In this engaging rainbow trees art lesson, students will love learning how to draw rainbow colored trees while learning about Color Theory. This project covers Common Core Standards for Math for grade 4 which can be found at the end of the lesson.

Grade Level

3rd, 4th, 5th- The examples in this lesson are by 4th graders.

Objective  

During this rainbow trees art lesson plan: Students will create a landscape of trees using the element of design – Color Theory.

Time 

4 – 60 min lessons

Materials 

• Pencils
• Black Sharpie Marker – Sharpie Permanent Marker, Fine Point, Black, Pack of 5
• 9×12 Watercolor paper – Canson (100510941) XL Series Watercolor Pad, 9″ x 12″, Fold-Over Cover, 30 Sheets
• Brushes – Acrylic Paint Brush Set, 1 Packs / 10 pcs Nylon Hair Brushes for All Purpose Oil Watercolor Painting Artist Professional Kits
• Liquid Water Colors – Sargent Art 22-6010 10-Count 8-Ounce Watercolor Magic Set (NOTE: I used magenta instead of red and turquoise instead of blue.)
  • Or this mini version for homeschooling – Sargent Art 22-6210 10-Count 4-Ounce Watercolor Magic
• Kleenex for blotting paint

Inspiration/Artist 

I was inspired to make this lesson from this site: Click Here

Instruction with Questions

Day 1

Show a couple of videos.  I like all of these, but depending on what background they have about color theory, you may only need a couple of them.  After watching them, have a discussion reviewing what they learned.

Youtube: The Colors Song | The Colours Song | Scratch Garden: Click Here

Beginning Graphic Design: Color: Click Here

Elements of Art: Color | KQED Arts: Click Here

Brain Games – Visible Spectrum: Click Here

Use this Color Theory for kids inspired by Disney PowerPoint Presentation: Click Here

Another idea is to use this color wheel and have them color in the areas with the appropriate color.  Click Here for the PDF

Here is what it looks like when it is completed.  An alternate plan would be to use magazines that they cut up color from and glue into the areas.

Day 2

Take the students on a field trip outside.  Ask them to bring a paper, pencil and something hard like a book or magazine.  Tell them to find some trees surrounding them and have them draw what they see.

As you walk around, ask them, are you drawing what you think a tree looks like, or what you see…

When you return to the classroom, have them share their experience.  How was the process?  On a new piece of scratch paper, ask them to draw six trees on a paper.  The rules are:

• Six trees
• Horizontal paper
• Varying heights:  some almost as tall as the top of the paper
• “V” in at least one part of tree
• Do not make a five finger hand tree haha
• A few – two or three max – limbs
• A few – two or three max – branches on each limb
• Check to make sure all of your trees are standing fairly vertical and there isn’t a wind storm pushing them over

I also pass out a handout with easy to reference tree making steps.  There is a great on on the site Easydrawingguides.com Click Here

Collect these papers at the end of the period for next time.

Day 3

Your students will need a quick practice this day on a simple scratch paper or the back of the one they worked on the last time you saw them.

Pass out the watercolor paper.  Students draw their trees and then trace over and fill them in with a sharpie marker.  The sharpie will not smear when watercolor is placed over it.

An additional activity can involve assigning and measuring type of angles.

Day 4

I set up an assembly line of six colors along the wall of one side of my art room.  The photo here was used for another station similar to this lesson.  I did not use red or blue for this project.  I used magenta and turquoise for a cheerier mood to the image.  Hey check out the trees on the walls of my classroom!

Students are shown finished images from other student’s work to see what works best.  Allowing the color to not be in a perfect circle is the key.  Also, allowing some to vary in size and shape is also important.  Finally, have them add color below the tree to make it look like Autumn leaves on the ground.

Check out these finished Rainbow Trees Art pieces!

Common Core Standards

4th Grade – Math – Geometry

Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles.

1. Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in
   two-dimensional figures.