Lesson Plan - Pastel Fireworks

Pastel Fireworks 

Art 141 Art for Elementary Teachers 

Instructor Kelly Parker 

10 pts 

Grade – k to 2nd grade 1 - 30 to 45 minute session

Students will experience oil pastels creating fireworks on construction paper. 

 

 Objectives - Students will 

- Use oil pastels or crayons creating line on paper 

- Learn about circles, dots, lines 

 Vocabulary – oil pastels, circle, lines, dots 

 Materials – oil pastels or crayons, black construction paper 

 Examples – previous student work, teacher example 

History – The discovery of fireworks, or namely the formulation of gunpowder is believed to have occurred by chance approximately 2,000 years ago in China. It is thought that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed three common kitchen ingredients that were heated over a fire and dried to give a black flaky powder that burned with a loud bang when ignited. This crude, early mixture has come to be known in our modern world today as gun powder. The Chinese named this fascinating black powder "huo yao" ("Fire Chemical") and developed it further. The mixture was inserted into the hollow of a bamboo stick and when thrown into a fire, the gases produced by the ignited burning powder inside caused an immense build-up of pressure and blasted the tube apart. The basic firecracker was born. Thereafter, firecrackers played an essential part in Chinese festivities -weddings, and religious rituals - gave cause for celebrations to be heard. The bang of the firecrackers was believed to be powerful enough to scare off evil spirits. 

Art Production – 

 1. On the board, show examples of lines and circles 

 2. Talk to students about fireworks and what they look like 

 3. Pass out construction paper and pastels 

 4. Have the student put their name on the back of paper 

 5. Have students make random dots on the paper in one color at various intervals all over the black paper 

 6 . Have the student make a circle with another color around the dots 

 7. Have students make lines of another color around the circles. This may be repeated with another color. 

 8. When the circles begin to touch each other decide which ones will complete their circles and stop the rings of the other circles where they meet. 

 9. Have them repeat the lines until the page is filled with fireworks 

 Extensions – using oil pastels in a watercolor resist project using lines, dots, and circles, use white paper in this project with crayons, and use black watercolor over the picture when finished. 

 Assessment – did students use circles, dots, and lines? 

 Closure – talk about fireworks and when the students see them, this could lead to a social studies section on the Fourth of July. Clean up all supplies.