Through observation, infer information about time, place, and culture in which a work of art was created.

★ Learning Objectives

✔︎ Students will observe and investigate the horse form and Chinese symbolism as preparation for creating original artwork.
✔︎ Students will experiment with drawing tools and coloring techniques to express their own design ideas.
✔︎ Students will construct a visual representation of a horse using symbolic and cultural elements.
✔︎ Students will identify how traditional art forms reflect the culture and values of Chinese New Year celebrations.

More Chinese New Year Lessons!

• Chinese Zodiac Animal Pages

Chinese New Year coloring pages featuring the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Chinese characters, designs, and dates for the Chinese zodiac.

• Chinese Zodiac Animal Drawing in the Style of Romero Britto

Learn how to draw Chinese Zodiac animals step by step in the style of Romero Britto.  Includes pattern ideas and finish-the-drawing pages.

• Chinese Zodiac Animal Directed Drawing

Easy Chinese Zodiac animal step by step drawing pages. How to draw a dragon, mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, snake horse, goat, monkey rooster dog, and tiger.  Printable and on Google Slides.

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Easily download this PDF with a link that is automatically emailed to you immediately after your purchase and you can begin drawing right away!

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