20 Ways to Use Canva's Templates With Your Students

I recently had to create an invoice for something and I honestly had no idea where to start. So naturally, I Googled it. Imagine my surprise when a TON of amazing templates popped up from one of my favorite creation sites, Canva. 

Apparently, I haven't been very observant when using Canva lately because the section of templates is pretty obvious. You can find them on the side of the page and can even search for the type you want. This new discovery took me down a rabbit hole of awesome and I began thinking of all of the ways we could use these Canva templates with students*. 

I recently blogged about 10 terrific templates you can use in class tomorrow and included a few Canva templates so the first two may look familiar. Here are 20 ways to use Canva's templates with your class.

1. Invoice
Have your students create an invoice after completing an engineering design project. How much did their materials cost? How much was their time worth? A real-world application that will add mathematics and even more critical thinking.

2. Resume

How fun would it be to have students create a resume for themselves at the end of the year to share their skills and accomplishments? They can even share them with their next teacher. Alternatively, have students create a resume for a storybook character or their classmates as a "star of the week" activity.

3. Magazine Cover
The days of boring reports are gone. Students can create an engaging magazine cover for their report to hook readers in. Pair that with a brochure (#6) and your students will be begging you to complete another.

4. Book Cover
Students can put the finishing touch on their creative writing project or on their entire writing portfolio with creative cover. Students can also create a book cover for the sequel to a book they read or for a class novel that doesn't already have one.

5. Brochure
A fun twist on an old project. State report? California Missions? Animal habitats? Ancient Civilization? All of these reports can be turned into a brochure. Highlight the important places to see and the history or facts about your topic. Add pictures, color, and fun fonts to make it visually pleasing. Way more fun than writing it out on binder paper!

6. Flyer 
Our students work hard on their projects and should advertise that hard work to show it off. Creating a flyer would be a great wrap up to an engineering design project or a PBL unit. For example in this Simple Machines Unit, students are challenged to design a product using 2 or more simple machines that would help a person with disabilities. As alternative option students can use this Canva template for their product ad. 

7. Newsletter
Well, this one speaks for itself. Challenge your class to write a monthly newsletter. Give each group a different section to write and have one "editor" each month put it all together. You can upload it to a class Google site or SeeSaw to share with parents.

9. Menu 
The templates that are included already have an awesome selection of menus. Have your students choose one and write their own math problems for the class. Each week (or perhaps once a month) students can use one of the menus on the site and collaborate in groups to write math problems for their classmates in a collaborative Google Slides presentation. Your daily math warm-ups are done
and the problems have real-world application.

10. Bookmarks
When reading a class novel pick out quotes that stick with your students. Have students create their own bookmark as a fun way wrap up your unit or as an extension activity.

11. CD Covers
Any music teachers out there? Well, you may have to first explain to your students what CDs ARE and bring in a couple of examples then you can give your students an opportunity to create their own cover for their school band or choir. 

12. Invitation
Build the excitement for a class celebration by creating invitations for your families. Make Back to School Night, Open House, a winter concert or school play personalized with a special invitation from your students.

13. Worksheet
Yes, I said worksheet. Hear me out here. The templates on Canva are not only pretty but they are adaptable. Who said the worksheets have to made by you? Challenge your students to create their own writing prompt. Students can adapt the template and write a new prompt that would interest them. Give them some parameters on the genre of writing you are working on and let them go. Students can create them in groups and can vote on the one they want to use for their assignment or give them the choice of using any of them. Either way, the engagement level goes way up.

14. Social Graphic
Begin the school year or the new year by choosing their "One Word" for the year.  Using the socialOne Word HyperDoc created by Sean Fahey to get started.
graphics templates students can create an eye-catching graphic to share their one word. Be sure to check out this

15. Poster
Quotes can be inspiring and motivating. We see them all the time online, hanging up in the dentist office, pinned up on the wall of our workspace. Challenge them to create an inspiring poster to gear up for standardized testing at the end of the year, design a poster for a quote from a historical figure or a character from a book they are reading.

16. Report Card
Yep, Canva even has templates for report cards. We may be confined to our district report card but our students aren't. They can create a report card for themselves at the end of each trimester as they reflect on their strengths and goals. As a class, you can even create your own class report card and have students give you feedback on the year on tips for improving.

Infographics
Sharing information in a simple yet engaging way can be more challenging than it seems. Infographics are an excellent way to encourage your students to be concise and organized as they convey information in a visually pleasing format. Canva provides TONS of infographics for many different applications. Here are a few ideas:

17. Design Process Infographic
This template would be a great place to start with your class. Instead (or in addition to) using it to explain your design process for an engineering project, almost any grade could create an infographic outlining the steps in a class procedure or routine that you could display on the wall.

18. Timeline
There are quite a few timeline templates for students to modify for all different purposes. The one linked above is simple yet has a place for pictures and is easily adaptable. Students can create a timeline for a particular time in history, for a biography report or even for themselves to mark accomplishments over the course of the year or in their life.

19. Digital Citizenship Poster
Even the youngest students can help create their own digital citizenship poster. This "do's & don'ts" infographic is a perfect way to get started identifying good digital citizenship habits. Older students can work in groups to create a poster for different apps you use in your classroom and can even share their posters with younger students to teach them how important it is to be a good digital citizen. You can add this project to this Super Digital Citizen HyperDoc too =) 


20. Facts about a topic
We know that easily digestible bite-sized chunks are preferable when reading facts about something. However, for writers synthesizing information can be tricky and is a skill that students need to learn. Utilize this infographic to give your students a jumping off point when writing.


*It is important to note that according to Canva's Terms of Use you must be 13 years or older to use Canva without direct supervision. If you are under 13 years old your use of the service must be directly supervised by your parent or guardian or another authorized adult (e.g., a teacher) who agrees to be bound by this agreement.