A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to the work of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky.
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Kandinsky and Responding to Music
Teacher’s Notes
“Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” – Vassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter born in 1866. Kandinsky was gifted with the neurological phenomenon ‘synesthesia’ which allowed him to associate music with colours. Kandinsky is considered a pioneer of abstraction in western art.
Take a close look at these paintings, talking about them as a class, and using the questions to help deepen looking.
That there is a relationship between plate and print: e.g. negative / positive.
That we can use print to create “multiples”
That we can explore line, shape, colour and texture to explore pattern, sequence, symmetry and intention.
This pathway invites children to explore the world about them as a way to begin to understand the concept of “print”.
Children use their own bodies, then things they collect around them, to create a variety of prints. They use their hands and feet to make prints, and they take rubbings of textures from the environment around them. They make “plates” by making impressions in plasticine, and then by using printing foam.
They explore how they can build up images by creating multiples, and use line, shape, colour and texture to explore pattern, sequencing and symmetry.
If you use this resource in your setting, please tag us on social media: #InspiredBy @accessart (facebook, twitter) @accessart.org.uk (instagram) and share the url. Thank you!
Science: Adapt and use plants, trees, leaves, food chains, animals as inspiration to draw and make printed patterns.
PSHE: Peer discussion.
I Can…
I can make simple prints using my hands and feet.
I can explore my environment and take rubbings of textures I find.
I can use my rubbings to make an image.
I can push objects I find into plasticine and make prints.
I can cut shapes out of foam board and stick them on a block to make a plate. I can print from the plate.
I can draw into the surface of the foam board and print from the plate.
I can use colour, shape, and line to make my prints interesting.
I can create a repeat print.
I can create a symmetrical or sequenced print.
I can use my sketchbook to collect my prints and test ideas.
Time
This pathway takes 6 weeks, with an hour per week. Shorten or lengthen the suggested pathway according to time and experience. Follow the stages in green for a shorter pathway or less complex journey.
Materials
Ready mixed paints, large sheets of cardboard (maybe primed with white paint), brushes, trays, soft pencils, handwriting pens, chalk, flowers for observation, collected objects (shells, leaves, twigs etc), wax crayons, plasticine, ink pads, printing foam, water soluble printing ink, small pieces of thick card, scrap sugar paper, glue, rollers.
This pathway aims to introduce children to the idea that we can make single or multiple copies of an image through print.
Using simple methods to obtain relief prints, pupils explore the materials around them to understand how we can use repetition, pattern, colour, line, shape, and texture to make images.
Week 1: Printing with your Body
Hands, Feet and Flowers
Begin an exploration of printmaking using the “Hand, Feet and Flowers” resource to explore other ways of printing patterns using our bodies. This activity can work outdoors on a large scale but can also work well on tables in small groups.
Through this activity pupils directly experience what it means to make a “print”, discover how much paint they need and how much pressure they might apply. Children can use primary paint colours, start using the names of the colours, and they can also use ready mixed paint in other colours.
In this resource, pupils overlay their printed imagery with drawn imagery based upon flowers. You can choose if you proceed to this second activity, or if you prefer to leave the work as prints only, or if you wish to apply another theme or focus, i.e. draw hands, insects, etc.
Week 2: Making Rubbings
Taking Rubbings & Making Compositions
This week focus upon how you can make prints by rubbing dry materials such as wax crayon or pencil crayon, over textured objects.
Encourage children to “think like an explorer” and venture into the classroom and playground to collect textures and objects which they can take rubbings from. Make sure children take rubbings from things around them like the ground, as well as from things which you can lift up and bring back to the classroom, like leaves.
Invite children to use the rubbings to make a composition, working in a sketchbook or on large sheets. Adapt the “Taking Rubbings & Making Compositions” Resource.
Week 3, 4 & 5: Explore & Develop
Exploring Relief Printing
Over the next few weeks, explore the following printing methods, continuing as far into the exploration as pupils are able.
Give pupils plenty of time for discovery, experimentation and practice.
As pupils travel further along the journey they will learn new skills and discover more about how to use their prints to explore pattern and intention.
Method 1: Plasticine Print
Explore How Plasticine Can Be Used to Print
Use the “Printing with Plasticine” resource to further explore how we can use the things we find around us to create impressions in plasticine which we can then print from.
Collect shells, feathers, leaves, twigs, string, coins, lego etc, and invite the children to explore what happens when we push them into plasticine. What kinds of marks does each object leave in the plasticine?
Using ink pads with which to print means the plasticine will pick up even fine detail.
Once children have created a number of “prints” they can cut them out and stick them in their sketchbooks.
Once pupils have created a number of prints, they can then cut into their prints and collage with them on a larger sheet of paper, thinking about more abstract concepts like pattern and repetition, or using the printed elements to build an image related to a theme, such as architecture or insects or plants.
Support with Drawing
Observational Drawing
Support the creation of prints with close observation and careful drawing using the “Continuous Line Drawing Exercise“. Invite pupils to use a subject matter which informs the creation of prints, and work in sketchbooks.
Invite children to display the work in a clear space on tables or on the wall. Encourage positive language and a celebration of all their hard work! Recap with children about the exploration – where they started, what they discovered and what they enjoyed.
If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work, working in pairs or teams.
