Your Destination: Inspired by the lion in Genevìeve Côté’s Mr. King’s Castle, create a castle using collage techniques with pre-cut triangle, square and rectangle shapes. This project reinforces shape recognition and sharpens reasoning, creative and imaginative skills.
Travel Kit:
- Mr. King’s Castle by Genevíeve Côtè
- oversized construction paper
- pre-cut triangle, square and rectangle shapes in varying colors and papers
- glue stick
- Optional: paper crowns to wear during art-making, stapler or tape
On the Path: Build Your Castle
STEP #1: Before class, cut out triangle, square, and rectangle shapes to be used for collaging. Vary the sizes, colors, and if possible, types of paper. Optional: cut paper crowns out of oversized construction paper, leaving ends unconnected so you can custom size each crown to the child.
STEP #2: Read Mr. King’s Castle by Genevíeve Côtè. Ask students to predict what happens to the hill when Mr. King begins to cut out shapes from it. Identify the shapes. Point out the expressions and responses from the other animals and ask students how the animals might be feeling.
STEP #3: Demonstrate how to collage, explaining that shapes should lay next to each other, not overlap. The concept is to “stack” the shapes as if they are building blocks.
STEP #4: Distribute oversized paper for college backgrounds, paper shapes, and glue sticks. Crown each student and invite him/her to build his/her dream castle. Encourage the students to cover the entire piece of paper, because unlike Mr. King, they are using paper, not pieces of a hill
Group Tour: Ask the students to give their castles royal names. Hang all the castle pictures to create a royal village and invite the kings and queens to visit each other’s castles.
