Today’s guest post is from Lauren McCann from Figma Education

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It’s back-to-school season, and we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Figma to bring their professional-grade design and collaboration tools to Microsoft 365 schools! Administrators and school leaders can apply here to get started.

In today’s fast-paced world, skills like collaboration, creativity, and problem solving are more essential than ever. That’s why we’re offering free access to Figma and FigJam enterprise tiers for all K-12 educators and students within Microsoft schools. Figma and FigJam are design and collaboration software used by professional designers, engineers, and makers of all kinds. They can support students in building together—in a fun, interactive space that simultaneously prepares them for future career opportunities.

5 Creative Ways to Engage Students with FigJam

FigJam, Figma’s digital whiteboard tool, is a versatile tool for collaboration that can bring a fresh dynamic to classrooms. Its intuitive design, flexibility, and joyous features make it perfect for a wide range of activities across subjects. Teachers and students have access to sticky notes, stamps, pen tools, diagramming tools, stamps, and interactive multimedia to make learning fun, engaging, and collaborative.

Here are five creative ways teachers can use FigJam to engage students and foster learning:

Community building ‘Get to Know Me’ Activities

At the start of the school year or when forming new groups, use FigJam for to help students get to know one another. By using FigJam’s sticky notes or drawing tools, students can easily share their hobbies, favorite books, or fun facts in a more interactive way. This sets a positive classroom culture and helps create a sense of community right from the beginning.

Try out these templates:

All About Me activity
Let Me Introduce Myself Activity
Classmate Scavenger Hunt
Shoe Rack Icebreaker Activity

ELA/History Activities

For English Language Arts or History, FigJam is a great tool for dynamic graphic organizers, brainstorming, connecting ideas and themes, planning, and organizing thoughts. Students can collaboratively map out plotlines of novels, create character analysis boards, or even build timelines of historical events. Teachers can assign group projects where students organize key ideas from a text or debate historical perspectives, all while using FigJam’s collaborative features to capture their ideas in real time.

Try out these templates:

Dynamic Vocabulary List
Book Recap Activity
Classroom Debate Protocol
Student-led Book Review Cards
Story Arc Pre-Writing Planner
Book Chat Activity

Science and Math Activities

In STEM subjects, FigJam can be used for problem-solving, modeling, and visualizing complex concepts. For math, students can break down word problems by annotating them, using digital manipulatives, drawing diagrams, or collaborating on equations. In science, FigJam can be used for creating concept maps on topics like ecosystems or the periodic table. Teachers can also incorporate visual tools like flowcharts to show processes such as photosynthesis or the steps of a scientific experiment.

Try out these templates:

Base Ten Blocks
Scientic Method Flowchart
Virtual Lab Notebook
Math Card Game
Telling Time Activity

Classroom Connection and Brain Break Activities

Beyond academics, FigJam is perfect for fostering class spirit and creating bonding experiences. Teachers can organize quick games, icebreakers, or fun brainstorming sessions where students can contribute silly answers, vote on class nicknames, or design a collaborative mural. Activities like “Two Truths and a Lie” or classwide Pictionary are simple to set up and encourage participation, all while making learning fun.

Try out these templates:

Create Your Own Croc Charms
Friendship Bracelet Builder
Around the World Review Game
Choice Board Template
Pass the Doodle
Play a Game of Battleship

Check for Understanding Activities

FigJam’s collaborative board allows teachers to perform informal assessments in real-time. Use it for “exit tickets” where students post one thing they learned, or use the space for quick quizzes and polls to gauge understanding. This approach encourages participation and provides immediate feedback on student comprehension, helping teachers identify areas that need further clarification.

Try out these templates:

Bumper Sticker Exit Ticket
Text Me Your Takeaway Exit Ticket
Tweet Me Your Takeaway Exit Ticket
Inverted Pyramind Exit Ticket
Exit Ticket Bundle
Assignment Self Reflection

By incorporating FigJam into everyday classroom activities, teachers can make learning more interactive, engaging, collaborative, and fun for students across all subjects. Whether it’s for academic purposes or simply to build classroom community, FigJam’s versatile features provide endless possibilities for creative engagement.

5 Creative Figma Design Activities for Students

Figma is a powerful design tool that’s not only great for professional work but also for classroom activities that build both creative and technical skills. Teams across industries use Figma to create user interfaces and user experiences for websites, apps, and digital products. Figma provides tools to create wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs.

Here are five fun ways to use Figma to engage students while helping them develop future-ready skills and design literacy.

**Student Trading Cards**

Kick off the first week of class with an activity that combines getting to know your classmates with learning Figma basics. Have students create digital trading cards that mimic a social media-style profile. Using Figma’s Auto Layout and components, students can design profiles that showcase their interests, hobbies, and fun facts. By working in the same file, students get a sneak peek into each other’s design processes and styles. You can even set up a gallery to review each other’s work at the end!

Figma skill level: Beginner

Key Figma features: Auto Layout, Multiplayer Editing

Duplicate the file

Make a Heart

This activity is perfect for building confidence with Figma’s tools. Ask students to create a heart using the pen tool, layout grid, and various properties, then challenge them to customize it. It’s a quick way to introduce key Figma features that will come in handy for future design projects.

For a fun twist, students can animate the heart using Figma’s Smart Animate feature to make it pulse. This activity not only helps students get comfortable with design tools but also introduces them to animation and motion design basics.

Figma skill level: Beginner

Key Figma features: Pen Tool, Properties Panel, Layout Grid

Duplicate the file

Figma Tangrams

Using the classic tangram puzzle, students can explore form, geometry, and creativity in Figma. After a brief lesson on the history of tangrams, have students arrange the seven traditional pieces into recognizable animals or other shapes.

Encourage them to experiment by creating abstract designs as well. For an extra challenge, students can design their own reusable tangram sets by researching other tangram puzzles, pushing their creativity and research skills.

Figma skill level: Beginner

Key Figma features: Components, how to rotate and align

Duplicate the file

Loading Animations

This activity taps into a familiar experience: waiting for a page to load. Ask students to reflect on their favorite (and least favorite) loading animations and then design their own. This exercise gets them thinking about how to visually represent waiting or processing within an interactive app. It’s a great introduction to more conceptual and technical work in interaction design.

Whether it’s a simple spinning icon or a more elaborate animation, students can get creative and dive into the user experience aspect of design.

Figma skill level: Intermediate

Key Figma features: Prototyping, Smart Animate

Duplicate the file

Mobile Magazine Prototype

For this lesson, students create a simple mobile layout for a magazine, combining layout and prototyping to design an interactive experience. After laying out the gallery of magazine content, they can prototype navigation to simulate how users would flip through the pages.

Figma skill level: Intermediate

Key Figma features: Layout Grids, Prototyping

Duplicate the file

These activities let students jump into the role of UX designer and realtor. Each project not only teaches students key design skills in Figma but also spark creativity and collaboration. Whether it’s creating custom trading cards or designing interactive prototypes, students will walk away with practical skills and a deeper understanding of the design process.

Lauren McCann

Head of Figma Education

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