HIDE AND SEEK ANIMALS

September 23, 2012 by


LESSON PRESENTATION INSTRUCTIONS

SPACE 

HIDE AND SEEK ANIMALS

Lesson Objectives: Students will learn about space while creating a camouflaged animal in the sytle of Henri Rousseau. 

Time Required: 1 hour 

Artist: Henri Rousseau, French Exotic Landscape, Who Is The Beast? by Keith Baker (book) 

Materials:

Construction paper

Tag board

Fine tip markers

Colored pencils

Glue sticks

Scissors

Presentation:

Listen to or read Who Is the Beast? in which an animal discovers that segments of the “beast” that others fear are parts of its own body. Compile a list of fearsome animals that might be identified by a body part, such as a skunk’s stripe. Study photographs and drawings of these animals. Look carefully at Henri Rousseau’s fanciful paintings of rain forest animals. Note the repetition of plant shapes. Compare these plants and animals to rainforest photographs.

Procedure:

  1. Choose one animal to portray hiding in its natural habitat. Study its shape, color, markings, and textures. How might these characteristics help camouflage the animal? Find out what natural elements abound in its environment, too, such as plants.
  2. Draw the animal using colored pencils. With scissors, cut out and glue the animal to a construction paper background.
  3. On a piece of tag board, draw a simple outline of one natural element in the animal’s habitat, such as a leaf. Plan ahead. Choose a size that will enable you to use several of these shapes to camouflage most of the animal. Cut out the shape to make a stencil. Trace the stencil as many times as needed and cut out the pieces. For variety, exchange stencils with another student portraying the same environment.
  4. Color a thick outline around the edge of each shape with colored pencils. Fill in with light colors (tints). Draw in darker details with fine tip markers.
  5. Experiment to find a pleasing way to lay the shapes on top of the animal drawing and background. Overlap and cluster shapes to create harmony. Use a glue stick to attach the shapes so the fearsome creature appears partially hidden by vegetation. 
Filed Under: 4th Grade Space