United StatesSelf-Portrait
Grade Levels: 3 - 5
Objectives
- Students will continue to develop a sense of self.
- Students will examine race and differences.
- Students will foster color exploration and creativity.
Materials
- Large paper
- Multicultural Paints
- Paint brushes
- Book: All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka
- Paper plates for mixing paints
Procedure
- Read All the Colors of the Earth, by Sheila Hamanaka.
- Talk about why people are different colors (melanin in the skin). Allow children to hold their hands next to other children's hands and compare who is darker and lighter.
- Demonstrate how to mix paints and find what matches your skin color best.
- Allow children to explore with the paints and create their own self-portraits in the art center.
- Sing "We are All Different Colors."
- Trace children's hands and cut out. Allow them to paint hands in their color, laminate and use for job charts, or whatever else you can think of.
- Talk openly about how a long time ago, and sometimes even today, people were/are treated differently because of their skin color. Invite children to respond as to whether or not that makes sense.
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