Art With Kids {Symmetry}
At the beginning of the semester I asked my kids if there was anything they wish we did more of during our homeschool hours. Most of them agreed they wanted more art. It surprised me because I feel like they are constantly making stuff and creating various forms of art. Colored pencils, glue, paint – these are constantly out and in use around our house. More art?! As I dug deeper, I realized what they were really wanting was to learn more specific art techniques WITH me.
We started with a topic that coincided with what they were learning with their friends at our homeschool co-op campus. (not really a co-op, but it is easier than explaining it all the time).
We started with symmetry.
The first project we did was simple introduction to symmetry. I cut a few butterflies prints in half, glued them to mixed media art paper and had the kids do their best to mimic what they saw. 
You can elaborate on this project by using grid paper or drawing faint lines to help them measure it if they want to be more exact. I didn’t explain much about symmetry at first, I just let them draw what they saw.
When they finished the butterflies, I had them add a background to their pictures to give context. My son drew his being eaten by a butterfly eating plant. My daughter painted a field of flowers for her’s to land on. The beauty of creating art…
The next day I explained more about what symmetry means and we did a little visual scavenger hunt for symmetry. I asked the kids to look around and spot everything symmetrical in the room. We also talked about how we could change things to make them symmetrical. It was fun to watch their light bulbs go off.
We also talked about symmetrical faces. There was a bit of a debate between them on if anyone had a symmetrical face. An easy way for them to visualize what we were talking about was to hold a paper up to divide their faces in half.
For a third activity we used my youngest daughter blocks to create symmetrical designs.
Finally, I pulled out some graph paper and they created symmetrical designs using colored pencils.
My blogger in training wanted to take some shots of their final products.
There are tons of projects and videos regarding symmetry on Pinterest and YouTube if you are looking for more ideas.
You can find more of my art and craft projects with kids on my Pinterest board.
For more information on my sources, here you go:
