Eric Karle Inspired Collage

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?...

The above title just makes me smile as I reminisce reading it to my little brother when he was little, and before I knew it, he was reading that great book back to me!  Eric Karle is the excellent author of this book, as well as another one of my favorites, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  His artistic talent shines through his illustrations of his books, as the color wheel is arranged on the pages that are eye-catching and exciting!  This project we were able to experience Eric Karle’s style of painting to create our own story page.  First, we drew a rough sketch of what we had in mind for what our storyline was going to be for our story page.  We painted different colors of paper, in which the art room was all around spreading colors of the rainbow!  Different techniques were used to distribute the paint on the paper, as well as using different tools to show texture (a comb, the end of the handle of a paintbrush, or texture stencils).  We set the 12X18 sheets of paper we painted on the drying racks to dry.  Once the drying was complete, the next step was to start cutting out the objects, animals, or anything else that may be in your scene.  Sharing was huge and key for this project!  As a class we were able to show kindness and teamwork as we shared our different colored painted pieces with one another.  If one needed some green in their project, someone else that painted a green paper was more than welcome to share it!  We then had the opportunity once our pieces were cut out, to organize them on a piece of 12X18 construction paper that was used as the background.  Gluing was the next step!  I also added details with my permanent marker and crayons for the turtle’s shell and  eyes. 

When I was completed with securing everything down, I was able to make my story page come alive by adding the dialogue between the turtle and ladybug!  My storyline is about friendship, and the importance of encouraging one another in the good times and the bad times.  The patient Turtle comes alongside different animals in my imagination of a story, and shares encouraging words, and shows what a true friend is.  So for this page that I made, the patient Turtle is giving encouragement to the kind Ladybug with the following dialogue…

“That’s what friends are for,” shared the patient Turtle.

“You’re absolutely right,” the kind Ladybug replied.

“Being with true friends not only puts a smile on my face, but on my heart as well,” the patient Turtle declared.    

Completing this Eric Karle project made me realize how truly fun it is to use your imagination.  When Eric Karle goes about creating his storylines, he thinks about creativity, and enjoys doing what he does in the process!   This project is one I am definitely going to consider doing with my own class someday! J

As an extension activity for this project, we could make our story collages into one “outrageous book!”  We would put every student’s story page they made into a book, which would definitely make it outrageous, because of the variety and creativity that went into each of them.  After the book is made, the class could act out the stories to incorporate collaboration and fun to see what each of their classroom’s peers made for their story!