Literature. . .Eric Carle link up

Oh oh oh this is a very exciting day!!!   AmazingChild is hosting an Eric Carle CELEBRATION.  She has invited some very talented bloggers to link up their Eric Carle activity posts.  Lucky me…I get to join in.  You’ll find the link up at the bottom of this post!

Remember how I said a “double dose of fun”?  Today’s post is written by a very special guest author.  My sister, Lisa, is one of my very best friends (and amomwithalessonplan’s editor).  She is a middle school math and science teacher.  I must say…she is GOOD at her job.  M and M are very lucky to have an Auntie like her.  When Lisa heard I was planning an Eric Carle activity she jumped at the chance to dust off an old favorite.  Make sure to give her extra love…even though you don’t see her, she is behind the scenes every day!

During my undergraduate study I took an Art class for elementary school teachers.  When Jillian mentioned that she needed to do an Eric Carle post I was excited to tell her about a project I did for my final project.  As a middle school math and science teacher I haven’t gotten to use the things I learned in that class so I was excited to sit down and get crafty with M and M.

This project needs to be done in two different steps.

First Step: What you need – Paint – Construction Paper – Box Lid – Marbles

After sitting down to read The Hungry Caterpillar with M and M I asked what scene they wanted to create.  Big M found a picture of the sun and Little M decided she wanted to do a pink and purple castle.  We discussed which colors they would need for their pictures.

Next we mixed the colors (Jillian doesn’t usually let the kids squeeze the paint into the cups but this is a project with Aunt L and sometimes Aunts let the kids do special things)

Then we did one of the kids’ favorite activities: Marble Painting!!  The difference with this marble painting is that we used matching paint and construction paper.  The one exception was that Big M wanted to do orange on top of yellow for the sun.  I thought it added a nice touch.

Place one piece of construction paper into the box lid.  Mix the marbles into the paint and place them into the lid too.  Have the kids start rolling the marbles around.

Our box has a crease in the middle which is why Big M’s paper has a thick orange spot in the middle.  I tried to get him a new box but he liked how it looked.

Once you are done with the marble painting you can use pant hangers to hang them up to dry.  Now you wait… until they are completely dry.

Step Two: What you will need – completed marble paintings – construction paper – scissors -pencil – glue

M and M do a lot of art activities.  I was excited to teach them this new technique.  I showed M and M how to use their pencils to draw their design on the back of the marble paintings.

After they drew the picture they cut along the pencil lines.  When they were done cutting it out they placed it on the fresh sheet of construction paper.

Big M started with a bigger circle for the middle of the sun.

Then added what he called the legs of the sun.

Little M had her own idea… are you surprised?

She liked her drawings so much that she decided to glue the beautiful marble painting face down!

I am not quite as good as Jillian is at biting my tongue.  But I did the best I could to smile as she glued piece after piece on.

I do have to say it turned out to be quite the masterpiece!

Now that you’ve ceblebrated Eric Carle with us…it’s time to check out some of the other awesome ideas.

This post is a part of the Literature lesson plan.

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