Hidden Safari

During this lesson we created a hidden safari animal. We started off the lesson pretending we were in a kindergarden - 1st grade setting, coming up with different animals we would see if we went on a safari. We first began creating ruby red glasses so we were able to identify the animals the teacher had in the classroom. This activity got us ready to create our own hidden safari animal. We began drawing an animal with a light blue colored pencil (cool color) upside down to make it easier to create the composition by looking at a visual example of that animal. After creating our animal, we started to fill the page with three warm colors : yellow, orange, and red to "hide" the animal. We used repetition of designs and patterns that covered the page to get your eyes to focus on that design rather than the safari animal in light blue.Once the page was covered with the warm colors, we used our ruby red glasses to make sure the safari animal stood out when we put on the glasses.


As an extension activity, the teacher could put up hidden safari animals around the school and have the children go on a safari scavenger hunt to locate these different animals while wearing their ruby red glasses. They would have clues written out for them to locate the animal and facts around the school describing the animals and where they live in the safari. After the students had their scavenger hunt, we would take a field trip to the zoo to identify animals we would see in the safari. On the field trip, students will write down facts about each animal as they observe them so they are able to understand the habitat of the animal.

Here is a picture of my hidden safari project. The image I created was a lion.