See the Pathway Used in Schools…
If You Use AccessArt Resources… You might like to…
That artists use a variety of media often combining it in inventive ways, to capture the energy and spirit of land or city scapes.
That artists often work outside (plein air) so that all their senses can be used to inform the work.
That as artists we are able to experiment with materials, combining them to see what happens. We can feel free and safe to take creative risks, without fear of getting things “wrong”.
We can share our artistic discoveries with, and be inspired by each other.
We can use sketchbooks to focus this exploration and we do not always need to create an “end result” – sometimes the exploratory journey is more than enough.
In this pathway children are introduced to the idea that artists don’t just work in studios – instead they get out into the world and draw and paint from life, inspired by the land and city scapes where they live. Pupils also see how artists use their creative freedom to explore ways of working which involve different materials and media.
Pupils extend and adapt existing sketchbooks so that they can make drawings/paintings at different scales and ratios. They are enabled to take creative risks, explore and experiment, without the pressure of having to “produce” an end result.
Pupils are given the freedom to use mixed medium in ways which suit them and their subject matter.
Medium: Graphite stick or soft B pencil, Handwriting Pen, Pastels & Chalk, Paper, (Sketchbook Making Task: Paper, string, elastic bands, glue)
Artists: Vanessa Gardiner, Shoreditch Sketcher, Kittie Jones, Saoirse Morgan
If you use this resource in your setting, please tag us on social media: #InspiredBy @accessart (facebook, twitter) @accessart.org.uk (instagram) and share the url. Thank you!
Geography: Link your landscapes to your chosen topic e.g. cities in the Northern hemisphere, settlements and land use, digital mapping.
Science: Local habitat, Environmental changes.
PSHE: Responsibility to the planet, Collaboration, Peer Discussion.
I Can…
I have seen how artists respond to land and city scapes in various ways by using inventive mixed media combinations.
I have seen how artists work outside amongst the land and city scapes which inspire them, and how they use all their senses to capture the spirit of the place. I have been able to share my response to their work.
I can extend my sketchbook thinking creatively about how I can change the pages giving myself different sizes and shapes of paper to work on.
I can use my sketchbook to explore and experiment. I have taken creative risks and been able to reflect upon what worked and what didn’t work.
I have continued my exploratory work outside the sketchbooks, bringing my “sketchbook way of thinking” to larger sheets of paper.
I can share my journey and discoveries with others and am able to reflect upon what I have learnt.
I can appreciate and be inspired by the work of my classmates, and I can share my response to their work.
Time
This pathway takes 6 weeks, with an hour per week. Shorten or lengthen the suggested pathway according to time and experience. Follow the stages in green for a shorter pathway or less complex journey.
Materials
Soft B pencils, handwriting pens, sharpies, coloured pencils, oil/chalk pastels, charcoal, water colour, acrylic paint, ink, assorted papers and envelopes, glue.
Use “Making Visual Notes” to help pupils record and reflect on the artists’ work, and identify the things which might be of interest in their own work.
The idea here is to add pages of different sizes and ratios. Use cartridge paper or neutral sugar paper so that it can take a variety of media next week.
Make some pages which are long and thin and can fold back into the book accordian style. Make other pages fat and wide. Encourage pupils to think creatively about how they can extend their sketchbook ready for the next few weeks.
Again use the “Making Visual Notes” resource to get pupils to think about the chosen artists approach approach in sketchbooks.
Time to Experiment & Create
Exploring Mixed Media
With the emphasis on exploration and experimentation, ensure pupils work in sketchbooks, or if it feels right towards the end of the project on larger sheets of paper, to discover how they can use different combinations of media to capture the energy and spirit of place.
Use the “Mixed Media Landscape Challenges” resource to inspire and enable their exploration. Allow children to take their time and give them the space to explore as many of the challenges as feels right. We recommend structuring the challenges so all pupils do the same challenge at the same time.
Ideally pupils will be able to draw outside, in whatever your local habitat is – the school grounds, or a local park. Try to work outside for at least one session, but if this is not possible or you wish to draw from a different kind of land or city scape (for example to link in with a curriculum theme) then pupils can draw from image or film.
You may like to use the free to access resources below as source imagery – or find your own.
Take inspiration from the ‘Graphite Sketches‘ resource and encourage pupils to explore perspective, tone and mark-making using water-soluble graphite and brushes.
If you wish to extend or challenge:
Introduction to Watercolour
You may wish to use the “Introduction to Watercolour” resource if you wish to steer pupils towards a final outcome using watercolour. However, we’d emphasis that this isn’t necessary and a great deal of skills will have been learnt through the above exploration.
Week 6: Present & Share
Share, Reflect, Discuss
Time to see the work which has been made, talk about intention and outcome.
Display the work in a clear space, with sketchbooks open on desks – encouraging pupils to carefully and respectfully look in each others books. Walk around the work as if you were in a gallery. Give the work the respect it deserves. Remind the children of their hard work.
If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work.
You might like to assemble any loose drawings made on sheets into a Backwards Sketchbook.
That artists sometimes use sound to inspire their work.
That artists sometimes work in partnership with musicians.
That we can use both aural and visual senses to make art.
That we can draw from our imagination, using lots of different kinds of abstract marks to express our feelings, whether they are quiet and focussed, or loud and expressive.
