Art Education

Lesson Plan

Grade Level: K-1

Objectives: To enhance students' understanding of marine life through a craft activity.

Goals: Students will construct an egg-carton lobster that will be incorporated into an ocean mural.

Materials:

Cardboard egg carton cups

Brown construction paper, pre-cut into "claws" and "tails"

Small moveable eyes (two per "lobster")

Green, yellow, brown pipe cleaners

Green, yellow, brown tempera, brushes

Glue

Pencil

Procedure:

  1. As students what a lobster is, and have them describe it. Show pictures, and have them notice that live lobsters (that one might find in the ocean) are not red! Explain that they will be creating little lobster sculptures that will be part of an ocean mural.

  2. Help students glue the pre-cut claws and tail onto the egg carton cup.

  3. Using tempera, paint brown and let them add dots or shadings of green or yellow. Let dry.

  4. Help students glue moveable eyes to egg carton (on the right end!) and then teacher will poke a small hole above each eye, using a pencil.

  5. Choose two pipe cleaners of the same color for the antennae, and insert through the holes, folding on underside.

Evaluation:

  1. Involvement in and enjoyment of activity

  2. Completion of project

  3. Variety/differences between lobsters.

Note: If desired, children can cut out the claws and tail if they have a pattern to first trace around. When I did this with K students, we used pre-cut parts to save time.