Dazzling Dinosaurs Art Project

My first grade students absolutely love this lesson. For an art teacher, pulling out chalk pastel is always a bit dicey. You just never know if they'll get more chalk on their hands than on the art work. I always throw caution to the wind and let 'em at it. To me, there is nothing more adorable than watching chubby little fingers wade through a cloud of chalk dust. I demonstrate two very simple dinosaurs. Basically, they are drawn the same way, just with the head in different places. Encourage the kids to add spikes, bony plates, horns, etc. Of course, you'll always get a dino expert in the class who will insist upon proper anatomy details. I usually bring this kid up to the front of the class to explain-away.
Here are a few helpful teaching tips:

• Draw the dino with a black oil pastel
• Limit sky to one color
• Limit ground to one color
• After filling in with chalk, outline again with a black oil pastel
• Tap excess chalk on the edge of table and onto the floor instead of blowing it onto another child's artwork
• Spray artwork with hairspray to set

Have fun!