That we can be inventive and make objects in 3 dimensions which make sounds, and which we want to interact with as humans.
In this pathway children are introduced to the idea that artists often work in partnership and are often inspired by other art forms – in this case music and the visual arts.
Children explore how other artists have used sound to inspire their artwork, and then go on to experiment with how they can use their mark making skills to both be influenced by, and to capture, the expression in music.
Children then explore making skills to collage or make inventive instruments, creating a class “orchestra”.
Medium: Paper, Drawing Materials, Paint, Construction Materials
Artists: Kandinsky, Various “Projection Mapping” artists
If you use this resource in your setting, please tag us on social media: #InspiredBy @accessart (facebook, twitter) @accessart.org.uk (instagram) and share the url. Thank you!
Geography: Adapt the music you listen and draw to, according to geographical region or continent to help develop sense of place.
Science: The 5 senses, the human body, materials.
Music: Rhymes and chants, musical instruments, combining sounds.
PSHE: Explore the music made from instruments from other countries, Collaboration, Peer Discussion.
I Can…
I have seen how some artists are inspired by other artforms such as music. I can share my response to their work, and listen to others.
I can listen to sounds, and use my mark making skills to make marks in response.
I can draw from observation whilst listening to a piece of music, and let the music inspire my drawing.
I can use my imagination and work on a larger scale to make drawings of imaginative instruments, or I can use my hands to invent musical instruments made from construction materials.
I can share my work with the class.
I can reflect upon what I have made and share my work with the class. I can listen to their responses to my work, and talk about my response to their work.
I can take photos of my artwork.
Time
This pathway takes 6 weeks, with an hour per week. Shorten or lengthen the suggested pathway according to time and experience. Follow the stages in green for a shorter pathway or less complex journey.
Materials
Soft B pencils, coloured pencils or pastels, handwriting pens.
Project 1: Paint an Imaginary Orchestra – Large (A1 or A2) cartridge paper or thin card, coloured paper, foil or metallic paper, marker pens, scissors, tape, paint, brushes.
Project 2: Making Musical Instruments – cardboard, wood, buttons, lids, shells, string, ribbons and other construction materials.
The aim of this pathway is to introduce pupils to some of the links between art and music. Pupils use rhythm and sound to inspire artwork.
Week 1: Slow Drawing
Drawing to a Metronome
Settle students with some “Drawing to the Slow Rhythm of a Metronome“. Invite children to make careful, slow drawings with a sharp graphite pencil. Work in sketchbooks and introduce to children the idea that making drawings can be a quiet, slow, thoughtful activity.
Introduce an Artist
Wassily Kandinsky
Explore the work of Kandinsky who was a pioneer in abstraction. Use the free to access “Talking Points: Wassily Kandinsky” resource to find out what synaesthesia is, and how it helped him to paint music. Encourage children to have their sketchbooks open to make some “Making Visual Notes“.
Week 2: Work in Sketchbooks
Mark Making and Sound
Enable learners to develop their mark-making skills with these 3 “Mark Making and Sound” exercises.
This activity explores how we can use sound as a stimulus to develop the kinds of marks we can make.
Children will find out how abstract mark making can capture the spirit of a piece of music.
Children will then take what they have learnt about rhythm and mark making into observational drawing.
Introduce an Artist
Tomoko Kawao
Explore the free to access “Talking Points: Tomoko Kawao” resource to discover an artist who makes large scale work using one unbroken movement of a brush.
Use the questions at the bottom of the resource to help guide your class conversation.
During the exercise, draw the children’s attention to the visual elements of the artwork, including talking about shape, colour and composition. As well as using line in sketchbooks to describe shapes, also use colour (pastel, crayon, pens etc).
By the end of the session sketchbooks should be full of pupil’s interpretations of different elements (shapes, lines etc) from the video.
Take a Break & Inspire
Exploring Projection Mapping
If you feel your pupils would benefit from being inspired by more art made by artists, introduce them to Projection Mapping and music with this video by Light Odyssey in our free to access “Talking Points: What is Projection Mapping“.
Use the questions at the bottom of the resource to help guide your class conversation.
This workshop brings together mythical beasts and musical notes, however it can be adapted to link with curriculum topics such as animals or food.
Encourage children to draw large and fast so that they can explore a range of materials to create the details.
This resource is split into 3 different parts. Depending on time you can pick and choose which activities you’d like your class to do.
The first part of this resource explores inventing instruments. This is followed by responding to music with narrative. The final part of the activity entails children creating a self portrait of themselves playing an instrument.
By the end of the session children will have formed an extraordinary noisy orchestra.
Or…
Option 2
Making Musical Instruments
If you think your children would benefit, warm up using the “Making Prompt Cards” and follow on by creating music instruments below.
This activity not only explores the process of making but also how to produce different sounds and rhythms with the invented musical instruments.
Encourage children to make decisions about material, form, design and colour, experimenting using simple tools to create unusual, surprising sounds.
Week 6: Reflect and Discuss
Present, Talk, Share and Celebrate
End the pathway by taking time to appreciate the developmental stages and the final outcomes in a clear space.
Depending upon the project option chosen, display the work appropriately including having open sketchbooks. Use the “Crit in the Classroom” resource to help you.
