May 30, 2011

Easy Project You Can Do Tomorrow: Monarch Prints

This project I guarantee will get you some ooooohs and ahhhhhs from your first grade artists and some squeals of excitement when they make their first print. 


Here is a favorite easy printmaking lesson.


MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

You will need: Black and orange paint (yellow is optional), paper and a brush.
Fold paper in half.
Paint half of your paper with a B for butterfly in orange paint.
This B is Backwards I know!

Fold and press. You should now have both wings if you used enough paint.

Add more details with orange. Fold and press as you add.
Finally add black lines and shapes to one wing. Fold and press and VOILA! A symmetrical butterfly.


Some questions to ask while demonstrating this process.
What do you think will happen when I open the paper?
Have you ever heard the word "print" before? When? (example footprint, fingerprint)
What do you think the word "print" means?

STAY TUNED WE TOOK THIS SIMPLE PROJECT AND ILLUSTRATED THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE BUTTERFLY AS AN EXTENSION. They loved it so I will share it.

Until then. . . here are some visuals I showed to get our creativity flowing.






7 comments:

MJ said...

SO NEAT! I will be doing this next spring for sure! Thank you for sharing:) I look forward to seeing the life cycle part of it, too!

Phyl said...

Love it. I usually do folded paper prints with my 1st graders, and then we cut them out and make them into bugs, aliens, etc. But I use a lot of colors and it can be a pain to setup/cleanup. This is terrific; our first graders study the monarchs, and go on a field trip to a nearby monarch sanctuary each spring. I love the idea of using the limited colors, and the "B is for butterfly". Thanks!

Chesterbrook Academy Elementary said...

Beautiful butterflies.

Chesterbrook Academy Elementary said...

I love your Monarch print project.
The lines and colors, beautiful.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

You do some great projects and your kids do some amazing work! Thanks for sharing!

lbfreer said...

Great lesson on so many levels. Thanks for sharing!