This is a lesson about art that I taught to my boys’ Kindergarten class a few week back.
This focus of this lesson about art, is to make a collage using cut paper to learn about foreground, middleground and background. This lesson about art will also teach children how to draw animals by seeing them as basic geometric shapes.
As a class, we chose to use a chameleon for our art since the class was studying chameleons that month. You can teach this lesson about art using any animal, even your children’s favorite animal.
About Art: Teaching Depth and Layers in Art
Before the lesson, I found an image of a chameleon from Google Images Search. You will want the image animal to show distinct geometric shapes, so the children can re-create their own animals out of cut paper in geometric shapes.
This is the chameleon image I used:
Image courtesy of Google Search Engine.
In this image, you will notice a distinct triangle for the head, and oval for the body, a circle for the tail, and rectangles for the legs.
Once you find an animal to teach your lesson about art, you are ready to begin.
The Chameleon
Supplies Used:
3-4 sheets of 9 x 12 Construction Paper (various colors)
(Note: We used 1 blue sheet for the base, 2 green sheets for our background and foreground, and one additional sheet for our animal (middleground))
Glue Sticks
Scissors
Crayons
Animal Picture
Instructions:
Have your children fold their 9 x 12 base paper horizontally (hot dogs style) and crease.
Have children cut their background and foreground out of 1-2 sheets of construction paper. This can be leaves, grass, or any element you would naturally see around your animal.
Glue the background cut by your children above the fold line on the bast paper. Put the foreground aside for now.
Have your children look at the image of the animal they want to use. Help them see basic geometric shapes within the animal by using your finger to trace over the geometric shapes they see. Have you children cut the geometric shapes they saw when you used your finger to trace, out of the additional sheet of paper to form their animal.
Next, have your children glue down their shapes to create their animal below the fold line but on top of the background. Make sure the shapes touch and overlay to form the animal.
Give children a crayon(s) to draw details on their animal.
Last, glue down the remaining foreground on the bottom of their base paper and on top of their animal.
About Stacy Molter
