Every few years I pull out this lesson for my first and second grade students. This year, we assembled our dragons together to create a mural. (I'm channeling my favorite art teacher over at Painted Paper here!). Tissue paper is so much fun to work with and despite it being flimsy and light, the organic nature of this project tends to be satisfying and not at all frustrating. You can pick any subject matter for this project. I was inspired by the new movie "How to Train Your Dragon" and I thought the kids might be as well. The process is simple. Tear tissue paper and brush liquid starch (laundry aisle of grocery store), watered-down Mod-Podge or even watered-down glue to paper.
After the piece dries, the kids use oil pastels to create an outline, add details like scales and teeth. 
Cut out to paste onto a huge mural. This was a quick, satisfying and colorful project.
Can't ask for more!
Can't ask for more!
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6 comments:
Last week I went to an elementary art teacher meeting (I'm one), and we were all going on and on about how much we love your website. It's a wonderful place to find good projects! Thank you!
(P.S. I passed on a blog award to you, if you care to check it out!)
Thank you! That's just about the best compliment anyone can give me. It means so much knowing that art educators find the site useful. Oh, and BIG thanks for the blog award!
Ooops...my husband was signed in. That's me up there!
I volunteered to teach "art" at our homeschool Coop...10 kids with ages ranging from 8-11 years old. I planned and have used the curriculum "artist pursuits" but have found that your website has been great for giving me alternative lessons.
My routine is to talk about an artist and relate that to a skill and then have the kids go to town making something. Your dragon lesson had perfect timing since the Coop lesson after me has been on castles and the middle ages. This week I started by reading the story St. George and the Dragon and followed that up by looking at many different works of art on the St. George/Dragon theme. Then we worked on the dragons and the mural. The kids loved it! When they finish I will send you pictures! -Joanne
I just finished this project with my daughter's 4th grade class. Her school has a PTA sponsored art enrichment project called brushstrokes. I related the paper collage aspect to Henri Matisse, as we are asked to discuss famous artists in conjunction with our projects.
Anyway, the kids absolutely loved it! It was a little long for the time we had to complete it, but it was a lot of fun, and something different. Lots of media to explore! Thanks for your blog... so many great ideas here!
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