FREE! Oil Pastel Lesson Plan

🎨 A free, ready-to-use art lesson plan designed specifically for early years and social care settings in Ireland.

This plan takes children aged 4–6 through a full sensory art experience using oil pastels — exploring colour, texture, and blending in an open-ended, child-led session that requires no art experience from the practitioner.

✅ WHAT'S INCLUDED

· Full step-by-step session plan (30–40 minutes)

· Aistear learning outcomes across four strands

· Artist spotlight — Picasso, Degas, Matisse and Irish artist John Shinnors

· Did You Know? fact section on what oil pastels are made of — with read-aloud prompts for children

· Guidance on choosing the right oil pastels (CE mark explained)

· Sugar paper vs cartridge paper — why paper choice matters

· Safe blending techniques using cotton buds and oil (baby oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil)

· Full allergy and safety guidance for early years settings

· Documentation checklist for Tusla inspection readiness

· Practitioner notes on open-ended facilitation

✅ PERFECT FOR

· Childcare settings and crèches

· Social care workers running group activities

· Childminders and home-based carers

· Early years practitioners

· Homeschooling families with children aged 4–6

✅ AISTEAR ALIGNED

This lesson plan is fully aligned with Ireland's early childhood curriculum framework, Aistear, across the Well-being, Exploring and Thinking, Communicating, and Identity and Belonging strands. It includes a documentation checklist designed to support Tusla-registered settings in evidencing planned creative curriculum activity.

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This resource was developed by Dr Denise Mac Giolla Rí of The Art Studio Ballymahon, Co. Longford — where children aged 4–14 come every Saturday to explore, create, and grow in confidence through art.

🌐 theartstudioballymahon.ie

Download your free copy below — no strings attached. If you find it useful, more lesson plans and art education resources are available in the shop.