Self Portraits Being sensitive to the feelings, interests, and needs of others, Exploring each child’s individual features
Materials:
12” x 18” Heavyweight construction paper
Handheld mirrors
Pencils
Felt tip pens
Fine paint brushes
Watercolor
Beginning:Read “Rainbow of Friends” by P.K Hallinan
Middle:Children will use the handheld mirrors to examine their features and then draw what they see with pencil on the construction paper. Then outline their features with the felt tip pen.
Earlier: Have the shape of a head and neck drawn for the children already, cut-out features, such as eyes, nose, mouth, and hair, and have them glue them where they want. Later: Have the children to use watercolor to define their features and paint their self-portraits after drawing the outline.
End:Five-minute warning, then three-minute, final one-minute warning and the children will clean up.
Follow-up Ideas:To continue this activity they can take turns saying what makes them different and what feature they like most about themselves.
Assessment:The children were able to draw themselves, it just looks more like an abstract drawing of them. The children used mirrors to examine what makes them ‘them’ and used pencil to then draw their features on the construction paper. The children gained a sense of self-awareness and understanding of everyone’s differences. The children were excited to use the different materials to create details like their glasses or using watercolor for blue eyes. Something we could add if we did it again would be to, have the children draw each other.