As a teacher, I love using Canva to create worksheets for my online and in-person classes. In this post, I’ll show you how to create a worksheet using Canva.
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What is Canva?
To begin, Canva is an online design tool which is extremely easy to use. It’s a great tool for teachers because you can create fantastic resources without spending hours and hours doing so. There are also thousands of ready to use (or edit) templates to get you started.
There are a few different kinds of subscriptions teachers can use:
- Free version ($0 per month) – includes 250,000 + templates, hundreds of thousands of images and graphics, allows you to work on projects as a team and 5GB of cloud storage
- Canva for Education ($0 per month) – is free for K-12 teachers and students, includes 420,000+ templates, 75 million+ images, graphics and videos that are free-to-use in the classroom
- Canva Pro ($13.74 per month when billed yearly) – includes everything Canva for Education has plus magic resize one-click, ability to save designs as templates, brand kit and social media scheduler, plus 100GM of storage
Which version of Canva is right for me?
If you are a K-12 school teacher
Canva for Education is perfect for you! As long as you are not selling anything you create for a profit, then Canva for Education is a great tool to have in the classroom – plus it’s FREE!
Eligibility requirements for Canva for Education:
- Be a teacher (employee or independent contractor) at a qualified Educational Institution (a public or private primary or secondary school that has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency)
If you are teaching abroad or online
I recommend getting Canva Pro. When teaching abroad, you might be teaching adults, working at a school that isn’t accredited or not be considered an employee of your school (if you are a language assistant, for example.) In this case, you wouldn’t qualify for Canva for Education.
Additionally, Canva Pro includes a commercial license, which Canva for Education does not. This means that you can use materials you create for use on platforms like Outschool or sell them on Teachers Pay Teachers.
How to Create a Worksheet with Canva
First, sign up for Canva. Then, type “worksheet” into the search bar. You’ll see many different example worksheet templates.
Search through the templates until you find something you like, or just use them as inspiration. You’ll be able to edit all of the elements on the templates. I usually pay more attention to the format that I like than the content since I’ll be changing it.
Let’s take a look at this “Getting to Know You” worksheet. I’ll show you how to customize the template.
How to Change a Color on a Worksheet in Canva
To begin, click on the color you want to change on your worksheet. The same color will appear in a small box on the upper left hand side of the screen. Click that box and it will bring up various color suggestions.
You can either select one of the colors available, choose a new color by clicking “new color” or all in a color’s name or code in the search box.
How to Change a Font on a Worksheet in Canva
Next, to change a font, click on one of the sentences or titles you want to change. Select a font on the left hand side of the screen. Change the size of the font by clicking the “+” or “-” symbols, selecting a number or typing in your own number in the top bar.
Customize the font – bold, italics or underline. If you have a title, try the “effects” tab to create fonts with shadows and more. You can also change the line and letter spacing, which is great for formatting worksheets!
How to Add Clip Art to a Worksheet in Canva
You can find clip art in Canva under the “elements” tab on the left hand side. You’ll find “recently used” elements, featured, lines, shapes and frames.
Frames allow you to cut photographs into specific shapes! There are even letter frames, so you can put a picture of a snake into the letter S, for example.
Use the search box to search for a specific image to add to your Canva worksheet. Simply click on the image, drag it over and resize if needed.
Create a Worksheet on Canva without a Template
While it’s faster and easier to edit a worksheet template, you can of course create your own worksheet using a mixture of elements, fonts and even your own uploaded photographs or designs. Here’s an example of a worksheet I’ve created to use in my Spanish classes:
First, I added the titles using the “Text” option on the left hand side. There is a helpful tool in Canva that helps you center your images and text (a line appears when it is centered.)
Next, I added the sticky note by clicking on “elements” and then “shapes.” I scrolled until I found the sticky note shape. I dragged the shape over to the worksheet and then resized it.
Then, I added the lines by copying them from one of the worksheet templates. If you want to copy multiple elements and/or text, then simply click and drag your mouse over what you want to select. From there, you can resize or copy everything together.
Finally, I added text inside the sticky note, text to match the lines (again, there are tools to help you line up your elements easily) and searched for a clip art image of Spain.
Add your copyright information and you’re ready to teach!
Other Ways Teachers Can Use Canva
Canva is such a useful tool for teachers. I highly recommend playing around with it to see what you can create! Here are some other ways that I use Canva in my virtual and physical classrooms:
- Awards and Certificates
- Lesson plans
- Presentations
- Flashcards
- Printable and animated books
- Newsletters
- Booklet covers
- Coloring sheets
- Collages
- Review games
- Class videos
- Projects
More Canva Tutorials for Teachers
Make a printable or animated children’s book for teaching online or in the classroom. This is a great option for Outschool teachers as a way to avoid copyright issues.
Make a lesson plan in Canva using one of their templates. Find out how to edit a lesson plan template plus other ideas for keeping your lesson plans organized.
More Teaching Tips & Tricks
Want to play a quiz to review in your virtual or physical classroom? Try this post on 3 types of quiz games: Kahoot, Quizziz and Quizlet.
Looking for quick and easy warmers for the ESL classroom? Try these activities and games.
Do you want to teach English abroad? Then download my FREE Teach Abroad Quick Start Guide.
