Canva for Education is a game-changer, from nailing whole-group lessons to wowing students with new collaborative group activities, all in just a few clicks. And the cherry on top? Sending Canva projects straight to Google Classroom! Plus, Canva isn’t just for creating lessons and activities for kiddos—it’s a lifesaver for quickly and easily designing just about any type of classroom materials. Meet the Teacher posters? Check. Classroom schedule cards? You bet. And my all-time fave: those weekly parent letters that make me look like I’ve got everything under control (Shh, our secret!).
Ready to get started with Canva for Education? Below you’ll find simple step-by-step instructions to set up your free account and tips and tricks for how to make the most of it. Plus, there are 50 awesome ideas for using Canva with links to Canva templates for everything from student activities to classroom decor and more!
How To Use Canva for Education: Get Your Free Account
Once you get the hang of Canva for Education, you’ll be shouting from the rooftops (or maybe just the teachers lounge) about how much you love it. Trust me, it’s like having a magic wand for your overflowing teacher plate.
Get started with Canva for Education by following these steps:
- Click on the “Get Verified” button designated for teachers.
- Register using your school email address via Google, Microsoft, Clever, or email sign-in options.
- Verify your email address with Canva by checking your inbox for a “confirm your email” message. Don’t forget to look in junk, spam, or other folders if you can’t find it.
- When prompted, choose “Teacher” as your primary use for Canva and indicate your teaching level (higher education, primary/secondary [K-12], or other).
- Select “Claim Canva for Education” and confirm your active educator status by providing your name, school name, address, and website.
- Share the subjects and grades you teach so Canva can tailor templates and content to your needs.
- Submit your information, and you’ll become a verified Canva for Education user either immediately or within a few days!
Be sure to review Canva’s eligibility criteria to confirm that you qualify for a free Canva for Education account.
How To Use Canva for Education if You’re Already a Canva User
You can easily upgrade to a Canva for Education account without losing any of your previous designs. Simply follow this link and the steps above.
Canva for Education Tips and Tricks
- Free Canva for the Classroom Online Course: Level up your skills and boost your confidence.
- Canva Lesson Plan: See a sample lesson plan designed for secondary students to introduce Canva for Education in your classroom.
- LMS Integration: Find out how to seamlessly integrate Canva with Learning Management Systems, such as Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, D2L, Blackboard, Moodle, Microsoft Teams, and more.
- Canva Video Resources for Teaching: Learn how to simplify your teaching experience with Canva.
- Creating and Managing Folders: Organize your Canva items efficiently using folders, just like you would on other digital platforms.
- Education Templates: Canva offers numerous templates, but this resource focuses specifically on education-related ones.
- Beginners Guide Tips and Tricks: This blog covers everything from starting with Canva to navigating the interface, uploading images, and discovering the best Canva hacks.
- Bulk Create: Save time creating personalized student items with Canva’s Bulk Create feature, an incredibly useful yet lesser-known tool.
Canva Templates To Kick Off the School Year
1. All About Me
Yves Hart, a K-5 district instructional coach from Maplewood, New Jersey, recommends using her All About Me Canva template at the beginning or end of the year to encourage students to celebrate their individuality while sharing about themselves.
Use Yves Hart’s template: All About Me Shoe Design Worksheet
Alternate template: All About Me Hat Logo Design Worksheet
2. Class Syllabus
Amy Elliott, an eighth grade teacher from California, Missouri, shares, “My district requires every class to have a syllabus, but I’ve yet to meet a middle schooler who reads them until I started using this design. It’s more eye-catching than its bare-bones cousin and the template encourages concision.”
Use Amy Elliott’s template: Course Syllabus
3. Meet the Teacher
Elliott also recommends using a “meet the teacher” Canva template. She shares it at open house night to introduce herself to students and their families. “It’s quick to prepare and helps break the ice as well as starts rapport building by being the first to put myself out there.”
