Ugly Bugs

     To start these "ugly bugs", the kindergartners first listened to the story The Very Ugly Bug by Liz Pichon.  In the book, an "ugly" bug learns to like and value her appearance when she frightens away a scary bird.  We discussed the idea that the things about us that make us different from one another are what makes us special and unique.  The kindergartners decided that being an ugly bug is a good thing!

     To make the bugs, we folded papers in half with the primary paint colors inside.  We discovered that the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) mix together to create the secondary colors (orange, purple, and green).  When the paintings were dry, the students cut them out and used construction paper to make eyes, legs, wings, counting strips (see Erika's bug above!), etc.

     We made leaves for the background by drawing with oil pastels and then painting with liquid watercolors.  The artists tried to make their leaves very realistic by including veins and by mixing the liquid watercolors until they were just right!