Designing Symbols for Orange Shirt Day Graphics
About this lesson
In this 50-minute Grade 7 art class, students learn the story behind Orange Shirt Day, then play a team guessing game where they sketch wordless symbols for values like hope and belonging. They go on to design their own original graphic for an orange shirt and explain how shape, color, and placement carry meaning. You'll need paper, markers or pencils, rulers, and index cards.
- Grade
- 7
- Subject
- Art
- Time
- 50 min
Objective
Students will create an original symbolic graphic for an orange shirt design that visually communicates a value such as belonging, hope, or remembrance, and explain their choices of symbol, shape, and composition.
Materials
- White paper with a T-shirt outline about 20 cm wide (students can draw this themselves)
- Orange, black, and assorted colored markers or pencils
- Index cards with value words written on them (hope, belonging, remembrance, respect, healing, courage, family, voice)
- Whiteboard and markers for the class scoreboard
- Rulers and pencils
- Timer or clock
Hook
Tell students that Orange Shirt Day, held each year on September 30, began when a residential school survivor named Phyllis Webstad shared that her new orange shirt was taken from her on her first day of school as a young child. Today people wear orange shirts to honor survivors and to share the message 'Every Child Matters.' Ask students: how can one simple image on a shirt carry such an important message? Then explain that today they will be playing a team challenge to see how well they can communicate big ideas through simple symbols.
Main Activity
Set up a collaborative game called the Symbol Challenge, where the whole class works together to beat a target score of 20 points written on the whiteboard. Divide students into teams of four. In each 90-second round, one member from each team draws a value card and sketches a simple symbol on paper with no words, letters, or numbers, while teammates try to guess the value; a correct guess earns 1 point toward the class total, and if another team can explain what made the symbol readable (shape, color, placement), the class earns a bonus point. After four or five rounds, debrief which symbols worked best and why, noting design principles such as simplicity, contrast, and balance. Students then work independently for 20 minutes to design their own orange shirt graphic on a T-shirt outline about 20 cm wide, choosing one value and creating an original symbol that fits within a 10 cm by 10 cm chest area. Remind students to invent their own symbols rather than copying Indigenous art styles or sacred imagery, since the goal is to show personal respect and support in their own visual language. Finish with a quick gallery walk where classmates leave sticky-note or scrap-paper guesses of the value each design represents, with every correct match adding one final point to the class score.
Discussion Questions
- Which symbols from the game were easiest to understand, and what design choices made them clear?
- Why do you think a simple, bold image can sometimes communicate more than a sentence of words?
- How does the color orange change the meaning or feeling of your symbol compared to drawing it in another color?
- Why is it important to create original symbols instead of copying art styles from cultures that are not our own?
- How can wearing or displaying a design help people remember and respect the experiences of others?
Exit Ticket
On an index card, sketch a tiny version of your shirt symbol, write the value it represents, and write one sentence explaining how a specific design choice (shape, color, size, or placement) helps communicate that value.
Differentiation
Support: Provide a short list of starter shapes on the board (circle, heart, hand, path, sun, open door, linked lines) that students can combine or modify, and allow them to work with a partner to brainstorm three quick thumbnail sketches before choosing one for their final design. During the game, let hesitant drawers act as the team 'guesser' first so they can observe strategies before taking a turn drawing.
Extension: Challenge advanced students to create a two-symbol design that shows a change or relationship, such as moving from loss to healing, using composition, overlap, or direction to show the connection. They can also write a 3-4 sentence artist statement explaining how their design uses at least two principles of design (such as contrast, emphasis, balance, or unity).
