Wax Resist Butterfly - 1st Grade

For this lesson I began with a fun video about butterfly wings and symmetry. I also looked at a Google arts and culture source that showed many different kinds of butterflies displayed next to each other.

After the intro to our topic I demoed how to draw a butterfly using simple shapes that were easy for the students to draw, (i.e. circles, ovals, c-shaped wings). Then I passed out oil pastels for the students to color their butterflies, not the background.

After they had finished with the oil pastels I gave them tempura cakes and showed them what a wax resist painting was and let them create a background for their butterflies.

Below are more student examples from this assignment.

Symmetry Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3czoTZO1OQ8&t=1s

Google Arts and Culture Link: https://artsandculture.google.com/search/asset/?p=insect-museum-of-west-china&em=m0cyf8&categoryId=other

Click on Photos to Enlarge: