Trees and Plants

Have fun learning about trees and plants. Allow your students to explore and create beautiful aspects of nature with clay work, painting and mixed media. The unit covers a range of styles from detailed, realistic representations in charcoal to stylized illustrations using collage and printmaking techniques. Students will enjoy creating their own plants and trees while exploring the natural world.

Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2

In the Kindergarten to year 2 category students will have fun turning clay into miniature toadstools which will come to life with brightly coloured painted patterns! Kids will learn key techniques such as moulding and joining as they create their clay mushroom sculpture. The addition of colour and pattern through the application of acrylic paint will add detail and character to bring these little sculptures to life.

The dandelions and ladybirds project will have students exploring a range of mixed media techniques including printmaking, drawing and oil pastel. Students will create delicate dandelions using a simple printing technique. They will add sweet ladybirds to their work using collage and drawing to represent their flightpath across the page!

We will use watercolours to create a stylised tree and have fun with markers to add pops of colour in the flowers and sweet birds. This will help kids to learn how to draw a tree with a tapering, windy trunk. Children will learn about colour, value, line and shape in this colourful artwork.

Grade 3 and 4

In the cactus pot project, students will look at the popular subject matter of mini cactus plants as they create a delicate painting to showcase the intricate details and patterns of these quirky plants. Students will learn simple drawing techniques to represent the plants in their pots. They will add colour with watercolour paint whilst learning a range of colour mixing and painting techniques.

The birdhouse in a tree is a fabulous project to learn a broad range of skills and techniques that will challenge and extend students’ abilities. Students will look at the children’s book illustrator, Simona Dimitri and will use watercolour, collage and drawing to emulate her style as they create their own version of a busy tree populated by sweet little birds.

Grade 5 and 6

In the monstera painting project, students will be able to really hone their colour mixing and representational drawing skills as they paint a lush monstera plant. They will develop their observational skills as they work on drawing the intricate patterns and details of the plant’s leaves. They will learn about colour and the importance of value as they add colour with acrylic paint, using a range of techniques to represent the shadows, highlights and details of these plants.

Students willpractice their drawing skills in the lotus seed pod drawing lesson, where they will use traditional media and techniques. This lesosn will help to develop their observational skills as they focus on the details of these intricate pods. Students will learn the importance of tone and will develop drawing, rendering, blending and highlighting techniques to create a beautifully detailed drawing.