Fishbowls

Students in PreK and Kinder created these fun and vibrant fish tanks to learn about color, shape, movement and repetition. We began by attaching tissue paper to a 9"x12" white paper using glue water. These were later cut into fish shapes and a black eye was dabbed on to complete the look. The fish bowls were blue and green watercolor paintings where we talked about different types of lines and created a pattern to show movement in the water. The table was made by piecing together square pieces into a mosaic like pattern. 

Rhythm Fish

Students in grades 4-6 created these magnificent fish designs. We began by looking at different examples of fish. Students were free to either draw a fish from observation or create their own fish. I required students to draw them a certain size and to include a certain amount of detail. Once the fish was drawn, we traced it onto the back so it could be transferred repeatedly to a larger paper. Students would then fill the space with repeating fish in any type of layout they wanted. The final step was using colored pencils to the fish. I demonstrated several colored pencil techniques so students could blend or fade the coloring. 

Glitter Fish

Students in grades 1-3 created these fun artworks to learn about seascapes. During the first class, we looked at The Goldfish by Paul Klee. We discussed the use of lines and symbols in his seascape and also how he shows EMPHASIS and MOVEMENT. Students then used cool color crayons to create their oceans- using symbols and lines to show the movement they see in the water. The next class we read the book Pattern Fish and compared the many different patterns in the book. Students looked at pictures of many different types of fish and then drew their own using lines and patterns. We painted the fish with warm colors to create a contrast with the cool colored seascapes and help with emphasizing the fish and making them stand out. The final touch was finger stamping some small fish into the background and adding a little glitter to help the fish stand out. This is a highly effective lesson to teach about warm/cool colors, emphasis, movement and patterns!

Woven Goldfish

PreK and Kinder students created these fishbowls to learn about shapes, patterns and weaving! We began by making a fishbowl- students used crayons to draw seaweed and rocks in the tank. This was then painted with blue liquid watercolor paint. Next, students created a fish and learned how to cut and weave strips through to create a pattern. As a final touch, students used cut out squares to create a mosaic style table for the tank to sit on. 

Watercolor Fish

Fish and underwater artworks are some of my favorite projects to do with my kids. This was an interesting switch from the usual fish projects I do. We began by creating a word painting- I let the students choose one word to write repeatedly in the background. We drew lines with a ruler and wrote the word over and over again in crayon. Once finished, the students painted over the paper with a black watercolor. During the second class, students drew a large fish in pencil. We looked at different types of fish talked about the various details we saw like fins, scales, tales, etc. I let students choose whether to copy certain fish or create their own. These were then outlined with crayon and painted with vibrant watercolor paints. The final class we cut out and pasted the fish onto the word painting, made 3D seaweed cutouts, and stamped some blue bubbles into the background. The result is a fun and whimsical twist on a old classic!