Dragon Drawing

Dragons are usually a big hit with my little ones and with good reason. They can be embellished to suit the artist's mood and ideas.

Supplies are simple: white paper, pencil, eraser, black marker and coloring tools (I used Crayola Markers but you could use watercolor paint or even crayons).

I displayed a few dragon pictures on my whiteboard and passed around a few animated dragon pictures photocopied from books. Then, I drew a dragon for the kids.

Here's a teacher tip: Whenever you are teaching children how to draw, I find it's helpful to find a simple image of that item, in this case, a dragon, and draw the image using the cleanest lines possible. Ask yourself if you could make the steps easier and less complex. Should you add all the legs now or wait until the next step?While you practice drawing, you are embedding the easiest method in your head. This will translate well to the students.

In the case of this dragon, starting with a pencil is best. Draw the eye, the mouth, then the lower jaw extending all the way down and around the belly and up to the tip of the tail. This big, curvy line doesn't look like much now, but it will. Go back to the mouth and draw the top of the nose, the forehead, the neck and then the back and all the way to the tip of the tail, the line growing narrow.

Now it's time to add the back leg (just one for now). Make a big number "2" going right over the belly line. Add a backwards "C" for the rest of the leg and make a foot. Now add one small arm up along the neck. Draw right over the neck line. The pencil lines will eventually be rubbed away.

Next, add super-duper dragon wings, and some spikes or horns or things like that.

Using a black marker, draw over all the lines you want. By this I mean, jump over the area where the belly and back leg meet. Some kids get this immediatley, others don't. Add a back leg and another arm.

A good tip to share with the children is to use the black marker for details like scales, etc. instead of a pencil because all the pencil lines will eventually go away.

Second Grade Results!

Tissue Paper Dragon Mural

Every few years I pull out this lesson for my first and second grade students. This year, we assembled our dragons together to create a mural. (I'm channeling my favorite art teacher over at Painted Paper here!). Tissue paper is so much fun to work with and despite it being flimsy and light, the organic nature of this project tends to be satisfying and not at all frustrating. You can pick any subject matter for this project. I was inspired by the new movie "How to Train Your Dragon" and I thought the kids might be as well.

The process is simple. Tear tissue paper and brush liquid starch (laundry aisle of grocery store), watered-down Mod-Podge or even watered-down glue to paper.

After the piece dries, the kids use oil pastels to create an outline, add details like scales and teeth.

Cut out to paste onto a huge mural. This was a quick, satisfying and colorful project.
Can't ask for more!

Tissue Paper Dragons

Here is a fun and very easy art project for any age and for anytime of the year. You can vary the subject matter to feature anything you like (flowers, boats, cats, dinosaurs, etc.).

The supply list is simple: tissue paper and some liquid starch.
The challenge here is to have the children think visually, not worry about creating a perfect dragon and basically, have fun with the cool textures of tissue paper and the starch.

To start, tear a piece of tissue paper in the shape of a dragon head. Of course, everyone's shape will look different. Now, dip a paint brush into a bowl of liquid starch (yes, the kind you find in the detergent aisle of the grocery store) and apply a little bit to the paper where you intend to place the head. Set down the "head" and brush again with the starch. Continue along this route with the body, tail, legs, spikes, etc. Smooth down any dry or rough patches with more starch.
Once dry, you can place the artwork between two heavy books to flatten out the piece.
If you want, you can draw a black line around the figure to create a more distinct picture. You can even add details like eyes or scales.

Ceramics Project: Dragons!

Fifth Graders at MountainView sculpted these dragons from a single slab of clay. It might be a good idea to have kids draw a dragon first, but this class didn't. I drew a few dragons on the white board and imposed requirements such as all dragons must have at least one head, tail and legs. Other than that, they were free to chose how their sculpted dragons should look.
By pulling an oval slab of clay into a head and legs, they were able to create the main body. To add the wings, many students chose to attach flattened pieces of clay using the "Scratch Attach" method. (Score both pieces, then dampen with water).