6. Weird Fish, Crazy Tools – KidsART B

by | Sep 17, 2025 | Lessons > Grades 1 & 2 | 0 comments

OVERVIEW

Students use warm & cool colored oil pastels in a fish drawing, working on movement and technique. The imagination is employed to invent a new idea - using household tools to create fish. They'll finish the work using watercolors, and then use oil pastels to finish another earlier drawing.

Grades 1 – 2

Week of September 22 – 26

1 Hour & 30 Minutes

Student Work

Lesson At A Glance

A brief overview of each step. Buttons jump to each section for detailed information.

1. Warmup
5 Minutes – Artists’ Choice
2. Fish Color

20 Min – Color dance with fish

3. teach
5 Min – Talk about shapes in tools
4. tool drawings

10 Min – Draw tools

5. Invent

10 Min – Make a fish scene out of tool drawings

6. Set Up

5 Min – Set up for painting with watercolors

7. PAINT

15 Min – Paint tool fish pictures

8. Clean Up

2 Min – Clean up watercolors and clean brushes

9. Color the air

10 Min – Create a background with oil pastels on step 4 drawing

10. Clean uP

3 Min – Everyone helps

READY, SET, GO!
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SCROLL & TEACH
LESSONPLAN

Each section is a different color. Read over once and then you can SCROLL & TEACH using any device you like. It’s designed to work best with your phone.

STEP 1. Warmup

Students will warm up with Artists' Choice
5 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students learn to express themselves through creating from their imagination.

M A T E R I A L S

  • 11″ x 17″ Copy Paper
  • 4B pencil
  • Eraser
  • Markers and/or oil pastels
  • Blenders (stumps)
  • Paper Towels
All materials are suggestions and may be modified as you see fit. We have tried many items, and these seem to allow the most versatility for the cost.

1.1 greet

Greet students as they come in and help them choose a chair.

Kneel down so that you are on their level. Bending over emphasizes the differences in your height, while kneeling makes them feel more important. Have tape and marker ready so you can stick some tape on the table by each student and write their name on it as they sit down.

1.2 choice

Encourage students to work with one piece of paper for a while. If someone uses the phrase, “free draw”, explain that artists’ choice is something only artists can do, while free-draw is something anyone can do. You want to use the phrase to elevate the students’ expectations of their work.

Everyone should take their time with the work and make a finished piece of art. Limiting the paper can also help kids focus on the work. If someone finishes in super-fast time, ask them what more they can do to the existing paper. Ask again several times – unless they appear overly frustrated; then you can allow them to move on to a new work.

READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 2. Fish Color

Students will color dance a drawing of a fish with oil pastels.
20 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know that movement affects artwork techniques.

M A T E R I A L S

  • 11″ x 17″ Card Stock Paper
  • 2B Pencil
  • Black Marker
  • White Eraser
  • Oil Pastels
  • Blenders (stumps)
  • Paper Towels (clean off the tips of pastels)
  • Music to play – soft and flowing

2.1 Prints

Reference

Fish Follow-Along

A Step-by-Step follow-along cartoon of a fish.

Print enough so each student can have one or for 2 students to view on a stand between them.

PRINT

1 Page – Opens in new window

Open PDF

2.2 draw

Walk the students through steps of making a fish drawing. If it seems confusing, you can cut the steps apart so they only see the next steps one at a time.

Be sure to explain to the students that for the first drawing, they should try to make pencil “tickle lines” (very light). Don’t worry if the kids can’t do this yet, but it is good to hear it often so that they can begin practicing this technique early. Tell students it takes a lot of practice to be able to draw tickle lines.

2.3 outline

Once the drawing is complete, students will redraw over the tickle lines with a black marker.

2.4 color

Use oil pastels to create color inside and outside of the fish.  Use music for students to “color dance.”

Use 3 warm color pastels to color dance inside the fish.

Use 2 or 3 cool colors pastels and white to color dance outside of fish. We’re not drawing air shapes this time, we’re drawing water shapes!

Song recommendations: ENYA – Orinoco Flow, or CHRISTOPHER CROSS – Sailing

TIP
You can hardly blend oil pastels too much. You can, however over smudge them with a finger or paper towel until all the oil has been removed, and what is left is a stain on the paper, like watercolor. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it is a different result than blending.
READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 3. Teach

Students will learn about shapes and texture of tools.
5 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know how to identify texture.

