Further activities and resources: Visual arts
Book activities
Colour mixing (p. 231)
This activity involves reading the story of ‘Bob the bilby’ to your students and then asking
them at intervals to follow up with discussions, activities and their own colour mixing.
Bob is a bilby. Bilbies are funny little Australian native animals. Bob lives with his family
in a small town called Mylor. Bob tries to be good but sometimes he gets a bit silly and
gets into trouble. His next-door neighbour is Mr Wilbur Wombat. He is a well-known
artist and spends most of his time working in his art studio. Every day Wilbur goes to
work in his studio where he paints lots of pictures. And every day at around 12 o’clock
Wilbur locks his studio and wanders back to his house for lunch and, occasionally, a
short nap.
One fine sunny day Bob was playing in his tree house which overlooked Wilbur's
studio. It was 12 o’clock and Wilbur had just locked his studio door and was sauntering
off for lunch. Bob watched him disappear and he thought that he had better go in for his
lunch too. As he climbed down his ladder he spotted something shiny lying in the grass.
It was the key to Wilbur's studio. Bob looked around, but Wilbur was very hungry and
had already hurried off for his lunch. Bob looked down at the key it sparkled enticingly
back at him.
‘I say,’ said Bob. He had always wondered what went on in Wilbur’s studio. Bob
looked at the key and looked at the studio door then at the key again. He looked down
the road and then back at the key, then quickly trotted over to the door and let himself
in.
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
After you read this out you could discuss Bob's feelings. What should he have done? What
would you do? The children could act out this part too (finding the key, opening the door,
quietly creeping around the studio touching things).
Bob had always been curious about the studio, which always seemed such a mysterious
and interesting place. In a flash he had unlocked the door and was inside staring around
in wonder. The studio was filled with sunlight and as Bob looked around he saw that
there were lots of bright colourful things like pots of paint and brushes and paper. He
tiptoed around quietly and touched everything in the room. Then he spotted an easel
and the wombat had left a nice big sheet of white paper on it – all ready to be painted
on. Next to the easel was a palette with some paint on it and beside that was a container
of water with a brush in it. Well, Bob just could not resist. With a quick look around to
see if anyone was coming he picked up a brush.
Children now start to act out the part, listening carefully and only following the
instructions.
Bob spotted a palette with some red, yellow and blue paint on it and dipped his brush
into the yellow paint and splashed the yellow paint at the top of the paper, ‘splat’. Bob
stood back and admired his splodge. ‘Hm,’ he said and without washing his brush Bob
dipped it into the red paint – he made some circles on the bottom of the paper but he
was surprised! Instead of red he had painted orange. ‘Hm,’ he said again. ‘I'd better wash
my brush this time’. So he dunked his brush in the water and swirled it around until it
was clean and the water became orange. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘cool.’
Bob thought that he'd try again. He dipped his brush in the yellow paint again
and made some squares near the right hand side of the paper. ‘A ha.’ Then silly Bob
forgot to wash his brush again – he dipped it into the blue paint this time and then did
some lovely triangles in the middle of the paper – BUT – they weren't blue – they were
green. ‘Ho hum,’ said Bob. ‘I forgot again.’ So he washed his brush really well in the
orange water and surprise, surprise it turned brown!!! ‘What next?’ he said.
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
‘I know, I'll start with blue this time.’ He dipped his brush into the blue and
