This patriotic art project is a great art lesson for 4th or July, President’s Day, Veteran’s Day, or Flag Day. I’ll show you step-by-step how to make a “Star with Waves”. In addition, teachers can use this lesson for a writing lesson.
Tips for Making the Start for Your Patriotic Art
In the Op Art Using Stars & Stripes lesson, you’ll find several strategies for drawing a star.
Or you could have students trace the star as shown below.
Tip for making consistent-looking waves:
- You can cut the wave shape from any heavy paper.
- One option is to use part of a cereal or cracker box.
- Space the waves out evenly.
Adding the waves can be a little tricky. This sheet (shown above) which you will find in the lesson, will help your students avoid some of the pitfalls of making an op-art wave design.
How to make the blue and red stripes:
I used a blue washable marker to outline every other shape inside the star. Then, while the watercolor was wet, I sprinkled salt on top. As the watercolor dries, it creates little star-like textures in the watercolor.
This page gives you an excellent opportunity to add some writing to your patriotic art project! Some topics include “Freedom is …”, “Patriotism is …” and “I love America because ”.
You can see Op Art Stars & Stripes: Patriotic Art Activity on Expressive Monkey’s website and TpT store.
Social & Emotional Learning in Art
Remind yourself and others of the social and emotional benefits of art. This is a great graphic to include in parent newsletters or display in your room.
You can read more about Social Emotional Learning in Art in this blog post.
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