Encourage children to reflect upon all stages of the journey, and reference the artists studied.
If available, children can use tablets or cameras to take photographs of the work.
If You Use AccessArt Resources… You might like to…
That artists can make animations by creating drawings which move in a sequence.
That we can use all our mark making skills and imagination to make our drawings visually engaging.
That we can use our moving drawings to share narratives.
In this pathway children are introduced to the idea that animations can be made by sequencing drawings.
After exploring the work of other artists making drawn animations, children make simple “paper puppets” with moving parts. Pupils also make a “background” for their puppets, and if you wish, then go on to make very simple animations using tablets.
Medium: Paper, (Digital media)
Artists: Lauren Child, Steve Kirby, Andrew Fox, Lucinda Schreiber
If you use this resource in your setting, please tag us on social media: #InspiredBy @accessart (facebook, twitter) @accessart.org.uk (instagram) and share the url. Thank you!
Science: Animals, the human body, habitats, materials.
Music & Drama: Link to drama to collaborate and act out short narratives.
I Can…
I can talk about the work of other animators who make animations from their drawings. I can share what I like, and how it makes me feel.
I can use my sketchbook to gather ideas from other artists, and start to think about a simple moving drawing I might make.
I can use observational skills to look at source material to inspire my character and make drawings.
I can use my imagination to think about how my character might move.
I can create a background for my character.
I can use digital media to film my animation.
I can share my moving drawing, either through an animation or by showing classmates how it would move.
I can reflect and articulate my thoughts about my own artwork and that of my peers.
Time
This pathway takes 6 weeks, with an hour per week. Shorten or lengthen the suggested pathway according to time and experience. Follow the stages in green for a shorter pathway or less complex journey.
Materials
Soft B pencils, coloured pencils, handwriting pens, white and/or corrugated card, paper fasteners for moving joints, kebab sticks, masking tape, ready mixed paints, scissors.
(For shared background drawing) Black ink in pots, feathers cut as quills, black handwriting pens, Sharpies, pencils, roll of paper.
The aim of this pathway is to introduce children to the idea that we can create moving imagery through sequenced drawings.
Week 1: Introduce
What is Animation?
Introduce children to the idea that we can make single drawings and then string them together to make the drawings move. Use the free to access “Talking Points: Making Drawings Move” resource to explore this idea.
Think about how you can challenge pupils to make line drawings of animals using a handwriting pen (so they don’t worry about mistakes). Pause a moment on the video, give them a time limit of say 1 minute, and invite them to make a line drawing in one continuous line. Then move the film on, pause again and repeat. The drawings can be on the same page – like flickers or memories. The aim is just to warm up and to begin to tune into lines and shapes of animals and how they move. Use the “Show Me What You See” resource to support your facilitation.
With sketchbooks open as you watch the showreel above, invite the children to begin “Making Visual Notes” in their sketchbooks. Ask them to pretend to be “magpies” and to jot down anything that they see which they would like to try. What catches their eye? Perhaps challenge them to keep their notes on one page so that the page is full of ideas and words. It doesn’t have to be in order, and colour could be used too.
Play the showreel more than once, pause it regularly and invite children to talk about what they see and what they like.
This kind of learning (gathering information) is a skill, so take it slowly and give them time to practice. Purposely stop the film in the resource and ask them to turn to their sketchbook to add notes.
Let children know that they will be creating their own paper “puppet” and describe their theme or area of focus might be (ie animals which live in the jungle, Ancient Egyptians etc). Then continuing in sketchbooks, and using source material which is appropriate to your theme, ask them to start planning what their puppet might be, and what action they would like it to perform.
N.B Key here is that the action should be simple. For example, rolling eyes or moving an arm might be enough. Picking up a ball and throwing it will be too much for most children in the time given.
Week 3,4 and 5
Make Your Moveable Drawings
Use the following resources to enable children to make their moveable drawings.
Please note all these resources follow a similar plan so visit them all and combine to suit.
At a point when children need an injection of energy, introduce them to the work of Lauren Child through the free to access “Talking Points: Lauren Child” resource. Explore how Lauren works as an artist and look for clues and tips in her working process. Use sketchbooks for “Making Visual Notes“.
Additional Activity
Creating a Background
You may like to invite the pupils to create a background for their moveable drawings, appropriate to the theme.
This could be a shared drawing, as shown in the “Shared Ink Drawing” resource, or it could be a drawn background for each child.
Additional Activity
Animating the Drawings
If you have access to tablets, you may like to animate some of the drawings, you could also spend less time making the moveable drawings and more time animating them if that is of interest to you.
That artists can be inspired by the flora and fauna around them.
That we can use careful looking to help our drawing, and use drawing to help looking.
That we can use a variety of materials to make images, and that the images we make can become imaginative.
That we can create individual artwork, and that we can bring that artwork together to make a shared artwork.
In this pathway children are introduced to the idea that many artists use flora and fauna to inspire their work. We look at artists who used drawing as a way to accurately capture the way plants and insects look, and artists who use their imagination to create their own versions of flora and fauna.
Children spend time engaged in close looking as a way to build drawing skills. They also experiment with new materials.
They practice cutting and collage skills and explore shape and colour to build images.
Finally there is the opportunity for children to work collaboratively on a shared background for the artwork, and pupils can see how their individual efforts are valued as part of a larger class artwork.
