Kindergarten Texture Monsters (K)

This lesson began by me asking my kinders what they thought the word "texture" means?
My favorite answer of all time - "Like when your mom sends a message to someone else on the phone?". Nope.. not texting - textURE. :)
After telling them that texture means the way that something feels (which I have them repeat numerous times while rubbing their hands together), I asked my students which of the 5 senses texture would belong to? Taste? No. Hearing? No. Touch? YES!
Then I picked up and touched a few objects around my classroom and had students brainstorm words that would describe how each item felt.
Then we began talking about how artists often have the challenging job of finding ways to add texture to their artwork. Sometimes artists can just use materials with actual texture (like felt, feathers, yarn, etc...), but when an artist is making a drawing they have to know how to draw textures (implied texture - though I don't use this word with them).
This led us into a quick drawing activity where I drew an "egg monster" onto my whiteboard (see the lovely illustration). I asked students what texture they thought my egg monster would have if he was real? Smooth? Yes! Because my monster is just one solid color (white)... so we can't see any other textures yet.
Then I asked students to tell me how I could make my monster look sharp and spikey? Triangles or zig-zag lines!
Hairy? A lot of little lines!
Bumpy? Circles!
Slimey? Wavy lines!
After this activity I told students that today we were going to make texture monsters! Each student got to pick out two different colored sheets of 4.5"x6" construction paper, a small piece of white paper and a 9"x12" black paper to glue everything down onto (one of my classes used white instead - but I think the monsters pop more on the black paper).
Students were asked to cut out shapes to make the body of a monster from their construction paper... and once they had a basic body glued down, they could come to the carpet to get some textured materials (I had corrugated cardboard, crimped paper, tinsel, pipe cleaners, yarn, cotton balls, kraft paper, twine, etc...).
After students finished creating their texture monsters, I gave them a sheet of drawing paper and asked them to draw a picture of the monster they created including the textured items.
Below are the results from the first half of this project.
Kinders just make the cutest things. :)

3 comments

  1. I'm going to try this as a follow up to my Texture Game lesson where my students blindly discovered matching texture "pillows" in a covered can thingie I made to "save money". It can be purchased from NASCO at probably the same cost as my texture game!!

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  2. This is adorable! My kindred will love this project! Thank you for sharing.

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  3. Thank you! This is just what I am looking for to combine our Halloween Monster theme with our five senses theme and art!

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