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Flowers for a Friend

Children will learn about Pablo Picasso's "Bouquet of Flowers" watercolor painting and design their own flowery drawing.

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.

Steps

  • Step 1

    Show students an image of Pablo Picasso's "Bouquet of Flowers" (formerly known as "Bouquet of Peace") which was created in 1958 to commemorate the peace demonstration held in Stockholm, Sweden. Have students think about how the image depicts friendship and how flowers can symbolize peace. Ask them to think about ways they have have been a good friend to others.

  • Step 2

    Ask students to create a drawing in the style of Picasso's "Bouquet of Flowers." They can start by using a crayon to trace their hand on paper. Or students can trace the hand of another classmate. Have them decorate the drawing with flowers, trying to make it appear as if the hand is holding the flowers.

  • Step 3

    Have students present their art and talk about ways that flowers and friendship can go hand in hand.

Standards

ARTS: Describe what an image or performance represents.

ARTS: Identify a purpose of an artwork.

ARTS: Interpret art by identifying and describing subject matter.

Adaptations

Have students look at images of artwork by other artists who painted flowers such as paintings in the Sunflower series by Vincent van Gogh, the Water Lilies series by Monet, or the "Puppy" sculpture made of plants and flowers by Jeff Koons. Have them notice the similarities and differences in these examples.

Read a book to the class such as "Bailee the Bumblebee" by Karen Benedict or the bilingual English/Spanish book "Rubilito the Traveling Hummingbird/el Colibri Viajero" by Ralph Dessau and Alvaro Miranda. These both talk about how flowers need pollinators in order to grow.