Tundra – Arctic/Antarctic

Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2

Bbrr, it is getting cold! K-2 students will have fun creating some gorgeous arctic (north pole) and Antarctic (south pole) inspired artworks. There are baby penguins to draw and penguins and polar bears to print and a fun snowflake to make. Penguins only live in the south and polar bears only live in the north, snowflakes can be found in both locales!

We explore drawing, printmaking, craft and collage in these works. Use chalk pastels to draw a sweet baby penguin on blue cover paper. Add some snow and smudge the pastel to make an iceberg. Print potatoes onto black paper for the pengun bodies and add beak and feet details with red fingerpaint. Collage some strips of light blue paper onto the blue background to create some icebergs and add some fun eye stickers to complete this antarctic scene.

Use a kitchen fork to print textured white fur on a dark blue background for a fun polar bear artwork. Cut and collage black paper for the ears, eyes and nose and make a colourful bow tie to complete this arctic polar bear. Develop fine motor skills with this sweet six pronged snowflake. Cut and twist chenille sticks or pipe cleaners and add white, blue or purple pony beads in a pattern to make a hanging snowflake to display. Develop drawing, cutting, collage and printmaking techniques with these 4 freezing projects.

Grade 3 and 4

Auroras are an amazing natural phenomenon that occur in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The northern lights are also known as the Aurora Borealis and the Southern Lights are known as the Aurora Australis. Use chalk pastel to create this wonderful winter scene where the sky dances with colour. Have fun with your kids and make a wind up penguin toy that is sure to delight. Purchase some small wind up motors and use a modelling medium such as Model Magic or Magiclay to make a cute penguin that can walk or twirl.

Students will learn about line, colour, shape, pattern and repetition. We’ll look at analogous colours and learn some modelling and drawing techniques with these arctic and Antarctic inspired works of art.

Grade 5 and 6

In the Tundra unit for grade 5 and 6, students we will explore painting with a wonderful penguin artwork./ Choose a composition with one, or two penguins for those needing extension. Draw and paint the penguins, mix colours using tints and shades of blue and add an icy background. Learn how to add shadows to the penguins for a 3D look and learn about proportion, balance and composition. Create some snowflakes and add some sparkling stars to complete.

Get your hands on some scratch art paper and have your 5-6 students learn to draw in a whole new way. Scratch into the black paper to reveal white underneath. There is a lot of thought required to draw this way, think about what is white and which parts need to stay black in this subtractive method of creating. Choose from multiple reference images of polar bears and penguins to create a range of stunning artworks to display in your classroom.