M A T E R I A L S

  • Tools PDF – OR
  • Real tools in interesting shapes

3.1 Prints

Reference

Tool Photos

Tool pictures with silhouettes and outlines.

Cut each set of (3) images apart and print enough for each student to choose from several. Set all of the images out on a table or counter for choosing in the next Step (Step 4).

Have one set to use as you talk about the tool shapes.

PRINT

3 Pages – Opens in new window

Open PDF

3.1 talk

Gather students around. Discuss the tools, reading or paraphrasing the talk below..
“Look at these tools! They have such interesting and sometimes very unusual shapes. You might notice the solid shapes first, but do you see some cool air shapes? I do too.

There are all kinds of lines in these shapes: straight lines, curved lines, zig-zag lines and sharp angles. I can also see texture. That’s what we call things that look or feel rough. Usually people mean how things feel when they say it has texture, but artists also use this word for areas of shading or paint that have the same look as things that feel rough. You can make things look rough by using your pencil or pastel on its side instead of using the tip.”

Teacher Talk

Read verbatim or paraphrase

3.2 DEMO

Use a piece of scrap sketch paper to demo how the side of the pencil lead or pastel will make large areas of textural shading when pressed down lightly. The tip makes lines, but the side will make texture. Don’t use smooth copy paper for this. Drawing paper or even rough watercolor paper will do better.

Do not talk about turning these into fish until later in the next step.

READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 4. Tool Drawings

Students draw tools.
10 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know how to draw from reference.

M A T E R I A L S

  • 11″ x 17″ Copy Paper
  • Cheasels
  • Pencils
  • White Erasers
  • Oil Pastels
  • Tool PDF Prints from STEP 3 above

4.1 setup

Have the tool reference PDF printed out and placed on cheasels with big shapes diagrams & silhouettes to go with them.

*Each set should have 3 versions of the same tool and there are two sets to a page. Students should come choose a tool they like.

4.2 draw

Have kids draw using the big shapes as guide lines (tickle lines), emphasizing that they need to be SUPER LIGHT. Then redraw the tool outline/edges over the tickle lines using a colored pastel. They can use any color except black. Erase any stray lines inside the tool.

Be sure all students have their names somewhere on the paper and set it aside for later.

TIP
As they’re finishing up, talk about how these could look like strange and weird fish.
READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 5. Invent

Students will turn a tool of their choice into a fish drawing.
10 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know how imagine and create with their art.

M A T E R I A L S

  • 10″ x 14″ or so Watercolor Paper
  • Tool reference PDF
  • Watercolor paint trays
  • Pencil
  • White eraser
Brushes should be nylon for springiness and durability. Round brushes are the most versatile.

5.1 draw

Students create an imaginary fish from the tool they drew in Step 4. Be sure students write their names in the corner of the watercolor paper.

As they work, “wake up” the watercolors by adding a few drops to each color cake in the pans.

“Use the tool you drew to inspire you to make an imaginary fish on watercolor paper. Invent a fish that looks both like a fish and your tool! It is a crazy tool… or a weird fish?”
Teacher Talk

Read verbatim or paraphrase

READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 6. Set Up

Students set up for watercolors
5 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know how to begin setting up and working with watercolors.

M A T E R I A L S

  • Smocks
  • Paper towels
  • Watercolors
  • Brushes (small and medium)
  • Water containers

6.1 setup

Set out watercolor trays for students, have them get ready to paint by putting on smocks. Reward well-behaved students by letting them hand out brushes or even water tubs.
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STEP 7. Paint

Students will paint their fish with watercolor.
15 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know how to paint with watercolors.

M A T E R I A L S

  • Drawing they’ve done on watercolor paper
  • Smocks
  • Paper towels
  • Watercolors
  • Brushes (small and medium)
  • Water containers

7.1 color

Students will paint their fish and the background (water, seaweed, etc.)

If they finish early, they can add texture to their fish using the side of a medium-colored oil pastel. Don’t use black or a dark color, and use a light tickle-drawing pressure. You may have to tear a bit more paper off of the pastel for them.

READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 8. Clean Up

Students will clean up and help put away watercolors.
2 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know how to keep their work space tidy.

M A T E R I A L S

  • Paper towels
  • Sink

8.1 clean

  • Empty water containters
  • Super-wash brushes
  • Put away watercolor trays
  • Wipe up any spills
READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 9. Color the Air

This is an extra project if you have time or for early finishers.
10 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know how to look for negative space around objects (drawing the air). 

M A T E R I A L S

  • Tool drawing from Step 4
  • 11″ x 17″ copy paper
  • Oil Pastels
  • Blender stick(stump)
  • Paper towels

9.1 color

Students will need the tool shape drawing they made in STEP 4. This is a great project to finish the day if you have time. Students may enjoy the painting so much that you use up the time in the previous steps. If so, you can save the tool drawings for a warm up next week instead of Artists’ choice if you want.

Use oil pastels and lots of blended colors (as many as you like, including white) to create a busy colored background around the tool shape you made in STEP 4. Leave the tool shape totally white – the paper color, so that it looks like a missing puzzle piece, or a silhouette. Encourage students to make lots of small colored areas in their air, and small lines with many different colors, so that it looks like it has a texture.

“Make sure you keep the cool colors together, and the warm colors together. Try not to mix the two kinds of colors, because when they mix, they make browns and grays.”
Teacher Talk

Read verbatim or paraphrase

READY, SET, GO!
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STEP 10. Final Clean Up

Everyone Helps
3 Minutes

LEARNING TARGETS

Students know the importance of cleaning up.

M A T E R I A L S

  • Paper Towels
  • Cleaning wipes
  • Sink
  • Waste baskets
  • Well-lit spot for photos
  • Camera or phone-camera

10.1 clean

  • Empty water containters
  • Super-wash brushes if used
  • Put art supplies away (sop up runny paint before disposing of palette paper)
  • Wipe tables & toss trash
  • Remove any smocks (last)
  • Check for items on floors and tables

10.2 photo

Try to get photos of your student’s artwork. Find a good spot for quick lighting without highlights or shadows from your hands and device. Ideally in-between two strong lights on each side.

OBJECTIVES

  • Practice and improvement using visual skills and artistic techniques
  • Understanding how looking for shapes can help create a good drawing
  • Accomplishment in finishing some creative & colorful artwork
  • Fulfillment creating a new idea by putting two other ideas together

TROUBLESPOTS

Tool dangers – If you bring real tools, children should not be allowed to handle them since they can have sharp edges and pinch fingers. Be firm about this.

Filling in tool details – When drawing the silhouette guideline in step 4, emphasize only drawing the outline of the outside edge and nothing else. Otherwise students will not get to make an invisible tool later in the lesson.

Tracing tools – If you have actual tools on the table, students will want to draw around them like they do with their hand. Encourage them to draw by looking instead, since this is a lesson about learning to… Look!

ART WORDS

Silhouette – The outline of an object – as if it were a puzzle piece and you took it out of the puzzle.

Watercolor paper – A special paper with a special coating that allows watercolor to work on it.

CLASSROOM PREP

Today the students will be painting with watercolor and coloring with pastels. Have all PDFs printed and cut apart.

What your room needs

Here are your printable lists and room prep instructions.

PRINT

Opens in new window

Open PDF

CLASSROOM MATERIALS

  • 11×17” Copy Paper
  • 4B Pencils
  • Erasers
  • Markers
  • Oil pastels
  • Blenders (stumps)
  • Paper towels
  • Music to play (soft and flowing)
  • Tools PDF OR
  • Real tools in interesting shapes
  • Cheasels
  • 10 x 14” or so watercolor Paper
  • Watercolors
  • Brushes (small and medium)
  • Water containers
  • Smocks
  • Camera or phone camera

PREVIEW

Week 7: PIGS!

Students will have fun drawing and painting pigs in several projects. Simple shapes and symbols help us create pig cartoons with different expressions. More realistic pigs are drawn from photo reference, colors are mixed, and then they will paint the pig using tempera

Week 8: Shape Hunters

Students are introduced to an important design element, The Most Important Spot, (emphasis). We hunt for shapes, using tracing paper to capture them from photos. Students will also work with warm vs. cool colors using oil pastels in 2 projects.