Eric Carle Bugs (2nd)

After the ice trees my students really wanted to do something that didn't require them to draw. So we made bug collages inspired by Eric Carle!

Students Learned/Practiced:
--Decorating paper (cause and effect)
--Sharing
--Creating
--Critical thinking/problem solving (which shapes for what part to make the bug)
--Tracing (fine motor skill)
--Cutting (fine motor skill/hand eye coordination)
--Gluing
--Composition

We first looked at pictures from books of Eric Carle -- careful to look at the colors and textures of each shape -- and how those shapes made up an animal. Next the students used different centers to make different kinds of paper. One station required students to blow bubbles in a container fill with soap, water, and a little bit of paint. Once they blew bubbles up over the edge they placed their paper on the bubbles and wham they had a really neat texture on their paper! Another station had students use different kinds of texture plates to do crayon rubbings. The students then used watercolor to go over these crayon patterns!

All the paper the students made went into a community pile. I explained before we started that these papers we would share and there was a good chance that students would not get their paper back. We talked about how interesting it would be if we only had one type of paper in comparison to many -- we compared it to having an ice cream sundae and how most of us would want lots of flavors.

When it came time to make the collages students picked out their paper and were given the option of using shape stencils to trace and cut out or to make up their own shapes to make their bugs. We looked at shapes and imagined what part of the bug it would be for -- this really helped give the students a jump start.

They then were set loose to create their very own bugs!