Grades K–3 

Workshop Overview

Students search the museum for griffins, dragons, mermaids, and chimera in works of art from various cultures. In the classroom they create imaginary creatures working with paper collage, oil pastel, and watercolor. All supplies will be provided.

Outcomes

• Students will define a mythical creature as something found only in stories. 
• Students will identify familiar animal features within mythical creature examples. 
• Students will create an original collage consisting of animal features they chose to combine.

Curriculum

• Elaborate on an imaginative idea. 
• Create artwork using a variety of processes and materials. 
• Discuss how people from different places have made art for a variety of reasons. 

Vocabulary

• • Myth – A traditional story, often explaining an event or phenomenon   
  • Culture – Values, beliefs, practices that a people share 
  • Artifact – An object made by a human 
  • Perspective – A point of view, an attitude 
  • Fiction / Non-Fiction – Writing based in fact or imagination 
  • Pattern – Something that repeats in a predictable way 
  • Art Elements – Line, Shape, Color, Texture, Value, Space, Form 
  • Chimera, Centaur, Pegasus, Griffon, Mermaid, Dragon – Various types of Mythical Creatures 

Pre-Workshop Activities

• Texture Hunt: Give the students a list of textures (rough, smooth, bumpy, etc.) and send them off on a scavenger hunt for objects with the texture. Have them share their discoveries and ask them to think of more words to describe the texture.
• Research animals while brainstorming which of their features they plan to include in their Mythical Creature. This graphic organizer could help students remember their plans: My Mythical Creature pre-workshop activity

Post-Workshop Activities

• Invite students to share about the mythical creatures they saw during the tour, including which was their favorite and why.
• Allow students to classify their imaginary creatures, grouping them by shared characteristics. This graphic organizer may help students identify their creatures’ qualities – My Mythical Creature post-workshop activity
• Ask students to create a name for the creatures they made and write and illustrate a short story describing the creature’s habitat and its adventures. 
• Explore this fun free site for learning about a variety of animals, a few of their characteristics, and a game of mixing up the heads, legs and tails of these animals – https://switchzoo.com