Pond Fish Painting

When I was student teaching I had the most amazing co-op teacher, Clare Torso. She was the most calm, creative, and innovative teacher I have ever met. This was one of the lessons I learned from her. It is intended for 1st graders.

Materials:
* Liquid Watercolor- Sax makes the best and you can make them last for a long time
* Diffusing paper
* 8.5x11 white paper for fish
* Construction paper for border
* Sharpies- HUGE fan with Sharpies! I use them for almost every project. Even with Kindergarteners.
* Watercolor Markers- Mr. Sketch makes the best markers, but they are expensive. I would highly suggest not getting the smelly ones. You'll spend half the class telling the kids not to shove them up their nose.
* Glue- Elmers glue for the cut out fish to be put on the diffusing paper. The diffusing paper is very thin, so it needs to be be glued onto a piece of construction paper so it's more sturdy. You must use a glue stick only to glue the diffusing paper onto the construction paper because the dye from the construction paper will dye the diffusing paper. A glue stick works great.
* Sprayer for water
* Book: The Rainbow Fish
* Matisse images of his paper cut outs

Once I read The Rainbow Fish to the students we will look at the basic shapes and parts of a fish and draw one on the 8.5x11 paper using an oval or circle. The inside of the fish is filled in with different types of lines and shapes. Outline with Sharpie and use watercolor paint (warm colors only since the water will be mainly cool) for the inside of the fish.

Now get the diffusing paper ready for the fish (will need 2 days). The first day is a super fast painting. Day 1: Use blue and green watercolor paint to completely cover the background- don't over mix. Let the diffusing paper do its job! Day 2: Add seaweed and colorful rocks to diffusing paper and spray with water to give a blurry look. Once dry, glue diffusing paper to construction paper.

Now you are ready to have the kids cut out their fish and glue onto the diffusing paper. I have had great results with this project and hope you will too!!