Taking our Lines for a Walk - with Harold and the Purple Crayon

Taking our Lines for a Walk

Medium: Watercolor paint, Crayons

Reason for Lesson:  To introduce students to the concept of LINE and movement in art.  Lines can be wavy, thick, thin, curvy, parallel, etc.  Lines together create movement in art.  Education.com defines movement as repeated shapes, lines, or colors that are used in a work of art.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Preparation prior to lesson:  15 minutes

Class Time: 1 hour

Materials:  The book Harold and the Purple Crayon, watercolor paper, watercolor paints, crayons, paintbrushes, paper towels.

Instructions to Lead Lesson:  Begin the lesson by reading the story "Harold and the Purple Crayon" to introduce the topic of LINE. Discuss how Harold uses lines to draw all sorts of pictures.  After the story ask the students to look around the classroom and see if they can pick out any "lines".  Take a few minutes allowing as many to participate as possible.

Tell the students that for today's art project they will be taking their lines for a walk, just like Harold. Show example of completed art project. Express to the students the importance of not scribbling so that the line can be seen. I make it very clear how important it is to listen to the directions. Teaching them one step at a time is very helpful for first graders :) Encourage them to do their “Best” work.

Step 1:  Have students use a black crayon to take their line for a walk around their paper. Remind them that the line is “walking” and not “running”.  This will help them take their time and not rush.

Step 2:  Color in the some of the circles and spaces with different colors of crayons.

Step 3:   Have the paint table set up for students to come up and choose ONE color to paint over their project. It's fun to see how the crayon resists the watercolor. This part of the project is where extra hands come in handy. I am planning on using the table in front of the classroom for painting. This way you can have control of the paint and one parent can sit and help the students at the table with painting helping to reduce the mess.

Step 4: use a paper towel to dab the extra paint off the completed project.  Since the crayon resists the watercolor paint, it will be quite wet.  Once their project is dry, have them sign their name "like an artist" on the bottom corner with a black sharpie.

Credit:  Our docent Katie L was inspired by the book Harold and the Purple Crayon and a project by Art Lessons for Kids