painted a lovely blue wiggly line right down the left side of the paper. Just then he heard
a noise and nearly dropped his brush. It was just Millie Marsupial mouse scuttling past
on her new rollerblades. ‘Phew,’ said Bob and immediately dipped his brush into the red
paint and painted some zig zag lines across the paper – but they weren't red were they?
‘Hey, where did that purple come from?’ Bob was now very confused ... nothing was
going as expected. There were only three colours on the palette but Bob had somehow
made six different colours.
Bob was just about to dip his brush into the red paint again when, ‘B-O-B BILBY!
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?’ A slightly sleepy, slightly grumpy Wilbur was
standing at the door glaring at Bob. He was furious.
Bob got such a surprise that he did a purple splodge right across the paper. ‘Oh
dear!’ sobbed he, expecting the worst.
Bob hung his head in shame, his face was blushing as brightly as the red paint on
the palette. 'I'm s-s-s-orry,' he stammered. ‘I didn't do nuffin bad!’
As Wilbur looked at what Bob had done and looked around the studio to see that
he had done no damage, he started to calm down.
‘Well Bob, you know that you shouldn't have come into my studio.’ Wilbur by
now was quite amused. He studied Bob's work on the paper and smiled.
‘Well, well, you clever bilby, you have done some lovely colour mixing.’
‘Phew!’ said Bob wiping the sweat from his brow.
‘Colour mixing, is that what I did?’
Students could now deliberately mix the colours, being careful to clean their brush
properly between mixes. A prepared colour wheel could be coloured in with these mixed
colours.
Following on from this exercise …
Discuss colour mixing; review the six colours: red, yellow, blue, orange, green and
purple. What other colours can you see (brown, maroon)?
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
1.
Ask the children to mix three different colours and then try to think of good
names for them – for example, chocolate brown, peanut paste yellow, rock grey.
Compare notes, show and tell.
2.
Discussion about how colours make you feel – for example, happy, sad, funny.
Look at all the colours that people are wearing and other colours around the
room. Try to find a name for as many as you can.
3.
Mix up colours and paint a blob. Let it dry. Try to ‘see’ an object in the blob. Show
blobs one at a time discuss what you see.
Everyone sees things differently. No one is right or wrong, and it is important to
encourage individuality. The blobs could be displayed and words written under each
one – monster, pie, Mum, crab.
1.
Discuss the moods that the colours and shapes make you feel.
2.
Make up a story about the blob.
An extension of this would be to introduce white to the palette.
3.
Look at tints: colours mixed with white.
Advanced colour exercises (p. 233)
Grey
1.
Cut out squares of colours (8 cm). These colours could be red, blue, orange,
purple, green, yellow.
2.
Cut out six squares of grey (2 cm).
3.
Paste a grey square in the centre of each coloured square.
Questions to ask: What happens to the grey in each? Why?
White
1.
Cut out a shape and stick it on to a sheet of white paper.
2.
Stare really hard at the shape for about 30 seconds (count it out in your head).
3.
Now look quickly to a white area of paper.
Questions to ask: What do you see? Why?
4.
Swap shapes with your neighbour.
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
Producing a book (p. 236)
This is a follow-up activity from Bob the Bilby’s colour mixing story. The aim is for every
child to produce a book using A3 paper. You can motivate the children by reminding
them about Bob the Bilby. Set up easels with paper and palettes with small amounts of
paint (red, yellow and blue and white). Each child needs a water container, brush,
palette (with paint), board with paper attached on an easel.
Remind everyone about Bob the bilby.

What does he look like?

Is he big, small?

Furry or hairy?

Round or oval?

What do his eyes look like?

What are his ears like?

What about his nose?

Is it long or short?

Does he have a tail?

Is it bushy?

Is he fat or thin?

What colour is he?
The children should then be asked to paint Bob. Ask them to write their name on the
sheet.
When the paint is dry write the title on the board and ask the children to write it
on their painting. Explain that this is the cover of their book. Show examples of other
books.
Page one
On Monday, Bob, the friendly little bilby from Mylor, went for a walk. He walked up the
bush track, past the tennis courts, past his friend's house up the hill. As he walked along
he noticed the trees and the scrub and the flowers. He stopped suddenly because he
spotted something in front of him. It was yellow – what could it be?
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
The children now brainstorm what the yellow object could be. Write their suggestions
on the board. Then explain that they should choose one of the yellow objects written on
the board and, using coloured pencils, draw it.
Ensure that each session every child writes his/her name on the sheet and writes
the day of the week at the top and the name of the colour at the bottom of the page.
They should also write the page number. (You may need to show this on a diagram on
the board.)
Page two
On Tuesday Bob goes to school. He notices something there that is orange. What could it
be?
Brainstorm as before. This time label the page ‘Tuesday’ and put the name of the colour
(orange) and the page number at the bottom. The children should then use wax or
craypas crayons to draw a picture of one of the objects from the board.
Page three
On Wednesday Bob goes with his parents to the supermarket. He spots something that
is red. What could it be?
Follow on as for page one and two. Use red materials of different textures. Discuss
texture. What does it mean? Is it rough, smooth, silky or bumpy? Using a pencil draw the
object on the material and then cut out the shape and glue it on to the page. Encourage
children to cut several shapes of different sizes and to use various textures. They can
use pencils or textas to add extra detail once they have glued their shapes on.
Page four
On Thursday Bob goes to visit his grandparents and he sees something that is purple.
What could that be?
Brainstorm as usual. Then ask the children to use tissue paper to show the object
chosen from the board. Demonstrate how tissue paper can be glued over other layers to
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
produce interesting effects. Point out how it is transparent and how colours mix when
they are pasted over each other. Ask the children to draw the shape with pencil first
then cut out the shape and paste. Use red and blue tissue paper to mix the colours.
Page five
On Friday Bob goes with his friends to the Movies. He sees something that is blue. What
does he see?
Explain to the children that they should use pictures cut out of magazines to make a
collage. They can use textas to add to the pictures.
Page six
On Saturday Bob goes to the zoo with his friends. He sees something that is green. What
could that be?
The children can use a variety of media. Discuss media (different materials) and
encourage them to talk about their preferences (with reasons). Supply crayons, pencils,
pens, coloured paper, coloured wool, fabrics, shiny paper, rough paper, tissue paper,
scrunched paper, grass or leaves.
The children could be involved in collecting the materials.
Page seven
On Sunday Bob is resting in his room. He looks out the window and sees a rainbow.
‘Wow’, he says. There are all the colours that I have noticed this week. All of the colours
are in the rainbow.
Supply the children with coloured inks. Use only red, yellow and blue to reinforce the
colour mixing concept. Mix very small amounts in plastic palettes (dilute with water).
Food colouring would do but most art supplies have non-toxic inks. Use a dropper to
measure small amounts into containers and add water. Supply soft brushes, thin and fat,
stiff brushes, cotton buds. The children can either paint straight onto the paper or they
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
can draw with pencils first, then colour in. Keep a supply of tissues handy and
demonstrate how to mop up if it gets too messy.
Attach all of the pages together to make the book. Display in the library.
Follow up: discuss colour mixing, look at prisms, rainbows. Use cellophane and a
torch to mix colours. Talk about books, printing, libraries, librarians, how the system
works. Invite parents to come and view the work.
Questions and answers to Rebecca Hasting’s painting, Smell This
(p. 251)
Details of image:
Smell This, 2011, oil on board, 53 x 53 cm (See p. 250 of the textbook for a photograph of
the painting.)
Photo: James Field
Questions to pose
1.
What do you see?
2.
How would you describe the colours?
3.
Can you see an adult’s hand or a child’s hand?
4.
Who is the woman?
5.
Why is the hand coming out of the wall?
6.
Where is this scene taking place?
7.
Why is the woman bald?
8.
What is she doing?
9.
Does the dress have meaning?
10.
Is the woman angry, sad or happy?
11.
How does this painting make you feel? Is this a silly image? Is it serious?
Answers (provided by the artist)
1.
What do you see?
A bald woman wearing a pretty dress is sniffing the finger of a hand which is poking
through a hole in a wall.
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
2.
How would you describe the colours?
Pale pastel colours. The walls are pink and fleshy, like the characters in the scene. The
green and blue floral dress provides a pretty contrast against the pink flesh.
3.
Can you see an adult’s hand or a child’s hand?
It is a child’s hand. In fact, it is the hand of my (then) five-year-old son.
4.
Who is the woman?
The woman is me – his mother.
5.
Why is the hand coming out of the wall?
This is about the idea that no matter where I go, what I do, the children are always
there; demanding something of me. Of course, it’s an exaggeration of reality – my
children don’t really live in the walls of my house, but they’re never far away and
sometimes it really does seem as though they lurk within the very walls of my home.
6.
Where is this scene taking place?
This is a domestic space – the home – the place where the mother–child relationship is
acted out, and where the mother is confined in her role.
7.
Why is the woman bald?
The bald head signifies ‘masculinity’ that belies the feminine ideal of the mother. When I
painted this image my daughter was two and I decided to shave my head. It was an act
of rebellion, pushing back against the feminine ideal that has been perpetrated through
art for more than 200 years and more recently, in advertising and societal expectations.
8.
What is she doing?
She is sniffing a finger. Sniffing a finger seems to be something that is unpleasant. Unlike
smelling someone’s perfumed wrist, the finger implies filth … poo even, something
which a mother has to deal with constantly, and without complaint, in a world with
small children.
9.
Does the dress have meaning?
The dress signifies ‘femininity’. For me, the maternal role – being someone’s mother –
comes with the weight of society’s expectations that mothers should behave and look a
certain way.
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
10.
Is the woman angry, sad or happy?
She is neither. She has accepted her situation; she is resigned to it. She willingly
performs strange and disgusting tasks that she never dreamed of before she had
children.
11.
How does this painting make you feel? Is this a silly image? Is it serious?
The painting uses humour to make light of a serious topic. I didn’t want to whinge or
complain overtly about my role as a mother; instead, it was important that I present an
image which is imaginative, and yet still based on truth.
Unit plan: Texture (p. 254)
Aim: To introduce children to the way artists/designers use texture to evoke a response
to their work.
Outcome: Children will be able to select materials and texture in their work to show
their understanding of the use of texture. They will be able to articulate their reasons
for selecting particular textures to evoke a response from the viewer.
Unit plan on texture
Week 1
Week 2
Student
Respond: look at a
range images such as
artworks, children’s
books, toys, packaging,
architecture,
advertising –
identify different
textures.
Teacher
Show the range of
images/products.
Ask questions about
textures (real, implied).
Discuss feelings
(comforting, scary,
interesting, neat,
messy …).
Exploration: make
rubbings on as many
different surfaces as
they can find.
Encourage children to
find different textures
around the school –
carpet, wall,
playground, trees,
bricks …
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
Materials
Soft toy,
photos interesting
buildings, e.g.
Sydney Opera
House.
Children’s books
such as by Jeannie
Baker.
Packaging with
implied texture, e.g.
cereal box.
Coloured crayons or
charcoal and sheets
of A4 paper.
Week 3
Week 4
Explore and make:
draw a blob, decide
whether it is happy,
sad, scary, shy, soft,
hard, etc. Use a range
of materials to ‘colour ‘
the blob with texture to
match the mood.
Share – take turns
closing eyes and
carefully touching.
Respond: look at
art/design that has
implied texture.
Make: use paint to
make a surface look
textured.
Week 5
Respond/analyse:
design a new toy, think
about what sort of toy it
is (who will buy it?).
Make the toy.
Week 6
Make: create
packaging for it using
texture only.
Week 7
Display the toys in their
packaging.
Respond: talk about the
texture they chose.
Help children choose
materials to show their
chosen feeling. When
glue is dry encourage
them to move around
and carefully touch
other people’s blob.
Discuss feelings of
texture/mood.
Range of materials:
fluffy fabrics,
corrugated card,
alfoil, leaves, furballs,
patty pans, tinsel,
feathers …
Glue, paper, textas.
Show a range of
art/design.
Guide discussion about
smooth, rough, furry,
flat, jagged …
Suggest ways to make
surface appear smooth
(painted smoothly with
flat brush), rough
(painted in dabs bigger
brush), furry (small
brush lots of little lines).
Paintings such as
those of Rebecca
Hastings, implying
textures of skin
(smooth) and fabrics
(textured).
Children’s books,
wrapping paper, mug
with patterns.
Discuss types of toys.
Who buys toys? What
do different people
like? Is it meant to be
nice, soft, cute? Or
scary, or useful, or
angry …
Discuss what textures
suit the toy.
Refer to the implied
texture activity Week 4.
Help children display
their products and
prepare a brief talk
about their choices.
Teaching the Arts: Early childhood and primary education
Instructor resources – Visual arts
© Cambridge University Press 2015
Paper range of flat,
round large, small
brushes, sponges.
Acrylic paint, rags,
water, containers,
palettes.
Paper, textas or
pencils for designing.
