Babushka Doll Family Artworks

By Ashley (Year 2)

Lesson Background:

My delightful Year 1/2 students have been studying what life was like in "the past".  As a part of this history unit we have been talking about the types of toys and games children played with 100-ish years ago.  We discussed why many toys used to be wooden or tin and the differences between toys of rich and poor children.  My class were quite intrigued!  This lead me to come up with this art lesson on designing their own babushka dolls to represent each of their family members.  I got extra inspiration from this fabulous art lesson on Deep Space Sparkle: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2011/12/12/patterned-matryoshka-dolls/

Lesson Materials:
Babushka doll templates on A4 white card
Various sizes and shapes of coloured Brenex paper pieces
Various sizes and shapes of patterned wrapping paper pieces
Lead pencils (for original drawing)
Gluesticks
Scissors
Watercolour pencils
Skinny paintbrushes
Water containers
Images of babushka dolls

Lesson Steps:

1.  We discussed what Babushka dolls were, looked at lots of photos and discussed how they are made.
2.  We examined the types of colours and patterns often found on Babushka dolls.
3.  I demonstrated how to draw a face that looked like a girl (rosy cheeks, bigger lips and eye lashes) and boy (more simple facial features, no rosy cheeks or eyelashes).  I also demonstrated how to draw some possible patterns and ideas for clothing on the whiteboard.
4.  The children were given a template (see below-- I had 'white-outed' the facial features and patterns so the children could design and draw their own).
5.  They were asked to draw in faces and clothing to represent each member of their family or the people they currently live with.
6.  The students coloured each member of their family with watercolour pencils and then "painted" over their colouring with water using a skinny paintbrush.
7.  When dry, the students outlined all the features of each doll with a black Sharpie marker and cut them out.
8.  Students chose a long strip of coloured card as the background and arranged different strips and squares of coloured and patterned papers onto the background.
9.  Finally, the students glued their babushka families onto their background cards.

Template I used with students: http://nesting-doll.blogspot.com.au/

Artwork Samples:

By Nive (Year 1)

By

By Dhiren (Year 2)

By Sebaga (Year 2)

By Paige (Year 1)

By Charlie (Year 2)

By Eve (Year 1)

By Jasmine (Year 1)

By Marlo (Year 2)