Use Dani Quintana’s template: Meet the Teacher Template – Beige
Alternate templates: Meet the Teacher Templates
4. Would You Rather
Rozanne Rosenberg, curriculum developer, editor, and resource creator on Instagram and TpT from New Jersey, shares, “I love this Would You Rather activity to kick off the school year. Rather than asking students to choose between two random things, this activity centers around learning styles and preferences with questions like ‘Would you rather spend an hour reading or spend an hour solving a math problem?’ I would print each set of questions and mount them around the room, then have students walk around silently and place a dot sticker in the column with their preference. We’d come back together and discuss the data as a class and notice any patterns. You could also turn it into a graphing lesson! Most years, I would repeat the activity with families on Back to School Night. Then I would show my students how their grown-ups’ results were similar to or different from theirs!”
Use Rozanne Rosenberg’s template: Would You Rather
5. Exploring Identity
Rosenberg also uses Canva to design quick and easy worksheets. She says, “These worksheets are part of a unit that I designed centered around exploring identity. It’s great to kick off the year or to do it in April as part of your Poetry Month activities. Students are encouraged to explore the origins of their names by interviewing loved ones and then planning out some adjectives to use in creating an acrostic poem of their name.”
Use Rosanne Rosenberg’s template: What’s in a Name?
Alternate template: Acrostic Name Poem
6. Personalized Punch Cards
Are you ready to add some excitement to your classroom with personalized reward punch cards? Whether it’s for encouraging positive student behaviors, celebrating completed homework, or simply ensuring devices are charged for class, these customizable punch cards are the perfect solution for end-of-the-year shenanigans! Get ready to see motivation and enthusiasm skyrocket as students eagerly work toward their goals.
Use this template: Positive Behavior Punch Cards
Canva Templates To Celebrate the End of the School Year
7. Celebrate Your Students
In Canva, when you navigate to “All Templates” and then “Certificates,” you’ll find plenty of options to help you celebrate student achievements. Steffy McCourt, an English teacher from Plymouth, Michigan, shares, “These templates are a fun place to let your imagination run wild. You could create a certificate for the best question of the week or the most voracious reader of the month. Does the kid who made a joke that had everyone on the floor laughing deserve a certificate? Absolutely!”
Use Steffy McCourt’s template: Reader of the Month
Alternate template: Mathematics Certificate
8. End-of-Year Reflection
Get your students excited about reflecting on their year or a class you’ve taught with this vibrant and captivating template. This end-of-the-year reflection activity takes the hassle out of creating a reflection activity for your students, making it an enjoyable and engaging experience for everyone involved.
Use this template: End of Year Reflection
9. Memory Book
Introducing the ultimate memory book, packed with everything your students would love to include in their end-of-year journal. This amazing keepsake captures cherished moments with friends, favorite events, beloved teachers, fondest memories, and so much more.
Use this template: Colorful End of Year Journal
10. End-of-Year Bingo
Get ready for an exhilarating class activity—introducing the end-of-year Class Bingo! With your students having spent the year getting to know each other, they’ll be thrilled to fill their bingo cards with ease. This awesome game is guaranteed to bring loads of excitement and energy to the last few days of school, as students celebrate their friendships and shared experiences.
Use this template: Friendship Class Bingo
Canva Templates for Your Daily Routines
11. Morning Meeting Slides
“This is a template I designed for Morning Meeting,” shares Rozanne Rosenberg. “You can use it directly in Canva and present from there, or export it and put it into Google Slides and then insert text boxes with your message, morning work, and joke of the day, or other categories that work for your class.”
Use Rozanne Rosenberg’s template: Morning Meeting Slides
Alternate template: Colorful Muted Morning Meeting Presentation Slides
12. Soft Start Anchor Chart
Yves Hart uses Canva to remind her students of their soft start choices daily. “Teachers start the day in a way that allows students voice and choice. This soft start menu gives students a visual of what choices are available to them. The best part of Canva is that the graphics are included.”
Use Yves Hart’s template: Soft Start Anchor Chart
13. Student Greetings
Here’s another simple and easy way to greet students daily from Yves Hart. She shares, “Part of student engagement is how students start the day. This poster can be displayed at the door to show various ways to greet the teacher or each other. Students can pick an option upon arrival. This is a great way to build a community in a quick, non-verbal way.”
