Hidden Safari

The Safari lesson was directed towards 1st graders. To begin this lesson we made "magic ruby red glasses." We needed these glasses in order to see the safari animal. To make the glasses we used a glasses frame pattern, red construction paper 4" x12", red construction paper 1" by 12" for headband, and red cellophane 3" x 10." First we folded the 4 x 12 red construction paper in half and traced the glasses fram pattern. Then we cut the outside line and the inside curved shape to create the frame of the glasses. Next, we used a line of glue or tape to attach the red cellophane to the frame. Finally, our glasses are ready. We watched a short video clip of the Lion King. We were shown drawings of animals hidden and we tried to figure out what animal it was without using our glasses. Then we put the glasses on in order to see the hidden animal. We practiced contour lines by drawing upside down. Then we talked about cool and warm colors. We drew a safari animal using a cool color. Then, we used warm colors likes: red, orange, and yellow and created a repitive pattern design to try and hide our animal.
An extension activity for this activity is doing a scavenger hunt like this one with the other subjects. You could use it in science, social studies, reading, etc.

For this project we created a two page layout of a storybook. The project was based off of Eric Carle's artwork in his books. We first watched a video on Eric Carle and on how he creates his amazing images. Then we thought of an image we might want to use for our storybook layout. First we used paste paper and mixed paint together and created different designs. From these papers we painted on we would create our images from. While these were drying we took a 12 x 18 piece of paper to create our storybook character and design. We used the variety of paste paper colors to create our characters from. We traced shapes from the animal/character and cut them out and glued them onto the construction paper. The last thing we did was add a phrase to our storybook page.

Van Gogh Fingerpainting

Before we began the Van Gogh Fingerpainting, we watched a video on Vincent Van Gogh. The gave a brief summary of his life how he began his artwork, including Starry Night. Once the video was over we were able to do our own painting of "Starry Night." We had the option to try and mimic Van Gogh's "Starry Night" or we could do our own version of it. We were able to used a variety of colors and was encouraged to mix the paints to create a different hue, value, and intensity. The project was done on a 12 x 18 white sheet of paper. I thought the project was fun to create and I also liked being able to use our fingers. I think children would really enjoy this activity because they could be creative with their colors and and use their fingers instead of a paint brush.

For an extension activity a teacher could have their students what a story about their "Starry Night" project they completed. Write about the feelings of their painting or write what they think Vincent Van Gogh was feeling. This activity could be done with young children and older students.

Tissue Collage

The tissue paper collage was another activity we did to go along with Van Gogh's "Starry Night." For this project we used any color of 12 x 18 paper and glued different colors of tissue paper to it. The tissue paper was cut out in any shape and size. We covered the entire paper with the glue mixture. Once everything was dried, students cut out a city block (or another type of background) and glued it to the bottom of their 12 x 18 paper. Next students drew windows/doors on their buildings with a silver marker. Students also used the silver marker to create lines on the tissue paper and in the background. An extension activity would be to have the students cut out any type of background and use something other than tissue paper to use as their background.