Fanciful Peacocks

This was a great project for all of the kids.  Patterned art is not particularly my thing but every once in a while I do like to incorporate a fun "how to draw" lesson.   At the beginning of the lesson I stress freedom of choice for everyone.  I tell students that I am just giving them the basics and they have the opportunity to make any changes they see fit. This helps a lot because it makes the students feel good about their work being different from their peers or mine.   I think that's why the results vary so much.  I break down the drawing into line types or shapes;  for example, the beak was a triangle. You could also incorporate learning about radial design with the feathers.

I want to thank the Art Projects for Kids blog for the inspiration for this project.

Design- Building Radial Design

As part of our Design Unit students created radial designs. Radial Designs are those that start at a center point and radiate out like the rays of the sun. When creating radial designs , students develop and practice hand orientation, placement, and spatial skills. They also use mathematical variables such as number, direction, and position. I believe the students really enjoyed creating these. Check out the video This Week in Art to see them working. I think one of the best parts is that they really have so much fun drawing that they don't even realize they are learning all of this great stuff!  For early finishers I challenged them to create radial designs with pattern blocks on the rug.  I think this was a great addition to their learning because it gives them another perspective of the same idea.