Aboriginal Snakes

I also did an art lesson based on the Aboriginal people with my older students (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade).  One way Aboriginal people present animals in their artwork is through their "X-ray" style paintings.  This is where you can see details inside the body of the animal just as a doctor would see the details of your bones on an x-ray.  After students finished drawing their snake in oil pastel, they added Aboriginal symbols to the background to finish their composition.

Originally, I got this idea from Art Projects for Kids, but I changed it up a little by having my students add symbols to their background!

Aboriginal Boomerangs

The Aboriginal people are the indigineous people, or first inhabitants, of the continent of Australia and their descendants.  They rich cultural heritage is very interesting and includes some beautiful artwork.  Traditionally, their artwork references stories from their "Dreamtime" as well as many dots, animals, and Aboriginal symbols.

In this art lesson, students first painted an Aboriginal boomerang with watercolors, then they added stamps of Aboriginal symbols.  To finish the composition, students filled their artwork with dots.  The examples above are from two of my second grade students!