Are you a fan of The Dot by Peter Reynolds? This inspiring picture book makes a great first-day read aloud and can serve as the springboard for all kinds of creativity. Here are some of the best The Dot activities we could find!
1. Just start with a mark and make these murals.
The beauty of these murals is that the students learn several art concepts, such as outlining and shading, as they progress throughout the project. Day one consists of simply making the outlines. The next day students fill in their circles, and on the third day, students learn shading. One project, three lessons.
Source: Art with Mrs. Peroddy
2. Find your inner dot with this stitched string art project.
Suitable for fourth graders and up, these stitched dots bring a pop of color to these geometric circles. Itâs also the perfect art project to sneak in a quick math lesson about circles and angles. Youâll need yarn, paint, and a 10Ă10 square of cardboard for each student. Choose neon yarn and your students will make a very bright mark indeed.
Source: Cassie Stevens
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3. Paint you own dot.
Suitable for both younger and older students, it takes just a few supplies to make these paper plate dots: paper plates, black markers, and tempera cake paints. Students use the marker to create their design and then use the tempera paints to fill in their designs with color. Unlike some of the other projects on this list, this project can be started and finished in one 45-minute class period.
Source: Tales from the Traveling Art Teacher
4. You can make a dot or a not-a-dot.
Not-a-dot projects introduce the concept of positive and negative imagesâboth which are equally appealing when hung up on the wall. Let students each create one positive and one negative painting. This is also an ideal project for students just learning how to use watercolors.
Source: Drip, Drip, Splatter Splash
5. Let your dots create community.
Although this project wasnât necessarily modeled after The Dot, it certainly can be incorporated into your lesson plans. Each student receives only one-fourth of a circle. Yet, when all of the quarters come together, you get a wall full of complete circles.
Source: Fabulous in First
6. Each dot is a drop in the ocean of this mural.
Students are assigned a color scheme in order to create a circle. Although the students use different media (crayons, markers, etc.), they are united in color. The beauty of this project becomes apparent when the small dots create much larger dots that are displayed for the entire school to see.
Source: Shine Brite Zamorano
7. Create a wall of art by piecing these dots together.
Teach students how to make Kandinsky-esque concentric circles. (You can download the lesson plan for free here.) When the students all work from the same color palette, youâll be rewarded with a masterpiece when all of the smaller dots are strung together.
Source: Creativity Connection
8. Add color to this Tree of Life.
Instead of leaves, your students will decorate this black and white tree with colorful circles. Use neon markers for the brightest pops of color. This could easily become a school-wide project, where each class creates their own tree.
Source: Color Us Well
9. Put your milk caps to good use.
Have you been saving up milk caps and other lids? Now is the perfect time to use them! Instead of sponge painting, students will use the milk lids as their âbrushâ and create a dot painting. Younger students may enjoy the âsquishâ that is created by each dot.
Source: A Little Bit of Perfect
10. What can you make with one dot?
What can you make with one dot? A story, of course! Students start with a dot and then draw the full picture. Once their picture is complete, students will compose a short story (three to five sentences). This could easily be adapted to older students: Give each student a picture of a dot and have them write a three- to five-paragraph story.
Source: Blog Hoppinâ
What are your favorite The Dot activities? Come share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.Â
Plus, our favorite Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Pete the Cat activities.
