Help students learn about color through exploration activities. Provide red, blue and yellow paint and let them explore the colors these make. Add white or black to their palette and let them see how colors turn lighter and darker. Display a color wheel and have them create their own color wheel that shows the primary colors and the secondary colors they created.
Explain warm colors, red, yellow and orange as well as cool colors, green, blue and purple, to children. Have them create two pictures, one in warm colors and one in cool colors. Afterwards, have them describe the different ways the two pictures look, what they remind them of or how they make them feel. Teach students that there are neutral colors that are neither warm nor cool and have them create a picture in the neutral colors, brown, black and white.
Mosaic squares provide an effective way for students to explore patterns. Purchase or create 1-inch mosaic squares from paper. Have children see how many different types of patterns they can create with the squares before gluing them down to another piece of paper.
Texture refers to making flat paper appear to have texture by using lines that resemble that object. For example, different types of lines can be drawn to look like grass, hair, brick, fish scale, wicker or a golf ball. The types of textures students can draw are only limited by their imagination. Help them trace around their hand then draw a different types of texture lines on each finger. Draw additional textures on the forearm, wrist and palm.
Primary-age children need help learning to identify shapes. Provide many opportunities for children to draw, paint, color and cut shapes. Show them how different shapes placed next to each other can create a new object such as a triangle on top of a square to create a house. Through either tracing shapes or the use of cut out shapes to glue, make up different shape problems for children to solve with a picture. For example, a shape problem might sound like "Draw an outdoor picture from shapes that uses three triangles, one square, two circles, one oval and five rectangles."
Also, have children practice drawing figures of humans and animals using shapes. Illustrate by showing how to draw a person using ovals and rectangles rather than stick people. If children have too much trouble drawing shapes, have them trace shapes to create their figures or provide precut shapes to glue onto paper.
Ask children to draw themselves. When finished, give them a small mirror in which to look at themselves carefully. Ask them if they drew themselves as they really look. Most students will find things they forgot to draw or drew incorrectly. Have them draw themselves again but look in the mirror while drawing then compare the two drawings. Have children create a multimedia portrait by first using crayons to create their faces. Afterward, have them cut clothes out of colored construction paper, scrapbook paper or gift-wrap. Provide yarn for hair and have children add their hands with crayons.