Use Yves Hart’s template: Classroom Greetings
Alternate template: Good Morning Classroom Greetings Poster
14. SEL Morning Check-In
Discover the world of SEL check-ins for students of all ages with versatile Canva templates. Whether you choose to kick off the day with a whole-class check-in on your smartboard or send out a thoughtful weekly check-in as the week wraps up, these engaging templates are perfect for any situation. Don’t miss the chance to connect with your students on a deeper level, fostering emotional well-being and creating a supportive learning environment.
Use these templates: Primary Age Check-In and Secondary Age Check-In
15. Question of the Day (Attendance Question)
Looking for a fresh and exciting way to take daily attendance in your classroom? Try putting up a thought-provoking question of the day on the board as students arrive, and have them respond either digitally or with a sticky note! This innovative approach not only tracks who’s present for class but also sparks curiosity and engagement from the very start of the day.
Use this template: Question of the Day
Canva Templates for Classroom Games
16. This or That?
Rozanne Rosenberg shares, “Canva is a great tool to put together engaging slides for students quickly. This or That? is a fun game that engages students in the physical or virtual classroom. Project each slide and then have students make a choice and discuss it with a partner.”
Use Rozanne Rosenberg’s template: This or That? Getting to Know You
Alternate template: This or That Energizer Game
17. Guess the Word
In search of an engaging game in a snap? Try the “Guess the Word” game, complete with easy-to-follow instructions for students and an alternating play between Team A and B.
Use this template: Guess the Word
18. Memory Game
Whether you’re a kindergarten educator guiding your students through a number-based memory game, or a high school geography instructor assessing your pupils’ understanding of South American countries, there’s an abundance of pre-made and adjustable memory game templates available for you to print, cut, and utilize with your students.
Use these templates: Colorful Numbers Memory Game and Halloween Memory Game
19. Trivia
Regardless of whether you’re searching for an entertaining trivia game for your upcoming staff gathering, a method to revise material for a specific topic, or simply an enjoyable activity for a Friday, don’t miss out on the fantastic trivia games and templates available.
Use this template: Trivia Game
20. Four Corners
In search of a speedy icebreaker that avoids putting anyone on the spot and gets everyone moving and mingling instead? Give this four corners game a go! It’s perfect for getting everyone chatting with loads of different people. It even includes the directions!
Use this template: Four Corners Ice Breaker Game
Canva Templates for Classroom Setup and Decor
21. Google Classroom Banner
Amy Elliott shares, “I like personalizing my space, be it my classroom or its digital equivalent. This banner can be further customized to reflect class sections, etc. They’re also quick to make if you feel like updating them throughout the school year.”
Use Amy Elliott’s template: English Class Classroom Banner
Alternate template: Google Classroom Banners
22. Beautiful LMS Buttons
Want to personalize your LMS? Check out these awesome buttons that Steffy McCourt created for Canvas. She recommends searching “Canvas Banner” and “Canvas Buttons” for more Canvas design inspo than you even knew existed.
Use this template: Green Playful Boho Canvas Button
23. Classroom Labels, Tags, and Posters
Rozanne Rosenberg shares, “Classroom decor is super easy with Canva! You can use the icons and images available in the system as I did here for library book bin labels (left) and schedule tags (right), or you can import other clipart that you purchase. These were made as a table, with background color overlaid using a white box, the text, and the icon image.” You can also find and customize templates like posters for voice level, motivational posters, class rules, name tags, and more.
Use Rozanne Rosenberg’s templates: Schedule Tags and Book Bin Labels
Alternate template: Back to School Classroom Decor – Modern Boho
24. Schedule Cards
“A staple in classrooms, giving students the visual cues for the flow of the day,” says Yves Hart. “Teachers can create their own using Canva templates. An awesome money saver and a way to ensure that whatever theme is chosen can truly be represented in every corner of the classroom.”
Similar template: Schedule Card Labels
25. Letters and Numbers
No matter what classroom theme (like cactus classroom) or color scheme (such as soothing blues) you’ve got going on in your classroom, Canva’s got a super-cute template that’ll perfectly match your classroom vibe.
