Laminated Ink Turtles

Painted ink turtles - put into A3 laminate sheet with torn tissue paper background - added 'bubbles' from leftover ink paintings - laminated and displayed on classroom windows.

Ocean Layers and Coral Reefs

LOve this project! - and I have done variations of this in classes from Grade 2 to Grade 6 and it fits in beautifully with Water, Oceans, Animal or Environmental themes. It is also a great way to look at tones and shades and introduce working with mixed media.

We always start with looking at the different layers of the ocean and how the colour changes depending on the depth of the water. Students paint the layers with blue ink - they have to work on diluting the ink to change the colour for each layer.

We then look at the earth and soil around the water. Students use 'earthy' coloured oil pastels to colour.

We then use a pencil to draw on some 'coral' and then use pva glue to stick on grains of uncooked rice.

..and then painted the coral with bright acrylic paint...

...and final touches - added a bit of glitter, an ocean animal and some clouds...

Fish on Marbled Paper Waves

A great easy project for junior year levels. We used some fish templates but you could just as easily draw your own. We did some paper marbling and then, when they were dry, we drew 'wavy' lines. We cut along each line and then collaged them to create a layered effect.

We coloured our fish and then used sequins and googly eyes to decorate them. You could always add some glitter as well! Rather than glue our fish down, we added a velcro dot - this way the kids could reposition their fish or use them for storytelling.

Eric Carle inspired animals

Inspired by Eric Carle's many books. Images were created by first painting sheets of paper with different inks. When the paper was dry, the students drew on the shape of their chosen animal and cut them out. The leftover painted paper was used to cut out and add extra details.

Rainbow Fish

Created by decorating a paper fish template. The 'ocean' is made by painting a page of blue and green ink and then cutting it out in 'wave' pattern and rearranging it to create a watery look.