​I have long desired to do a unit based on 3D Tessellations but knew it would be challenging as I had never come across a lesson on something like this. 2D Tessellations are certainly fun and not too difficult. My approach (HERE) throws out the grid so even elementary students can do them.
 
But I wanted to be able to do what I have seen M.C. Escher do on rare occasions, and I did make some discoveries along the way. Below are 3 examples by the master himself. 

​After 3 weeks of struggle with my Art 3 high school class, we discovered that cubes, assembled with tessellations by rotation, can likely be done by middle school students. If you double the squares on each face, it looks more impressive and can be done by most high school students.
 
Other forms are far more challenging. For example, a 20-sided figure, an icosahedron, is made up of triangles. 5 triangles make up a portion of the form’s face. 3 does not go into 20, nor 5 easily… so creating a tessellation for such a form becomes more challenging. You can tessellate perhaps 50% of the form, but then overlaps and additional spaces need to be justified, or turned into additional figures so no empty spaces exist… otherwise it’s no longer a tessellation.
 
Here is a video that shows you my struggle and process with non-cube forms. They are not impossible; they are just very challenging. 

​​Tessellations with forms other than a cube CAN be done, but I would leave those for your design students, advanced classes, or those who find cubes too simple.  Below are some of my Art 3 results. Some were able to do it well, and a couple struggled and “cheated” with empty spaces.  

THIS VIDEO is an interesting one from TikTok on tessellations.

We created stands for some forms with coat-hanger wire and epoxy clay. They display nicely, and were appreciated by the math department, and used as an example of my intercurricular approach to my administration.
 
But let’s get back to cubes, which I think most classes can handle. If you create tessellations by reflection with squares, they can become cubes more easily. The video below shows the process of creating tessellations in this method. (THIS is a playlist of other tessellation techniques)

Once students have made a pile of possible shapes, then it is time to test them before moving onto a form. If they cannot make it work on a sheet of copy paper, then it will not work on a cube. This will save you a ton of wasted time.

Once you confirm that the tessellation actually works, then you can move on to the cube form. I used high-quality watercolor paper, but you could put paper over a cardboard or foamcore cube for a rigid structure.
 
The following two videos will walk you through my process of making these impressive 3D cube tessellations. I think you could reasonably do this with grades 6 and up, perhaps as low as 4th grade if they were artistically inclined. 

​One final note on displaying these. For some reason, if a cube is set on its axis, as I have done here by “threading” a coat-hanger wire through it, it feels more visually impressive. Certainly, you can sit them flat on a shelf but they feel more static that way. 

If you'd like some printable form templates you can copy for students, I created this resource HERE with lots of non-tessellation lessons. If you like this lesson and are interested in others, I have THIS book of K-12 art lessons, and THIS follow-up for over 100 combined unique, choice-based art experiences. To get early notifications of my lessons and others I am experimenting with, join my Facebook Group.

​As I was gearing up for a large intercurricular unit on architecture, coordinating with my Earth Science colleague for THIS lesson, there would be several times where my students' work would be in the hands of the science students for feedback. This meant I would need an in-between lesson to keep my students meaningfully occupied. I decided to balance that highly detailed lesson with something fun and silly, with high engagement guaranteed.
 
Homework was to bring in something silly and of little value from home that fit in the sandwich baggie I gave them. The weirder the better. This might include dust bunnies from under your bed, a doll’s arm or head, a trinket from a vacation, or something from the family junk drawer. It had to fit in the baggie. Those that “forgot” were to dig through their backpacks for junk: candy wrappers, lint, labels, paperclips, whatever. (I also had a jar of “junk” just in case: beads, ribbon cuttings, glitter, crafty items, etc.)
 
It was then that I shared with students that they would be making a package design to sell their product, as they might see in the dollar store. We analyzed the packaging and concluded the following.

Front needed: Price, Title, catchphrase, and dynamic image.
Back needed: QR code/Barcode, ingredients/materials list, company name, bonus imagery.
 
These were the elements that must be included to meet expectations, along with a centered top hole to hang the product by.

To exceed expectations, they could include: gradients, shading, dynamic compositions, and an uncanny sense of realism (Like “Wow! That really does look like it belongs in a store!”). I also permitted them to lie… what if those dust bunnies were from under Justin Bieber’s bed?! What if those broken glasses once belonged to Ariana Grande? What if your pencil shavings were magical, or had medicinal properties?!
 
Baggies were 6.5 inches wide, so I cut copy paper to 8.5 x 6.5 inches. We folded that in half, and that was for our sketches. I also created a Google Doc and shared editing rights with everyone, so if there was text they wanted printed (typically ingredients/materials lists) I would print it for their final paper. I also made QR codes of 2 sizes, 1 in. and ½ in that would lead people to the lesson on my school’s blog, which was glued to the back of their hang tags. As students worked, I circulated often and offered composition ideas one-on-one with Post-it notes.
 
When sketches were complete, we did a peer critique before moving on to the final paper. I chose to use cardstock from my school’s supply closet, but good drawing paper would work as well, cut to the same size as the sketches. Uploads to the Google document were printed out, and I made rulers, compasses, glue sticks, scissors, and lettering stencils available for students to use. I allowed students to use any available drawing media, like color pencils, markers, and Sharpie pens.

Though our project was interrupted by the architecture unit, students were excited to return to it with gusto. Those who finished early were given packaging tape to cover their label and make it look shiny like a real glossy product. Once done, they were stapled, graded, and displayed as a shopping kiosk in our school’s atrium. We hung short explanations of our work on index cards to foster their literacy skills and reflect on their process.

I should note that 1 product of the 50 students made was not hung because it was “PG,” and escaped my initial sketch review because I missed the “lingo.” Nothing major, but not what we were aiming for. So when doing this lesson, remind students to keep work strictly school-appropriate.
 
If you like this lesson and are interested in others, I have THIS book of K-12 art lessons, and THIS follow-up for over 100 unique, choice-based art experiences. To get early notifications of my lessons and ones I am experimenting with, join my Facebook Group.