Medium: Handwriting pen, Graphite, Oil pastel, Paper & Collage
Artists: Eric Carle, Joseph Redoute, Jan Van Kessel
If you use this resource in your setting, please tag us on social media: #InspiredBy @accessart (facebook, twitter) @accessart.org.uk (instagram) and share the url. Thank you!
English: Explore The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or books illustrated in similar style.
Geography: Explore habitats, soil, vegetation, cities/towns/villages, seasonal weathers. Use language which supports these ideas.
Science: Identify common and wild plants, insects, food chains, life cycle, living and decay.
PSHE: Responsibility to the planet, Collaboration, Peer Discussion.
I Can…
I have enjoyed looking at art made by other artists inspired by flora and fauna.
I can look closely at insects and plants and make drawings using pen to describe what I see.
I can experiment using graphite and oil pastel and make my own insects.
I can cut out shapes in different colours, and use these shapes to make an insect or bug. I can think about its body parts and what I would like them to look like.
I can work with my classmates to make a shared drawing.
I can share my artwork with the class. I can listen to what my classmates like about it and I can share what I like about their work.
Time
This pathway takes 6 weeks, with an hour per week. Shorten or lengthen the suggested pathway according to time and experience. Follow the stages in green for a shorter pathway or less complex journey.
The aim of this pathway is to introduce children to the idea that artists can be inspired by the flora and fauna around them.
Week 1: Introduce
Explore the Work of Artists Who Are Inspired by Flora & Fauna
Introduce children to the work of one or more artists on the free to access “Talking Points: Artists Inspired by Flora & Fauna” resource. Use the resource as a starting point to encourage an exploration. You may also have artists local to you who are inspired by your local flora and fauna.
Invite pupils to make drawings in their sketchbooks of their favourite artworks as a way of enabling them to start to build a collection of “experiences” in their sketchbook. Make time as you look at the resource above for this activity.
Week 2: Show Me What You See
Drawing from Film
Working from the free to access “Drawing Source Material: Insects” resource, invite children to make drawings of the insects, working in their sketchbooks.
Pause the films at various points, and invite the children to verbally describe what they see, what they notice, before inviting them to make sketches in their books. As they sketch, give them a time limit (like 5 or 10 minutes) and talk to them about the things they just noticed, so that they think of these things as they draw.
Use a handwriting pen and encourage them to make their drawings fill the page.
Use the “Graphite and Oil Pastel” resource to encourage children to expand their mark making.
Pupils can draw again from the films above, or from colour photocopies, or if you can get them, buy (or loan) insect samples. Encourage children to continue close and careful looking.
Remember this is also about learning how a new material works (oil pastel and chunky graphite). Pupils will need to work on a slightly larger scale to accommodate the medium.
Week 4 & 5
Make Your Minibeast Collage
Invite the children to make individual mini beast collages which you can display as one. Use the “Mini Beast Artwork” resource.
Inspire
Introduce Eric Carle
When you feel children need a break or need inspiring, use the free to access “Talking Points: Eric Carle” resource to invigorate them.
Extension
Collaborate
If you have time, or if you have a group of pupils who need a challenge, invite them to work together to make a painting of a flower meadow. This could exist as an artwork in itself, or as a background to your collaged minibeasts.
Use the “Wild Flower” resource to see a painting activity which you can use.
Week 6: Share & Celebrate
Display, Reflect & Talk
Tidy the room and make space to see the sketchbook work as well as the final outcomes.
Remind the pupils of the progress they made, and the artists they saw along the way. Invite them to make links between the work they made in sketchbooks, on drawing sheets and final pieces, and the work by artists.
Encourage them to feel safe to share how they feel about their own work, and nurture an environment where pupils feel able to comment on their classmates work, treating everyones work with respect.
Disciplines: Architecture, Drawing, Sketchbooks, Collage, Making
Key Concepts:
That architects design buildings and other structures which relate to our bodies and which enhance our environment.
That architects take inspiration from the environment their building will exist in, and from the people they will serve, to design exciting structures.
That we can use drawing as a way to help us process and understand other people’s work.
That we can use digital tools such as drones and film to inspire us.
That we can use our imaginations to make architectural models to explore how we might design buildings relating to a particular need or stimulus.
That we can use “Design Through Making” (some call it Make First) as a way to connect our imagination, hands and materials.
This pathway gives pupils the opportunity to explore architecture. We start with an exploration of architects and some of the ways they work, and pupils then go on to create their own architectural model.
The pathway can be adapted so that the pupils make architecture which relates to their own environment, a chosen brief, or in response to another culture, country or era.
This pathway will take approximately half a term, based upon a weekly art lesson.
If you use this resource in your setting, please tag us on social media: #InspiredBy @accessart (facebook, twitter) @accessart.org.uk (instagram) and share the url. Thank you!
I have explored the work of some architects. I have seen that they design buildings, and that “architecture” can be large, incredible buildings, or smaller places near where I live.
I can share how architecture makes me feel, what I like and what I think is interesting.
I can use my sketchbook to help me look at architecture really carefully. I have used drawings and notes. I have explored line and shape.
I have seen how architects use their imaginations to try to design buildings which make people’s lives better and I can use my own imagination when thinking about architecture I might design.
