Mandarin Duck Rank Badge, Artist not known, China late 1700s-early 1800s, Qing dynasty

Zoom In!

This activity encourages students and children to take a deeper, more detailed look at a work of art. The goal of this creative practice is to broaden their vocabularies and art experiences.
Mandarin Duck Rank Badge, Artist not known, China late 1700s-early 1800s, Qing dynasty
Mandarin Duck Rank Badge, Artist not known, China late 1700s-early 1800s, Qing dynasty

Instructions:

  1. During circle time or another daily routine, pass out a detailed image of an artwork.
  2. Get children excited about seeing the larger image as a big reveal.
  3. Once you show the image, direct them to find the detail with language like, "Where do you see the blue curvy shapes we examined?"
  4. Ask them to describe the image and use a large sheet of paper or board to list the brainstorm ideas.
    • An adult may have to offer guiding questions to encourage more descriptions
  5. Using a separate paper or space on the board, ask children to describe the larger image. Encourage them to locate the original detail in the larger image.

TIP: Be mindful of the imaginations of young children at work as you reveal the larger image. Their life experiences will tend to take the group brainstorm in one direction. However, the goal of this project is to broaden their vocabularies and art experiences.

Guiding Questions

  • What do you think this could be?
  • What do you see that makes you say that?
  • How many different shades of the same color do you see?
  • What else could this be?

TIP: Be mindful of the imaginations of young children at work as you reveal the larger image. Their life experiences will tend to take the group brainstorm in one direction. However, the goal of this project is to broaden their vocabularies and art experiences.

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