Bob Ross Art Mini-Unit (3 Lessons)

This fully resourced three-lesson art unit introduces KS2 pupils to the artist Bob Ross, develops key painting techniques, and guides children through creating their own landscape artwork using his distinctive wet-on-wet method as well as other painting techniques. Ths resource is fully editable on Powerpoint.

Across the sequence, pupils learn about Bob Ross’ life and style, experiment with blending, highlighting, dabbing and palette-knife techniques, and follow a structured video-guided session to produce a river landscape painting. Retrieval practice, clear modelling and reflection opportunities are built into each lesson to support progress and confidence.

What’****s Included

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Bob Ross (Artist Study)
Overview of Bob Ross’ background and painting style
Introduction to the wet-on-wet technique
Retrieval tasks and discussion prompts
Short video clip with guiding questions
Key vocabulary focus

Lesson 2 – Practising Bob Ross Techniques
Demonstration slides for blending, dabbing, highlighting and palette-knife work
Structured practice activities in sketchbooks
Space for pupils to label each technique
Links to demonstration videos for further visual support

Lesson 3 – Guided Bob Ross Painting Session
Follow-along session using a child-friendly Bob Ross “Lazy River” tutorial
Clear teacher notes on where to pause the video for the best classroom outcome
Full list of recommended paint colours and equipment
Focus on building tree texture, soft blending and river highlights
Class gallery activity and peer review using “Two Stars and a Wish”

**Why This Resource Is Effective

Accessible for non-specialist teachers
Logical progression from introduction, to skill development, to final piece
Highly engaging for pupils through video modelling and hands-on practice
Adaptable for a range of abilities
Suitable for a short art unit, project week or enrichment activity
Resource Format
PowerPoint files for Lessons 2 and 3
Keynote file for Lesson 1
Teacher notes included throughout
Designed for KS2 but easily adaptable for KS1 or lower KS3

TES Keywords / Tags
Artist study
Bob Ross
Wet-on-wet
Painting techniques
Art lesson
KS2 art
Landscape art
Blending
Palette knife
Dabbing technique
Art skills
Primary art
Step-by-step art
Art PowerPoint
Guided painting
Creative curriculum
Art and design
Famous artists
Expressive arts