🎨 Art & Craft

Art & Craft CT Lessons

Kolam patterns are algorithms. Rangoli uses loops. Madhubani motifs repeat — every traditional Indian art form embeds computational thinking.

2Lesson plans
2Board alignments
Grade 2–4Grade range
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Why CT in Art & Craft?

Traditional Indian art forms are built on precise rules, repeating patterns, and symmetry — all fundamental CT concepts. These lessons reveal the algorithm hiding inside the art.

AlgorithmicPattern
2 lessons shown
State Grade 2 Unplugged

Kolam as an Algorithm — Tamil Floor Art

Students learn to draw a basic kolam pattern by following precise steps, then write the steps as an algorithm — discovering that traditional art has rules.

AlgorithmicPattern
Learning Objective

Students will follow a precise drawing algorithm to create a kolam, then write the algorithm themselves to share with a classmate.

Activity Steps
  1. Show photos of kolams drawn at Tamil Nadu doorsteps each morning.
  2. Demonstrate a simple 3×3 dot kolam, narrating each step aloud.
  3. Students follow the same steps on dot paper.
  4. Now students try to write the steps as instructions: 'Place 9 dots in a 3×3 grid. Starting from the top-left dot, draw a curve to the right...'
  5. Exchange instructions with a partner — can they reproduce the kolam from the written algorithm?
Duration & Materials

45 minutes · Dot grid paper, pencils, reference photos of kolams.

💡 Cultural connection: kolam-making is traditionally passed down as an algorithm — grandmother teaches granddaughter the exact steps.
CBSE Grade 4 Unplugged

Rangoli Pattern Generator — Loops in Art

Students create a Rangoli by repeating a unit pattern 4, 6, or 8 times. They discover that rotation and repetition = a loop in visual design.

PatternAlgorithmic
Learning Objective

Students will design a unit pattern and use rotational loops to generate a complete rangoli, then express the creation process as pseudocode.

Activity Steps
  1. Show that a rangoli is made of one unit pattern rotated multiple times.
  2. Students design their unit pattern on quarter-circle paper.
  3. Rotate and trace the unit 4 times (90° each) to create the full rangoli.
  4. Write the loop: REPEAT 4 TIMES { draw unit pattern, rotate 90° }.
  5. Explore: what changes if you REPEAT 6 TIMES (60° each)? Or 8 TIMES (45° each)?
Duration & Materials

50 minutes · Circle paper pre-divided into quarters/sixths, colour pencils.

💡 This is exactly how computer graphics generate radial patterns — the code is a loop with a rotation transform.
CT Vocabulary

Key CT Concepts in Art & Craft

The core CT pillars illustrated with subject-specific examples from your classroom.

Algorithm
A precise set of instructions that produces a reliable, reproducible result.
A kolam drawing procedure — follow the steps exactly and get the same pattern every time.
Pattern Recognition
Identifying the repeating unit within a larger design.
Recognising that a rangoli is just one small petal rotated repeatedly around a centre point.
Iteration / Loop
Repeating a set of steps a defined number of times.
Drawing a rangoli: REPEAT 8 TIMES { draw one petal, rotate 45° } — the loop creates the full design.
Abstraction
Identifying what is essential and what can be omitted.
The dot grid for kolam — it abstracts the floor into a coordinate system, ignoring colour and texture.
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