Bats are an interesting webbed wing mammal. They help pollinate flowers, disperse fruits seeds, and they consume insects. I don’t know about you, but I like things that eat insects. This bat art project for kids, that I conjured up, fits three uses in a classroom or homeschool setting:
- as an advanced art color study using tints, tones, & shades
- as a fine motor Halloween craft
- as a craft to supplement a bat unit study. If you haven’t read the picture book Stellaluna, then you are missing out!
- download my free bat template here
- magazines
- glue
- scissors
- black pipe cleaner or black construction paper
Bat project: art lesson on color theory, fine motor use, and supplement craft to bat unit
Step 1: Review color {the color wheel, primary, and secondary colors}. This should be understood before introducing tints, tones, and shades.
Step 2: Introduce tints, tones, and shades. A tint is color mixed with white to increase its lightness. A shade is color mixed with black to decrease its lightness. Tone is adding gray to a color.
Step 3: Students should pick one color and find this color’s tint, tone, and shade using magazine pictures. For example a student picks green and should find light green, dark green, and a gray green to complete their bat wings.
Step 4: Cut out my template.
Step 5: Glue torn magazine pieces in a collage-like manner on bat.
*develop fine motor skills {minus the color study} by creating a collage with magazines using cutting and tearing.
Step 6: Glue pipe cleaner or black construction paper strips over magazines to create the bat’s wing structure
Step 7: Turn bat over to back side and use the bat template as a guide to cut off extra magazine pieces {see below picture}.
These bats make a great bulletin board display or window display. Have your students create two and glue them back to back to hang from the ceiling of your classroom or home. Or make a few, and hang from a mobile!
A big part of creating is understanding the elements of art. Hope over to our pumpkin themed elements of art activity so your children can discover their potential!
*Check out our fall art project: Pumpkin Art Project using the Elements of Art: line.
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Happy bats!
Karen
