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Years 7–10 Ngā Toi / The Arts
🧺 Te Kete Ako

Elements of Art

Elements of Art · Years 7–10

Year LevelYears 7–10
TypeStudent handout — classroom resource

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions

  • Apply design thinking and artistic skills to communicate ideas and meaning
  • Make informed choices about technique, medium, and presentation for a specific purpose
  • Understand how cultural traditions shape and inform artistic practice
  • Reflect on design choices and evaluate their effectiveness for the intended audience

Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria

  • My design choices are deliberate and I can explain the reasoning behind them
  • I can identify at least one cultural tradition that has influenced this work
  • My work communicates a clear idea or message that the audience can identify
  • My reflection evaluates specific choices — not just "I like it" but why it works

The Elements of Art

The building blocks of all creative work

Whakataukī | Proverb

"Toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te whenua"

Art of language, art of prestige, art of the land.

All art forms - whether visual, spoken, or performed - carry deep meaning and connection to our environment. The elements of art we study today are the same tools our tīpuna used in their carvings, weaving, and storytelling to express their relationship with the world around them.

Line

A mark made on a surface. Can be straight, curved, thick, thin, etc.

Educational diagram showing different types of lines used in art: straight horizontal and vertical lines, curved lines, zigzag lines, dotted lines, and diagonal lines demonstrating the variety of marks artists can make

Shape

A 2D area enclosed by a line. Can be geometric or organic.

Visual comparison of geometric shapes including circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles alongside organic shapes like leaf forms, cloud-like shapes, and irregular natural forms showing the difference between man-made and nature-inspired shapes

Form

A 3D object that has height, width, and depth.

Three-dimensional forms including a cube showing geometric edges and corners, a sphere with rounded surface, and a cylinder demonstrating how shapes become forms when they have height, width, and depth

Colour

The element of art that is produced when light, striking an object, is reflected back to the eye.

Traditional color wheel showing primary colors (red, blue, yellow), secondary colors (green, orange, purple), and tertiary colors arranged in a circular pattern to demonstrate color relationships and how colors mix to create new hues

Texture

The way something feels or looks like it would feel.

Visual examples of different textures including smooth surfaces, rough bark-like textures, soft fuzzy materials, hard metallic surfaces, and bumpy textures showing how artists can create the illusion of how things feel through visual techniques

Space

The area around, between, or within elements of an artwork.

Diagram illustrating positive and negative space concepts where positive space shows the main subject or object while negative space shows the empty areas around and between objects, demonstrating how both work together in artistic composition

Value

The lightness or darkness of a colour. It helps create depth and form.

Grayscale value scale showing gradual progression from pure white through various shades of gray to deep black, demonstrating how value creates contrast, depth, and dimensional form in artwork

Art Detective 🎨

Look at the artwork below. Identify three elements of art that the artist has used and explain how they used them.

Vincent van Gogh's famous painting 'The Starry Night' showing a swirling night sky with bright stars over a village with a prominent cypress tree in the foreground. The painting demonstrates multiple elements of art including curved and flowing lines in the sky, organic and geometric shapes in the buildings and landscape, vibrant colors of blue, yellow, and green, varied textures through thick brushstrokes, and strong value contrast between the dark foreground and bright sky

Element 1:

How it's used:

Element 2:

How it's used:

Element 3:

How it's used:

Your Mini-Masterpiece

In the box below, create a small drawing that focuses on using line, shape, and texture.

📚 NZ Curriculum Alignment

The Arts - Visual Arts

Achievement Objective: VA4-1

Use the elements and principles of visual art to create works

Key Competencies

  • • Using language symbols and texts (visual)
  • • Thinking creatively in visual arts
📋 View Full Curriculum Framework

Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment

The Arts — Ngā Toi

Level 3–4: Apply design thinking and artistic skills to communicate ideas and meaning; make informed choices about techniques, media, and presentation for specific purposes and audiences.

Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi

Level 3–4: Understand how arts and design reflect and shape cultural identity; recognise how Māori and Pacific artistic traditions carry knowledge, history, and cultural values.

Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts

Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?

Aronga Mātauranga Māori

Māori artistic traditions — tā moko, kōwhaiwhai, tukutuku, whakairo, and kapa haka — are not simply aesthetic expressions: they are knowledge systems that encode whakapapa, tribal history, and cultural values in visual and performative form. The design choices made in Māori art are deliberate and meaningful, and the knowledge required to "read" them correctly is part of the mātauranga held by each iwi. When students engage with artistic design, they are participating in a form of communication that Māori practitioners have developed over centuries. Designing with cultural awareness means understanding that images, patterns, and forms carry obligations — especially when they draw on traditions that belong to others.

Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided

This handout is designed to be used alongside other resources in the same unit. Related materials are linked in the unit planner. All content is provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with design thinking as a creative and cultural practice, drawing on toi Māori — the arts as an expression of whakapapa, identity, and community values — to develop innovative solutions to real-world challenges. Students will explore how Māori artistic traditions embody sophisticated design thinking rooted in tikanga and te ao Māori.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ I can apply the design thinking process (empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test) to a creative challenge.
  • ✅ I can identify how Māori visual arts traditions reflect design principles and cultural values.
  • ✅ I can evaluate my design process and explain how I incorporated feedback to improve my work.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide step-by-step design thinking templates for entry-level access. Offer extension tasks requiring students to independently identify a community need and develop a prototype solution, integrating cultural design principles.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach design vocabulary (prototype, iteration, empathy, ideation). Allow students to sketch ideas before writing. Visual communication is a valid mode of expression in arts and design contexts.

Inclusion: Offer choice in materials and media to ensure access for all learners. Neurodiverse learners benefit from clear task structure, visual exemplars, and the tactile nature of prototyping. Ensure the classroom environment supports creative risk-taking without judgment.

Mātauranga Māori lens: Connect design thinking to toi Māori — the mauri (life force) in creative work, the role of whakapapa in informing aesthetic choices, and the principle that great design serves the wellbeing of the collective (whanaungatanga). Explore how Māori weaving, carving, and tā moko embody iterative design processes refined over generations.

Prior knowledge: No specialist prior knowledge required. Best positioned after foundational arts exploration.

Curriculum alignment