An Eric Carle classic inspires kindergartners to develop drawing and painting skills by creating moonlit scenes using simple shapes.

Liz Callahan

This lesson is based on the book Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. I find that his illustrations and stories keep young students engaged, and his simple style is approachable and encourages them to create their own drawings. The main idea of this lesson is to tell a story using pictures. Plus, if you have students for a long time like I do, then reading a book at the beginning of class helps focus their attention.

After I read the story aloud, we talk about the main idea: Monica wants her father to get the moon so she can play with it. I show students my example, which includes a house, stars, a ladder, and, of course, the moon, along with the corresponding pages from the book.

I demonstrate drawing a simple house using a square and a triangle. It seems simple, but some students have never drawn a house like this, so showing everyone helps. They can add a simple ladder using markers or crayons. To draw a ladder, I start with the letter H and build off of that. I also show students how to draw stars. I show them how to draw a face like the one in the book and let them draw their face. I will admit, a few faces made me laugh.

The next day, I talk about working with paint: how to hold a paintbrush and how to dry it. Then I give students watered-down blue tempera paint, along with a little yellow to paint their stars. I decided to water down only the blue paint because it acts like watercolor and resists the crayon drawing. I don’t worry about watering down the yellow because students only use a small amount. They find it very exciting if they mix yellow and blue and get green. When students are finished painting, I give them a previously cut-out yellow moon to glue on their paintings. The rest of the class is spent cleaning up.

This lesson was an effective way to introduce students to painting, mixing colors, and using simple shapes as building blocks in drawing. My kindergartners loved this project, and I could not be prouder of their finished artwork. I hope it works for you, as well.

Liz Callahan is an art teacher at Alford Elementary School in Lawrenceville, Georgia. elizabeth_callahan@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

Stars, Moon, and Ladders: Inspiration from a Classic Children’s Book