Collage is a great way to engage young children in the creative process, while developing their fine motor abilities. This lesson plan details how to create a fluffy bunny art project with preschool aged students. Feel free to adapt the plan to the needs of your specific classroom. Themes to tie into this activity may include Easter, spring, animals, shapes, or colors.
Lesson Objectives for the Bunny Collage
- Increase fine motor skills
- Explore collage as an art process
- Increase color and shape recognition skills
- Develop aesthetic awareness
- Discover creative ways to utilize art materials
- Develop art vocabulary skills (this may include words such as collage, color, shape, or texture)
Grade/ Age Level
Ages three through six years old.
Materials Needed to Create the Bunny Collage
- Construction paper (cut into large circles and medium sized ovals)
- Tissue paper squares (a variety of colors)
- Glue
- Tempera paints and brushes
Steps to Create the Bunny Collage
Preplanning and Preparing
Preplanning activities include discussing bunnies/rabbits with the class and preparing the materials for use. Before beginning this activity it may be helpful to show pictures (photographs and/or illustrations) of rabbits to the class. Picture books are a great source of viewing materials. Try including both fiction and non-fiction.
You will also want to pre-cut the construction paper prior to starting this activity. Each child will receive one large paper cirlce and two smaller paper ovals. The circle will become the face, and the ovals will be the ears. Plan the size according to the needs of your classroom.
Process Steps
- Have the children glue the two ovals to the circle as ears.
- Using the tempera paints, the children can add eyes, nose, and mouth to the bunny face. The children may also choose to paint the ears or part of the face.
- Set the bunny aside to dry.
- Once dry, invite the children to collage on bunny fur. This will be accomplished by crumpling the tissue paper squares, and then gluing them to the paper circle. Once glued, the tissue paper should have a fluffy texture. The tissue paper should not be glued flat against the construction paper. Make sure to discuss avoiding the eyes, nose, and mouth when adding tissue paper.
- Set aside to dry.
Bunny Collage Lesson Wrap Up
After the bunny collages have dried, have an art show and share. Ask the class questions about their art work and the processes that they used. This will help the children to express their emotions, further develop aesthetic awareness, and to increase recall ability. Suggestions include:
- What colors did you use to make your bunny?
- Tell me something special about your bunny art project.
- What shapes can you find in on the bunny?
- How did you make a collage?
- What does the word texture mean?
- What was the most fun part of making this project?
Bunny Collage Classroom Extensions
Try integrating this activity into your classroom thematic units in various ways. Think about the project and its components. This will help to guide the ways in which you extend this lesson into other curricular areas.
The following list provides some basic suggestions for classroom extensions:
- Animals/Nature: Read non-fiction books on rabbits. Have the children choose a rabbit from the books and try to recreate it using realistic colors. For example, the eyes may be pink or read and the tissue paper fur may be white. Additionally, this activity can be transformed into another animal collage such as a bear, cat, or mouse.
- Shapes: Discuss the shapes used in this activity (circles and ovals). Have a shape hunt in the classroom (or outdoors) for other objects with that have these shapes.
- Colors: Discuss the colors that the children use in this activity. Allow them to mix the paint from the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) and white.
- Texture: Make this a sensory lesson by adding more textures. Try craft fur, felt, or foam. Instead of painting on the facial features, use modeling clay glued to the paper (this may require a more sturdy paper such as card stock).
The bunny collage activity is a fun way to introduce art processes and animals in the early childhood classroom. Follow the lesson plan given, or adapt it to extend the project into other themes or content areas.
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