This project worked great with Grade 3, but can be done with any grade. We made birds, as I wanted to focus on simple basic shapes kids could easily do (in this case two circles and a triangle) but I have done any other drawing kids like, such as dinosaurs, jelly fish, jungle animals, ballerinas, beaches….. this is pretty flexible.
We started by painting the background, each table got a mix of 3 colors, some got blue/purple/white, others yellow/blue/white and others orange/yellow/white.
Demonstrate how to blend in the colors, starting with the center painted with white. From there move up and down using the same colors (as it would be in a reflection, look sample), blending from light to dark. Let dry. We also stuck a circle with tape at the top before painting, this was a moon. It worked ok for most kids. If it did not work out once dry they painted again with white acrylic.
We used black Chinese Ink to draw grass, some long almost touching the top and the bottom covered with black and shorter grass. Students also drew 3 or 4 birds around, we practiced one class using our sketchbooks and then we moved on to the painted background. If students did not feel confident using the brushes and ink, I let them draw the birds with markers once the grass was dry. About 3/4 of the class did with a brush. Skip the beaks and legs, you can use markers for those as it can be tricky for little hands.
Once dry I let them splash white acrylic paint on top. I heard a lot of good compliments from parents, many had to go buy supplies as the kids wanted to repeat at home!
Enjoy.
1st Class Art 