Discovering Camouflage through Collage

Anjanette Tournillon, 1st Grade | Science & Visual Art
Ms. Brigid

Ms. T’s 1st-grade science/social studies students have been learning about the ways in which animals survive in their natural environments. One of these techniques is camouflage! For this project, our students met the academic objective of learning about the ways animals hide from their predators, with the arts objective of learning to combine different shapes to create a collaged image. 

After Ms. T reviewed the concepts of “predator,” “prey,” and “camouflage,” students were introduced to the art form of collage. First, they watched Ms. Brigid demonstrate the steps for creating a frog by using a pre-cut, oval piece of paper, and then tearing or cutting pieces of paper to create the feet, eyes, and mouth. Students then went to work creating their own froggies during independent work time. When most students were finishing up their collage frog, the class took a break to watch Ms. Brigid demonstrate the steps for adding small oval shaped paper, or colorful green leaves, to camouflage and hide the frog on the paper. Students then added their own leaves, creating a collaged image of a camouflaged frog.

At the end of class students were given the opportunity to share their frogs, and Ms. T reviewed the primary concepts of the lesson. We had a lot of fun creating our frogs, and students were excited to create a camouflaged environment where their animals could hide from predators. In addition to learning about the ways in which animals survive in their ecosystems, Ms. T’s students demonstrated joyful learning through play with their beautiful paper collages. 

“We had a lot of fun creating our frogs, and students were excited to create a camouflaged environment where their animals could hide from predators. ”