Using the shape and patterns on shoe soles, children can make creative pictures of monsters by performing shoe rubbings. For the activity, children require drawing paper, oil pastels, glue craft paper and scissors. The basis of the monster is made by placing the drawing paper over the sole of a shoe and rubbing the oil pastel across the surface. Children add the monster’s features such as eyes, mouth, nose and appendages by drawing on the paper. The monster is then cut out and glued to the craft paper where children will use oil pastels to draw the monster’s environment.
Children can channel their inner Picasso through the creation of Picasso-style faces using oil pastels. Using Picasso’s painting “A Girl Before a Mirror” as a guide, students begin with a basic face shape which is divided into various parts. The face can be divided into two or more sections to indicate different views. Facial features are added to the picture in the abstract style of Picasso. Children fill in the sectioned portions with oil pastels in colors which reflect different contrasting moods. For example, a face divided into two sections may have one part colored red to signify anger with the other section made blue to represent sadness.
Oil pastel activities may be combined with other paint mediums such as watercolors to create distinct paintings. Such activities can be used to illustrate the importance of detailing in art. For example, using a basic Y shape, children are prompted to create a tree with multiple branches and roots rather than simple minimal branch designs. The background of the tree including the sky and grass are made using watercolors, to create soft colors. Oil pastels are used to draw the tree, which is left leafless. Children may be creative with the colors used for the tree, combining many colors to highlight the complexity of this simple image.
Best suited for groups of children, a geometric mural painting combines lessons on the paintings of artist Vassily Kandisky with lessons on collaboration. Each child is given a piece of drawing paper, a pencil, oil pastels and rulers to carefully draw and color circles in vibrant colors. Circles are drawn first using the pencil and given dimension through coloring them with oil pastels. The finished circles are arranged together in a square or rectangular shape on the wall. The finished product is a large geometric mural much like the work that all of the children can take pride in.