PUT SOME MAGIC IN YOUR ART LESSONS

I am so pleased to welcome by Sarah Zunker (Prep Teacher in Sunny Queensland) as my guest blogger this week.  Sarah is a member of the Australian Prep Teachers' FaceBook group and after I read her post on FaceBook, I invited her to share further via my blog as I was so impressed with the work she has been doing with her Prep class (5 year olds) and directed drawing.

The Magic Hat…The Magic Hat… It moved like this… It moved like that!

When I opened my classroom curriculum box I was excited to see the Mem Fox classic ‘The Magic Hat’.  I knew I didn’t want to do the typical paper hat activity to accompany our Literacy lessons so I set to work thinking of how I could challenge my Preppies to create some quality art.

I decided on a directed drawing lesson using pen and paint.  I promise that if you give this lesson a go, you will be amazed with the results and be so proud of your clever, little artists. 

After you’ve read the book have a discussion around proportion.  The wizard is giant size and the town looks really small in comparison. 

When you plan out your artwork think about the amount of space the wizard will take up and trace that space with your finger.  Now think about where the hill is going to go. Use your finger to trace a line where the hill will be.

Now we’re ready to start the drawing process. We start at his feet and work our way up to his hat. Follow the order below, stopping to check that everyone is ready before you start the next step.

1.       Draw the hill.

2.       Draw his shoes then his legs.

3.       Draw the bottom of his gown.

4.       Draw the sides of his gown up to his armpits.

5.       Now it gets a bit tricky… Draw his head and beard.

6.       Ok time to join up his head and body.  Draw his arms, hands and wand.

7.       Add his hat and some magic coming out of his hands.

8.       Draw a couple of tiny trees on the hill.

Ok we’re ready for the painting process.

Use COTTON BUDS to:

1. Dot-paint his gown in a rainbow of colours.  Use a dabbing or stamping technique for this.

2. Paint red and yellow stripes on his socks.

3. Paint his hat red and the wand yellow.  Don’t forget to paint the magic coming out of the wand and his hands.

Finish with a green paint wash for the hill.  

Here’s how to make a paint wash…

1. Put about a teaspoon of regular paint into a paint cup
2. Add about 3/4 cup water
3. Mix really well with a thick paint brush 

*Do a little test sheet and if the paint is not transparent enough just add more water and mix again.

The finishing touch is  to mount the artwork onto card to create a border.  Go ahead and give it a go… I promise they will amaze you with the results!

RESOURCES:

A3 PAPER

BLACK MARKERS OR FELT PENS

PAINT (red, green, yellow, blue, pink, orange)

COTTON BUDS

THICK BIG PAINT BRUSH (for paint wash)

You can use the same technique and resources to create a Vase of Flowers artwork that is sure to impress!  All of the children followed the same directions, yet every artwork is so unique.  See the images left and below:

Thanks so much Sarah - your students should be so proud of their wonderful art work :)

I will be emailing you a couple of resources from my TPT store that are based around "The Magic Hat" as a thank you :)   The Magic Hat rhyming words games and Hat Snap. 

Have a terrific week everyone :)