I can make an architectural model of a building around a theme thinking about form, structure and balance, and the way the model looks.
I can explore a variety of materials and explore how I can reshape the materials and fasten them together to make my model.
I have seen that I don’t need to design on paper first; that I can design as I make.
I have reflected upon what I have made, shared it with others, and been able to share my thoughts about my own piece and the models of my classmates.
I can used digital media to document my work, including taking photographs and short videos.
Time
This pathway takes 6 weeks, with an hour per week. Shorten or lengthen the suggested pathway according to time and experience. Follow the stages in green for a shorter pathway or less complex journey.
Materials
Soft B pencils, coloured pencils, felt tip pens, handwriting pens,
This pathway aims to introduce children to the idea that architects design and make buildings, and to give pupils the opportunity to explore architecture around them, and to create their own architectural models.
Create a conversation around more well known architecture and architecture in your local environment. What are the landmarks in your area – old or new?
Drawing to Aid Looking
Explore & Draw
Invite children to work in sketchbooks. Use the free to access “Drawing Source Material: Exploring Architecture” resource to inspire drawings using the pupil’s chosen drawing medium. We suggest using a handwriting pen, and challenging the pupils to make several drawings – perhaps taking no longer than 5 or 10 minutes each. Guide the children with your voice during the drawing session to the things you would like them to notice.
Use the images and videos to frame a discussion around his work and enable the pupils to articulate their response.
Drawing to Aid Thinking
Show Me What You See
Use sketchbooks and the “Show Me What You See” method to help pupils with “Making Visual Notes” about what they see and think. They might use pen, pencil, coloured crayons, felt tips, to gather information and collect ideas as they see the images on the whiteboard. Make sure any notes they write can be single words (i.e. they don’t have to write full sentences).
Weeks 3,4 & 5
Making Architecture
Use the “Be An Architect” resource to enable pupils to create their own architectural inventions.
Take your time with the making and give children time to start to understand what different materials can do for them, and how they can manipulate materials and fasten them together.
Remember children are not making pieces of architecture “in the style of” an artist or architect. Instead, they are making their own work, though they will have their minds opened by looking at the work of other creative practitioners.
Encourage children to be inventive about what kinds of shapes and structure they use and which three dimensional forms they want to create. How will their pieces of architect stand? What is their purpose? Who are they for?
Encourage the use of colour/coloured materials to further develop the pieces, and have sketchbooks open on desks and encourage children to reference them and add to them.
Link the project to architecture from other cultures, countries and eras if you would like to link it to other curriculum areas.
Or, if you would like children to make pieces of architecture more relevant to their local community, think about how you can bring in images or visits of local areas as a backdrop to their work. (see “You May Also Like” below for more resources to help this).
Interventions
Use one or more of the following “interventions” if you feel children need more stimulation.
Intervention 1
Being Imaginative
Use the free to access “Talking Points: Bridge Design” resource to help children see how architecture can be almost anything. You may not want them to design bridges (though you may!) but talk about these bridge designs as a way to open their minds to be brave and use their imagination.
Intervention 2
Inspired by Drones
Use the free to access “Drawing Source Material: Drone Footage” resource to give children a fresh perspective on the world. Does it change how they think about their own designs?
Week 6: Share & Celebrate
Present, Reflect, Review
Clean a space and present the finished architectural models next to the sketchbooks. Give all work the space it deserves and encourage children to walk around as if they were in a gallery – discussing the work with their partners before coming together as a class. Use the “Class Crit” resource to help.
Invite children to take photographs or films of their architectural models. Encourage them to really get down on eye level with their models to create interesting images, and use windows and doors as viewpoints. You might also like them to use lighting (torches) to create shadows.
A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore cave art.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Discovered on December 18, 1994 in south east France, it is considered one of the most significant prehistoric art sites and contains some of the best preserved figurative cave paintings in the world.
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you can see in the cave paintings?
Which drawings are your favourites?
What material do you think they might have used to create these paintings?
Lascaux Cave
On 12 September 1940, the entrance to the Lascaux Cave was discovered by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat when his dog, Robot, fell in a hole.
The deteriorating condition of the cave caused by an introduction to bacteria and changes in humidity the caves led to its closure.
How do you think it would feel to discover prehistoric cave paintings?
Why is it important that these paintings are preserved?
How do these paintings differ from those in the Chauvet Cave?
The White Lady
The white lady cave painting is located in The Brandberg mountains in Namibia dating back to at least 2000 years ago.
It is usually assumed that the painting shows some sort of ritual dance.
It’s thought that the painting was probably made of ochre, charcoal, manganese, hematite, with blood serum, egg white, and casein used as binding agents.
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you can see.
What animals do you think are depicted?
What do you like about this cave art?
What materials might you use to recreate the colours and textures of this painting?
How do these paintings differ from those in the Chauvet Cave?
A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
Egyptian Artefacts
Use the film and imagery below to enable children to explore Egyptian artefacts. Try to create a sense of momentum – for example you might pause on an image or the video 4 times and ask the pupils to make a 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute and 4 minute drawing at each pause.
Encourage close and slow looking by talking as they draw – use your voice to attract their attention to qualities of the artefacts.
Try the same exercise using different materials, ie handwriting pen, ink and nib, pastel, watercolour…
Explore the collections of Rijksmuseum van Oudheden here.
Military Musicians Showing Nubian and Egyptian Styles, Nina de Garis Davies (1881–1965), New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Thutmose IV, ca. 1400–1390 B.C. From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Tomb of Tjeneny (TT 74) Tempera on paper, H. 44.5 × W. 93 cm (17 1/2 × 36 5/8 in.) Rogers Fund, 1931
Watch the clip with the volume off as you guide children’s attention to parts of the paintings
Bronze statuette of Osiris, Late Dynastic-Hellenistic 664–31 B.C. Egyptian Medium: Bronze Dimensions: H. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm) The Cesnola Collection, 1874–76
Tomb Chapel of Raemkai: South Wall, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca. 2446–2389 B.C., From Egypt, Memphite Region, Saqqara, North of the Djoser pyramid complex, Mariette D3, Egyptian Antiquities Service/Quibell excavations, 1907–08, Limestone, paint, Rogers Fund, 1908
A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore the work of Kevork Mourad.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Kevork Mourad
Born in Qamishli, Syria, Mourad now lives and works in New York City.
Mourad employs his technique of live drawing and animation in concert with musicians – developing a collaboration in which art and music harmonize with one another.
A painter, printmaker and video artist, Mourad has performed his animated and live visuals internationally.
Mourad also uses monotype as a medium to explore middle eastern politics and history.
A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore the tradition of Wayang Kulit.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore exciting packaging design.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Packaging design is really important for a products success. The packaging has to echo the values of a company through design.
Read this Waitrose case study to find out how they redesigned the ‘free from’ range to fit with the values of the company and customers.
See how packaging is used to unify the brand feel here.
Watch the videos below to find out what designers might consider when designing packaging.
Questions to Ask Children
Do you prefer the old design or the new design? Why?
Can you list the different things that designers factor in when they’re thinking about a redesign?
See how designers might create a mock up of their design to show the client how the packaging will look.
Watch a designer improve upon a packaging design.
Questions to Ask Children
Do you prefer the first design or the design that this designer created? Why?
Would you be more likely to pick up packaging with photos or with drawings on it? Why?
As a class, discuss how you might create packaging for pineapple juice. Think about the shape of the juice carton, colours and text.
Once a company has created packaging they need to think about advertising.
Questions to Ask Children
As a class discuss how you might advertise your pineapple juice.
Watch this video to find out how you can make a net for a packaging box.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the colourful spaces created by Yinka Ilori.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Yinka Ilori
Yinka Ilori is a multidisciplinary artist and designer with a bold bright visual language influenced by his British-Nigerian heritage. Three components that feature heavily in Yinka’s work are pattern, colour and storytelling.
Yinka uses his crafts as a way to communicate Nigerian parables and verbal traditions.
His work is described as a fusion between contemporary design and Nigerian tradition.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Morag Myerscough.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Morag Myerscough
Artist & Designer Morag Myerscough creates installations and immersive spatial artworks that transform places and champion community and public interaction.
From schools and hospitals to cultural hubs and town centres Morag transforms public spaces by creating engaging experiences for everyone.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Fausto Melotti.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Fausto Melotti
‘It wasn’t until the early 1980s that he designed set pieces for the actual stage. This exhibition looks back throughout Melotti’s lifetime to consider how theatre – conceptually as much as a dramatic art – informed the artist’s own creativity. –Galleries Now
Watch the videos below to find out more about the exhibition.
Apologies if you cannot watch one of the videos because your school has blocked YouTube.
Pause the video on stills of Melotti’s work and ask children the following questions…
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you can see.
How does the set make you feel?
What do you like/dislike about the set?
Describe the atmosphere of the set. How do you think this has been achieved?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Chris Kenny.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Twigs
Chris Kenny works with humble, found materials: fragments excised from books or maps, discarded photographs or books, and fine twigs. He transforms these constructing fragile pertinent worlds that provoke wonder, humour or pathos.
Please note that that there are swear words on the artists website so you may not want to ask pupils to research by their own accord.
Twenty Twigs 2021 36 x 36 x 5inches Construction with cut twigs By Chris Kenny
Twelve Twigs 2012 construction with twigs 22 x 22 x 3” by Chris Kenny
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you see.
What could the stick people be doing?
Which is your favourite stick man? Why?
Noli Me Tangere (After Veronese) 2016 construction with found twigs 27 x 27 x 3″ by Chris Kenny
Questions to Ask Children
What do you think is happening in this image?
How does this image make you feel?
How do you think the artist created this stick image? Do you think he planned the image with a pencil or just start making?
Maps
Mexico Triptych, Second Panel 2018 Construction With Map Fragments 36 x 36 x 3 by Chris Kenny
Maidenhead Thicket 2011 construction with map fragments by Chris Kenny
Elsewhere 2014 18 x 18 x 3 construction with map fragments by Chris Kenny
Questions for Children…
Describe what you can see.
Do you like this work? Why?
How does it make you feel?
Which map is your favourite and why?
How much does Chris Kenny reveal about himself through the map?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of The Shoreditch Sketcher.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Tips from The Shoreditch Sketcher
The Shoreditch Sketcher has kindly provided the following tips for your own drawing. Read the tips and then explore his drawings below. Can you see his tips some to life in the drawings he makes?
