Winter Cardinals

This is a cute 2 winter lesson  that my Grade 2's really enjoyed.

The first class they drew cardinals in pencil. I encouraged them to draw large and fill the paper. Then they outlined them in a black wax crayon and painted them using red liquid tempera.

Once dry, I added red glitter to their wings- they had the option of that or a red feather. 

Only about 3 chose the feather. The next class they cut these out.

Then they chose either a blue or pink sheet of 9 x 12" construction paper for the background. They placed their cardinal on the paper where they wanted it, then drew branches around it.

The branches were coloured in using oil pastels.

As you can see below, I've started using paper placemats underneath the kids work to protect the tables. They're great (when I remember to actually bring them out).

I found the idea for the placemats on the wonderful Painted Paper blog.

Once the branches were completed, students added pine needles. Then, using white tempera pint, they dipped the end of their paintbrushes into the paint and dotted on 'snow'. They used the bristle end to add some snow to the tops of the branches. 

Grade 2 results: