As promised, here is a little EASY and FUN sock monkey lesson that I have found to be a huge confidence booster to my 3rd grade artists. I think that every child was extremely proud of his or her sock monkey when we finished. Here are the instructions… (cut and pasted from my official lesson plan at school; you don’t really have to show your kids a Power Point presentation but you could!)
- Show a Power Point presentation on sock monkeys. Make sure to mention the history of sock monkeys, the time-period and life style of people that first created sock monkeys as well as the variations found in sock monkeys.
- Demonstrate how to draw the sock monkey (use basic shapes and draw BIG). Pass out one large sheet of red construction paper to each student and allow time for sock monkeys to be drawn. Pass out black markers so that students may trace over pencil lines.
- Demonstrate painting the mouth white and the hat white. Wipe paintbrush on paper towel and immediately add brown paint onto white paint starting with the mouth (ask students to recall the term “tint” that we learned in 1st grade) and ending with the hat. Show students how to add the lines into the hat with opposite end of paintbrush (ask students to recall the “scratching into paint” method that we learned in kindergarten) and make sure to point out that the lines that we are adding are making the hat look like it has a “ribbed” fabric. Students may add lines around the mouth if they would like.
- Students paint the rest of the body with brown paint and add red paint to the lips.
- Once all paint is dry students may trace back over black lines that have gotten covered with black pastels or markers.
- Demonstrate the collage portion of the project by adding yarn for a “puff ball” on the hat, yarn or fabric for a scarf, buttons for eyes, etc. Discuss actual texture. Students finish with an unique sock monkey collage!