Pipe cleaner, fluffy
material, gold/silver
doilies, alfoil, tinsel,
feathers, etc.
Paint, variety of
brushes, paper or
card (if funds are
available, plain
boxes, or card to be
made into boxes).
Space for display,
coloured display card
for background or
bench top.
Assessment of unit on texture
Visual arts skills
Select and manipulate
materials for a purpose.
Identify different uses of
texture in artworks.
Identify and target
intended audience.
Use visual arts language
to identify key features in
their work.
Visual arts
understandings
The qualities of a range of
materials.
The way that texture
evokes a response from a
viewer/audience.
Artists/designers use
texture to evoke a
response to their work.
Select and manipulate
materials and texture to
evoke a response from the
audience.
Terms such as texture,
intended audience, rough,
smooth, soft, hard etc.
Students demonstrate
this by…
Making a choice of
materials to appeal to an
intended audience, e.g.
rough and hard to match a
scary toy.
Making notes and
reporting on use of texture
using examples of others’
work.
Deciding on an intended
audience and planning for
a response.
Presenting their work and
articulating their intentions
using appropriate
language.
This example demonstrates the key components of responding; analysing, sharing,
appreciating, reflecting, and making; exploring, investigating, experimenting, and
creating. Some lessons were purely involved with responding and others were
combinations of both making and responding.
The next unit of work might be to do with colour or line, so that children learn
the art elements and principles in a practical and sequential manner and in ways that
make meaning for them.
Styles in visual arts
This table illustrates different artistic styles with a definition and examples of
Australian and New Zealand artists.
Style
Realism
Definition
Depiction of people or objects
as they are really seen.
Figurative (or
Depicts real people or objects
representational) but is often distorted or altered,
e.g. comic book style of Roy
Lichtenstein, Impressionists,
Expressionists.
Example
Jeffrey Smart, Sam Foley, Peter
Churcher
Anna Platten, Mark Cross,
Rebecca Hastings, Lindsay
Jefferis, William Hodges
Davida Allen, Brett Whitely,
Charles Blackman, Grace
Crowley, Fran Gould, Nigel
Brown, James Nairn, Toss
Woolaston
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Expressive
Abstract
Abstract
expressionism
Surrealist
Cubist
Conceptual art
Installation art
Performance art
Artists express themselves
and the times they live often
using distortion and strong use
of colour to give emotional
impact.
Can be either completely
abstract or non-objective (bear
no resemblance to nature or
reality).
Albert Tucker, Arthur Boyd, Joy
Hester, Peter Booth, Wendy
Sharpe, Philip Clairmont
A combination of abstraction
and the expression of
emotions through art elements
such as colour or line.
Express the workings of the
subconscious, characterised
by fantastic imagery and
unexpected juxtapositions.
A way of depicting reality from
multiple, simultaneous
viewpoints.
Contemporary artists utilise
Cubism’s formal and
conceptual innovations and its
investigations into the
representation of time, space
and motion by variously
adapting, developing, quoting
and critiquing aspects of
Cubist practice.
Art as ideas, theory and
concepts more important than
the actual object. A way of
making a statement about art.
Theory about how we know
what we know: what is Art?
Readymades: found objects or
work not made by the artist.
Three-dimensional works that
are usually site-specific.
Intention is to alter the
perception of the space.
Ian Fairweather, John Olsen,
Leba Bovard, Tony Tuckson,
Belinda Herford, Don Peebles,
Colin McCahon
James Gleeson, Max Dupain,
Robert Klippel, Justin
Summerton, Rozi Demant
‘Live’ art but not theatre. It is
not a commodity (cannot be
sold) and lately often involves
the use of new technology.
Angela Brennon, Ralph Balson,
Janet Dawson, Robert Jacks
Ralph Hotere
Grace Crawley, Paul
Haeflinger, Eric Wilson, Robert
Rooney, Colin McCahon, Timon
Maxey, John Weeks
Melvin Day
Melinda Harper, John DunkleySmith and Daniel Crooks,
Madonna Staunton, Rosalie
Gascoigne and Masato
Takasaka
Influenced by Marcel Duchamp
(1887–1968),
Fiona Foley, Fiona Hall, Tracey
Moffat, Gordon Bennet, Scott
Redford and Ritchey Sealy, Jim
Allen, Chris Braddock, Brydee
Rood, Tui Slater
Jonathon Jones, John Dahlsen,
Bea Maddock, Christian
Nicholson, Michel Tuffery,
Tiffany Singh, Sean Kerr, Debra
Bustin
Jill Orr, Mike Parr,
Di Ffrench, Humanimals, Adrian
Hall and Tony Coleing
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Instructor resources – Visual arts
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Narrative
Telling a story.
Appropriation
Copying or quoting an existing
artwork to create a new
artwork.
Time
A specific moment in time can
be the subject of an artwork,
but artists today can also
manipulate how that moment
is experienced.
Art that is made to move. It
Phil Price, Theo Jansen, Len
interacts with the audience and Lye, Kozo Nishino and
the space it is in. Movement
‘Sculpture by the Sea’
may be mechanically powered
(for example, by electricity, air
or water motion) or produced
by the viewer moving past a
work.
Kinetic art
Tracey Moffatt, Frederick
McCubbin, Tom Roberts, Nigel
Brown, Alice Munro
Anne Zahalka, Dianne Jones,
Marcus Beilby,
Sofia Tekela-Smith, Gordon
Walters
Daniel Crooks, Todd McMillan
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