This is the very beginning of Art History, for Grade 1 Students.
I introduce students to the very basics of Cave Art using a power point with actual pictures of this form of Art. We talk about how did people live back then, and then we discuss how could they paint without brushes, paint stores and canvases or paper. Why do we paint to start with? This is a very vivid discussion, that leads to explaining that we do Art to express ourselves, how do we feel at a particular moment, or how do we feel about a particular situation. We paint for the sake of creating something beautiful, as well for the sake of changing something (activism). We create art to tell a story as well, which is why (most likely) cavemen painted on the walls of caves.
We also talked about using what is around in nature to paint. I demonstrated this by rubbing soil and a leaf on a white piece of paper. Students noticed that we can use nature’s pigments to color something. Back then, they found pigments in minerals, plants, fruits and even animal’s blood.
We then talked about identifying basic shapes in objects we want to draw. I showed them how to identify rectangles, triangles and circles to outline a simple animal. I then handed outlines of cavemen hunting and animals (a quick google search away) and asked my students to draw a story on their cave wall (light brown colored cardboard). Students this age can be very creative. Last but not least, we talked about coloring neatly and outlining a drawing (we used colored pencils for coloring and markers for outlining) to make it look finished and neat. We also “signed” our work by tracing our hands on the back of the paper.
Enjoy!
1st Class Art 