Silly Rhymes

Materials

pictures of things that rhyme with different animals featured in

"Down by the Bay"

CD with the song "Down by the Bay"

Instructions

1. Explain to the children that they are going to do an activity that focuses on
texture, color blending, and kites and that it will take two days to complete.
2. Discuss the different types of kites that children are familiar with and tell
them they are going to make a kite with their very own color design and
texture.
3. Give one large sheet of watercolor paper or construction paper to each child.
Make sure the kite and bow pattern fits on one sheet of paper.
4. Provide glue and demonstrate how to make a "texture design." Do this by
holding the glue bottle about 12-15 inches above the paper and squeezing.
As the glue starts to come out in a stream, move the bottle around in a
twirling motion. Point out that even though the glue comes out in a stream,
sometimes it forms a small round ball when it hits the paper.
5. Let the children continue this until they have created a glue design they are
happy with. However, caution the children not to put too much glue on the
paper because it will be difficult to cut and the paint will not stick to the
glue. Wherever there is glue, there will be white space on the painted paper.
Also, you may want to point out to the children that they are going to be
cutting their design apart, so they may not have the entire design on the
finished kite.
6. Once the children have completed their designs, let the papers dry for at
least 24 hours. The glue must be completely dry and hard before you
continue.
7. The next day, give the children their dried glue paper and
have them paint the entire paper with watercolors.
You might want to talk about mixing colors and
choosing colors that go well together, or how
colors combine to make new colors.
8. Once the children have painted their kites and
cleaned their brushes in the cups of water, refill
the cups with clean water and show the children
how to use water to "blend" the colors and create a
soft, flowing look. To do this, children wet the brush
with clear water and drag it back and forth over the
painted paper. If they do this before the paint is
completely dry, they will get a much nicer blended look.
9. Set the papers out to dry. This time, drying should only
require about an hour.
10. Next, redistribute the painted papers and the kite and bow
patterns. Encourage the children to trace the kite pattern over
their favorite part of their design. Then ask them to trace
the bow pattern at least five times. They can make more
bows if they have space on their papers. If the children
have extra scraps, you might want to save them for use
on another project.
11. Ask the children to cut out their patterns. If they traced
over an area with a large amount of glue on it, you may
need to help them cut it because the glue is difficult to
cut through when dry.
12. Once the cutting is complete, distribute string and
glue and ask the children to glue the string onto
the back of the bows and the bottom of the kite
to make a tail for the kite.
13. When these have dried, the children will enjoy
touching the finished product and feeling the
texture.