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My Family

My Family

Create a framed family portrait that everyone will treasure.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Craft Sticks
  • White Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Share a family portrait with your students. Ask who they think is in the picture and ask them to explain what makes them say that. Family portraits that students might enjoy viewing: "Grace Allison McCurdy (Mrs. Hugh McCurdy) and Her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace" by Joshua Johnson; "Linda Nochlin and Daisy" by Alice Neel; "Family Portrait" by William H. Johnson; "The Sisters" by Mary Cassatt.

  • Step 2

    Explain what a portrait is. Invite students to look for shapes that could be used to draw portrait figures. If the portrait example is big enough, allow students to come up and trace the shapes they see in the image.

  • Step 3

    Demonstrate drawing a family portrait. Model how to use big shapes and small shapes and lines, for details and show how to use the whole page for drawing. Ask if the whole body has to show in a family portrait and point out how much of the bodies show in the example portraits.

  • Step 4

    Distribute 6" x 10" (15.24 cm x 25.40 cm) sheets of white drawing paper. Ask the students to think about who they will show in their family portraits. Allow students to choose a Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable Marker to draw their shapes with. When students are done drawing they may color in shapes with Crayola Construction Paper Crayons and Crayola Multicultural Crayons. Review how to color inside the shapes and how to fill the shapes carefully with colors.

  • Step 5

    Explain the importance of framing artwork to help protect it. Use Crayola Washable Glue Sticks to mount the drawing. Help students center their drawings on a colored 8" x 12" (20.32 cm x 30.48 cm) construction paper. Demonstrate how to glue craft sticks around the edges of their paper. Use Crayola Washable No-Run School Glue to glue down the craft sticks. Make sure students use small dots of glue on the back of the sticks and press them down. The frame can be decorated with Ultra-Clean Washable Expression Stamper Markers for added personality or symbols representing their family.

  • Step 6

    Provide time for students to share their portraits with one another and name the people in their family. Create a family portrait gallery in the classroom and invite families to come to school to view them.

Standards

LA: Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

LA: Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

LA: Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

SS: Describe the unique features of one’s nuclear and extended families.

VA: Share and talk about personal artwork.

VA: Identify reasons for saving and displaying objects, artifacts, and artwork.

VA: Identify places where art may be displayed or saved.

VA: Interpret art by identifying and describing subject matter.

Adaptations

Ask students to bring in photographs of the people in their famly before they begin drawing the family portraits. Have a "show and tell" where students can show their photographs to the class and tell who is in the picture.

Allow students to dictate a sentence or two about their family that can be displayed along with their artwork.