Use these templates: Letter Pennants, Alphabet With Words, and Ten-Frame Numbers
Canva Templates for ELA
26. Wonder Map
“I got this exercise from David Lee Finkle, and it’s one of the first exercises I do with my students each year,” says Steffy McCourt. “The goal is to have them list 3-5 (or many more) questions/topics they wonder about. Then, as we start writing throughout the year, they can pick topics off their wonder map to explore in more detail.”
Use Steffy McCourt’s template: Mind Map Brainstorm
27. The Storyboard
Every year Amy Elliott’s eighth graders participate in National Novel Writing Month’s Young Writers’ Program. “They set writing goals (usually between 2,000 and 10,000 words) and write original short stories over the course of a month. This exercise helps them get the foundation of their story lined out in a visual and engaging way,” shares Amy.
Use Amy Elliott’s template: Plot Comic Storyboard
Alternate template: Blank Simple 6 Panel Storyboard
28. Engaging Read-Aloud Slides
Yves Hart uses Canva templates for picture books in the image for prompting and student engagement. Yves recommends that you “Use graphics, pictures, or clipart already available on the site or download your own.”
Use Yves Hart’s template: Zelda and the Runaways
Alternate template: Read-Aloud for Young Children Infographic
29. Informational Slides
In search of ELA informational slides for your upcoming whole- or small-group session? Explore the pre-designed informational slides available on Canva. While these slides can save you significant time and effort, always remember to verify the accuracy of the information before using them in your lessons.
Use these templates: Figurative Language Lesson Slides and Small-Group Practice
Canva Templates for Math
30. Foundational Skills Practice
Whether you aim to help your students improve their counting, addition, subtraction, or shape-identification skills, Canva offers a wealth of mathematical resources to support learners in grasping the fundamental concepts of math.
Use this template: Subtraction Math Foundational Worksheet
31. 3D Shapes
Experience the excitement of hands-on activities with 3D shape nets and versatile templates for a fun learning experience. Enhance graphing and data analysis lessons with unique cubes designed for data collection, bringing increased engagement to your classroom.
Use these templates: Cube, Triangular Pyramid, or Data Dice
32. Math Maze
Searching for a captivating review activity to energize your math class? Dive into this customizable maze, which centers around decimals but can be tailored to suit any math unit. Watch as your students immerse themselves in a thrilling and interactive learning experience!
Use this template: Decimals Math Maze
33. Informational Slides
Discover Canva’s extensive range of math lesson slides, designed for educators teaching kindergarten through high school. For high school teachers delving into probability and statistics, explore these comprehensive probability slides that cover crucial aspects of the subject, ensuring a solid foundation for your student’s learning experience.
Use this template: Math Probability Presentation
Canva Templates for Science
34. Periodic Table of Elements
Seeking a charming periodic table of elements poster that reflects your unique style? Customize fonts, colors, and more to create the perfect match for your vibe. Once you’ve tailored it to your liking, print it out and enhance your classroom with a touch of personality!
Use this template: Periodic Table of Elements Poster
35. Science Notebooks
Whether you’re utilizing digital notebooks, assigning individual pages for each investigation, or opting for hard-copy notebooks, these versatile note templates serve as an excellent starting point for a wide range of science topics. Enhance your students’ learning experience by exploring these adaptable resources tailored for diverse educational needs.
Use this template: Earth’s Layers Science Notebook Sheet or Science Notebook Setup
36. Doodle Notes
Unleash creativity in science class with this simple doodle note sheet for any unit. Spark curiosity and enhance learning through engaging visuals.
Use this template: Vocab Doodle Notes
37. Informational Slides
Discover Sylph Creatives’ incredible science presentations on Canva. Explore heat energy, the ear’s anatomy, and the solar system with these captivating visuals.
Use this template: Ruby From Sylph Creatives
Canva Templates for Social Studies
38. Current Events
Capture the week’s top events with this versatile worksheet. Kids of all ages can jot down key news or social media highlights to discuss in social studies class.
