Matisse's Goldfish-Second Grade

I've done this project with my second graders many times over the years. They always turn out extremely well, and the kids get a lot out of the process. There are many children's books about Henri Matisse, and the kids enjoyed learning about him. My favorite Matisse book is When Pigasso Met Mootise by Nina Laden. The kids find it fun and silly, but are also learning about both Matisse and Picasso.

Students begin  by learning about perspective and how to make a 3D room. They painted it with tempera paint and then used oil pastels to add tile, brick, or wood planks on the floor and a pattern on the walls.

They designed a unique fishbowl (really, they did. These all happen to be the same shape, but there were aquariums, bowls, glasses like Matisse's, and completely made up shapes!) and then drew the details (fish, treasure chests, castles, rocks, etc) with oil pastels and used toothpicks to scrape detail into their objects. They used watercolor and salt to add the water. 

Finally, they designed a table and leaves and collaged the whole project together.
See the full lesson plan here.