Travel light You don’t need to have lots of expensive equipment for urban sketching. I find the less kit I have, the easier it is to focus on the drawing. If you always travel with a small selection of pens and an A5 sketchbook, you will be able to set up camp anywhere and get drawing quickly wherever you are.
Pick a subject that interests you There is absolutely no point in sketching something that doesn’t excite you. The fact is, you’re more likely to get a great result with something that interests you. Start with whatever catches your eye!
Get comfortable For beginners and people who work at a slower pace, a seated position may be more comfortable and allow for more accuracy. Find a location where you can easily sit on a wall or chair to give yourself more time to capture the scene.
Remember that a drawing is not a photograph Don’t fall into the trap of trying to faithfully capture the scene you are drawing as if it were a photograph. A sketch is an expression of what you’re looking at, not an exact reproduction. Celebrate the mistakes!
Set yourself a time limit It can be useful to give yourself a time limit on your live drawings. This helps to focus your mind and instil your drawings with energy, and it forces you to move on to another view. Quick sketches often capture much more than an overworked piece!
Work in a medium that you feel comfortable with I love drawing with pen – straight in, with no pencil. But I’m very aware this requires a lot of confidence and my advice to beginners is always to start with a medium you feel comfortable with. This might well be pencil or charcoal, both of which are quite forgiving.
Stop and come back to it later Don’t be afraid to call time on a sketch even though it’s not ‘finished’. Remember, you are the one to decide what’s finished and what’s not. A great tip is to take a quick photo of the view you’re sketching on your phone and then use the image as a reference for adding more detail, tone or colour later on!
Keep at it Practise makes perfect, and a sketch a day is a great way to train your eye. Draw everyday things such as bus journeys, sandwich shops, mugs on desks and drab buildings. You’ll quickly become adept at looking for interesting views, and soon your sketchbook will become a record of your travels!
Piccadilly London by the Shoreditch Sketcher
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you see.
Look at the artwork as a whole – which words would you use to describe the whole piece?
Tell me about the details you like.
How does it make you feel?
Chinatown London by the Shoredtich Sketcher
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you see.
Which details are missing?
How do you think he decided how much detail to include or leave out?
Tell me about the details you like.
Westminster by the Shoreditch Sketcher
Questions to Ask Children
What can you see?
Do you recognise any of these buildings?
Why do you you think he chose to include details of those specific buildings and leave others out?
Tell me about the details you like.
Royal Academy London by the Shoreditch sketcher
Questions to Ask Children
What can you see?
Which details do you like?
Leicester Square London by the Shoreditch Sketcher
Questions to Ask Children
What do you see?
How has the artist given the image perspective?
How would you describe the atmosphere?
Do you think that the blank space adds anything to the overall composition?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore tiny houses.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Apologies if you cannot watch some of the videos because your school has blocked YouTube.
Questions to Ask Children
What do you think of the materials used to build this home? Name some of the materials you can see.
Would you live in this microhome?
What are the pros and cons to living in a tiny home?
Questions to Ask Children
Could you live in this space?
Do you like the interior space? Why?
Would you prefer to have a tiny house in the countryside or in a city?
Can you think of a clever way to design a chair so that it can be stored away easily.
Questions to Ask Children
What do you think of this home?
Would you live in this microhome?
What premade structure could you make a tiny home out of?
AKT II and OFIS Arhitekti
Questions to Ask Children
Does this microtome have enough space?
Would you like to live in a microtome that could be moved around?
Do you like the design of the home? Why?
Could you fit all of your belongings in this home?
Questions to Ask Children
Could you live in this space?
Do you think that all homes should be made like this in the future? Why?
Do you like the interior space? Why?
What would you miss if you had to live in this space?
Drawing Source Material: Amazing Architectural Homes
A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
This resource is free to access and is not part of AccessArt membership.
Amazing Architectural Homes
Use this collection of films as source material for pupils exploring amazing architectural homes. In the first instance you might want to pause the videos as suitable points to enable the children to carefully look at the main forms and details. Try to create a sense of momentum – for example you might pause the video 4 times and ask the pupils to make a 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute and 4 minute drawing at each pause.
Encourage close and slow looking by talking as they draw – use your voice to attract their attention to features of the building.
When pupils are more experienced, you can also try getting them to make their drawings as the videos play – making quick gestural sketches.
A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
This resource is free to access and is not part of AccessArt membership.
Oceans and Seas
Use the film below as source material to enable the children to draw things living in the ocean.
You can either choose to stop the video, and draw from a collection of paused images, or you can also choose to ask the children to work from the moving image.
Find drawing exercises below to help your drawing exploration.
Drawing Exercises
Have the children draw in a quiet room, with the video on the whiteboard.
Stop the video at a chosen frame and use your voice to direct their drawing. Choose words which relate to the imagery, for example you might decide to focus their attention on vertical lines, so you might choose words like: line, growth, upward, downward, fall… or you might choose to attract their attention to the energy of a wave or the curve of an animals back. Think carefully about the words you use – they don’t have to be used in sentences – you can speak lists.
Each sketchbook response might take just 3 to 5 minutes, then move on to another still. Create a sense of momentum.
Direct pupils to use a chosen medium. You might like to start with soft pencil or handwriting pen.