I love to do these ocean-themed crayon with my kindergarteners closer to the end of our school year! I usually start with some guided drawing on thick white sulphite paper in black china marking pencil. Then, they color in with crayon and brush over with some blue liquid watercolor and a sprinkle of salt! The results are always beautiful and whimsical and includes lots of great learning about a new art technique and ocean habitats!
Materials for this lesson include: White sulphite drawing paper, black china marking pencil, crayons, liquid watercolor in blue or turquoise, and salt for sprinking.
I love to have students practice with a black china marker while I give them some guided drawing instructions on a few sea animals that use simple shapes: basic fish, sharks, whales, jellyfish, octopii and squid, sea turtles, eels, etc… If students ask for anything specific, I try to break the animal down into the simplest shapes! Once they’ve had some practice on scratch paper, I have them start on white sulphite with some initial guidance (drawing sand for the ocean floor, some seaweed and coral) and then let them add creatures, all with black china marker. This can sometimes be the hard part with younger students, when they use a material that can’t be erased. We talk about embracing “oopsies.” I use the phrase “mess it up dress it up” often!
When students are ready, they begin coloring in with crayons. They are to color everything except for the ocean water. We talk about coloring things in all the way and not too lightly. I demonstrate on my SmartBoard the difference that coloring in well makes once they brush over with liquid watercolor, so they know how important it is in making their details show up!
On the last day, I have students work with blue or turquoise liquid watercolor and a big round brush to paint over the entire paper. I pre-dilute the liquid watercolor with water and distribute into containers for group sharing. While students are painting, I circulate and sprinkle salt onto painted areas while they are still wet. I encourage them to avoid painting over these areas to let the salt work its magic! Once the papers are painted, they place their work on the drying rack.
Check out these student examples!