Use this template: Current Events Bell Ringer or Homework Worksheet
39. World Traveler’s Passport
Learning about countries around the world? Use this fun passport template as a way for student to take notes or share their knowledge.
Use this template: World Traveler Passport
Alternate template: Around the World Notes
40. Capitals, States, and Countries
Master geography with these engaging worksheets. Practice U.S. states and capitals, and identify flags from around the world. They even have flash cards for you to print and cut for students to use when studying.
Use these templates: United States Capitals Geography and Countries Flags Worksheet
41. Informational Slides
Test your knowledge of various government types with these premade slides. A fun and interactive way for students to learn with activities like completing the word, country government identification, and some multiple choice. These types of slides could be used for whole-group lessons, small-group quiz reviews, or the quiz itself!
Use this template: Types of Government
Canva Templates for General Classroom Activities
42. Bingo Choice Board
“Want your students to write for an audience? Want to give students a choice in how to ‘publish’ their work? Gamify it by using a Bingo Template,” recommends Steffy McCourt. “You can offer a little prize for students who get a bingo or the prize can be the work itself.”
Use Steffy McCourt’s template: Poetry Bingo
Alternate template: Classroom Content Bingo
43. Student Work Gallery
Use a gallery template for students to show off their work like McCourt, who shares, “Students can check out their classmate’s work as they complete their own slide. Finally, teachers use the gallery next school year to show students examples of what they are going to create!”
Use Steffy McCourt’s template: Student Work: Gallery Template
44. Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
“Create an interactive whiteboard where students can share their ideas, knowledge, and questions simultaneously. They can also interact with each other by adding stickers. Teachers can add a timer so that students can learn to manage their time effectively,” shares Steffy McCourt.
Use Steffy McCourt’s template: Idea Brainstorming Classroom Graphic Organizer
45. Collaborative Assignments
With the ability to assign tasks directly through Canva or effortlessly via their numerous LMS integrations, getting students to collaborate on a shared activity is a piece of cake! Be it an SEL check-in for every day of the week, a brainstorming session, or a group project, Canva makes the whole process smooth and hassle-free for both teachers and students.
Use this template: Colorful Daily SEL Group Work
46. Instructional Coach Menu
Steffy McCourt shares, “There are so many menus in Canva templates. Try converting one into a tantalizing selection of coaching services. Make it extra tempting by delivering it to teachers with homemade cookies.”
Use this template: Instructional Coaching Menu
47. Group Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
Ignite creativity and collaboration in your classroom with this versatile brainstorming activity. Students begin by independently generating ideas, then join forces with their group to combine and refine their thoughts. Finally, they share their collective insights with the entire class. This engaging process can be applied to any content area—from exploring themes in reading to devising solution strategies for math problems.
Use this template: Bubbling With Ideas
48. Video Presentations
Discover the ultimate tool for creating captivating videos: Canva templates! With a plethora of templates to choose from, you’ll find everything you need, whether you’re crafting a video to share in class or seeking an easy-to-use solution for student video assignments.
Similar template: Video Collage
Canva Templates for Communication
49. Infographics
Search for pre-populated designs that match your information needs, or choose from a stunning array of functional templates to easily customize with your own data. Perfect for enhancing classroom procedures or establishing meeting norms with your fellow educators.
Use this template: Cute Infographic
50. Social Media Posts
As technology and social media continue to shape our society, it’s time to level up your communication game with families on all platforms. Why not start by using a captivating template to share details about upcoming parent-teacher meetings? Keep families engaged and informed in style!
Use this template: Parent Meeting Facebook Post
51. Weekly Parent Newsletters
Rest assured, I haven’t forgotten! I can just imagine you all sitting on the edge of your seats, eagerly anticipating the arrival of this spectacular weekly parent newsletter that’s sure to make communicating with families feel like a walk in the park—and perhaps even bring a smile to your fellow teachers’ faces!
Use this template: Weekly Parent Newsletters
What is your favorite way to use Canva for Education? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.
Plus, try these 33+ of the Best Teacher Productivity Tools To Help You Manage All the Things!
