Who doesn’t love hippos? Aren’t they the strangest creature? My second and third grade students agree and we discussed the anatomy of the hippo as we drew their robust bodies. Using a basic oil pastel and watercolor resist, the children turned their drawings into an underwater collage.
This lesson was inspired by the lovely illustrator, Melanie Mikecz. Her Underwater Hippo Print is just one in a collection of adorable and totally inspiring art pieces.
To start, the children drew a hippo onto a piece of 12″ x 18″ white paper with an oil pastel. After drawing the body, the students drew a water line through the middle of the hippo’s head just below the eyes. Everything above this line was considered the sky and below; the murky water. I provided liquid watercolors so the children could run their brushes over the entire drawing. For a final flourish, children used foam 3-D dots to add fish and birds and tissue paper for water grass.
Lots of techniques in this lesson: directed line drawing, watercolor resist, oil pastel rendering, composition and collage. Whew!
Second and Third grade Hippos….
ARE YOU A SPARKLER? Access 0ver 300 art lessons, videos, resources & trainings for one low monthly fee.
Follow Us
just have to say I LOVE hippos so I am planning on trying this one out this year!
I had Ms. Mikecz’s hippo piece pinned and on the back burner for a future art project. Just Love your lesson! I really like the multi-media aspect of these hippo pieces.
There’s a great kid’s book called, “The Hiccupotamus” by Aaron Zenz that would go along with this lesson nicely. You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hiccupotamus-Aaron-Zenz/dp/1594450331
I LOVE this mostly because I have never seen an art project with HIPPOS! It’s great!!
What a fun project Patty! I’m teaching it in second grade tomorrow. Thanks!!
I had a brilliant idea for these! I am going to have them do the hippos per your instructions, then I am going to tint my clear acrylic glaze with a little blue and green, then have them glaze from the water line down. Great study in contrasting textures! Thanks for the inspiration.
Okay…that IS brilliant! Is Mod Podge considered clear acrylic glaze? Wonderful idea.
Hi Patti, just letting you know I am running with your fat hippo lesson plan this Saturday in my kids classes. I always put my spin on it and kids pictures will be posted on my business facebook page at some stage. A great idea with great looking results 🙂
Just did this lesson for the second time in two years with my year twos, they love it and it fits perfectly with our wild animal theme!
I just discovered this project and tried the mod podge…it’s awesome! It looks like the hippo is under underwater! I just dropped a few drops of watered down blue water color paint into the mod podge. Could use liquid watercolor too. Thank you for the terrific idea!
I want to know more about the different paper because I want to make the hippos. Thanks
Can you be more specific, Sherry? Are you referring to the paper I used in the Hippo lesson? It’s Pacon/ Tru Ray sulfite drawing paper that bought through Blick. You can visit my RESOURCES page to see what supplies I use. https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/resources/
I’ve purchased several of your lessons and just loved them. I think I’d like to join this. What is the fee and when will registration be open?
Hi Jane,
We’ll have an enrollment period in early January. You can add you name to the notification list here:https://www.sparklersclub.com/tsc/learn-about-the-members-club/
I would like to be a member of Sparkle
Hi Melinda…it’s a great group! Click this link to learn more about the membership and add your name to the notification list for our next enrollment period. https://www.sparklersclub.com/tsc/learn-about-the-members-club/
We would love to have you. Here is an information page and link to the waitlist > https://www.sparklersclub.com/tsc/learn-about-the-members-club/