Fifth Grade Art Lesson 15

Using Our Hands to Create a Design, Part 1

Objective:

The students will trace their hands to fill a large sheet of white paper, creating a unique design

Materials:

12 x 18 inch white paper, pencil, markers

Procedure:

Today we are going to use our hand to trace onto white paper. You will be tracing your hand many times. Each time you trace your hand, overlap it with one or more other hand shapes. Stop to notice how the shapes are working out to help you decide what direction to place the next hand shape. Many students prefer to have a very organized pattern for their hand shapes. Others prefer a more free form approach. Either way is fine, but you want to fill your paper with your hands. Once you have completed your hands, you will begin making color decisions. I encourage my students to start by coloring only overlapping sections. Careful consideration should be made when selecting colors. Once intersecting hand shapes are colored, then go back and color the remaining hand shapes. This is a tedious process. Encourage students to take their time and control their markers. We will complete our backgrounds next week.

Conclusion:

Today we have used our hand to create design. Hopefully you have been pleasantly surprised at the wide range of shapes created by simply overlapping hands. Save your work to be completed next lesson.

Artwork and Examples used in this lesson

Student Artwork

Student Artwork