Minnow Art Program – Book Making

Project Title: Old MacDonald

Author: Mary Hager

Grade level or Target Age Range: Preschool

Materials: Pre-folded paper book, crayons, and old MacDonald video.

Anticipatory Set: Watching the video, “Old MacDonald had a Farm.”
Demo/Directions:

Make your own book:
To prepare this project, I made thirteen folded paper books (refer to book making link above) the size of a large notebook for each student.I have started to use the Ipad to show the students short videos while teaching.The objective of using videos was to keep the students engaged in the activity.In order to incorporate the Ipad, I chose to base our book on “Old MacDonald,” and downloaded the sing-along video.

I began the activity by explaining that each student would be given a book of his/her own to transform into a picture book based on the “Old McDonald.” They found this extremely cool! I also told them that we would be watching a video and making art along with the story by drawing each animal using the shapes they have been learning.
Old MacDonald had a Farm Lesson Plan:

Explain the art project of the day: making a book based on “Old McDonald.”
Move to the work area and give each child his/her own blank paper book.
Begin by showing the first part of the video again: “Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O.”
Draw a cow step-by-step. Have a large piece of paper on the wall where they can see you draw a cow using shapes.
After they draw the cow, have them sing the part of the song that includes a cow.
Repeat these steps for each animal (cow, pig, dog, duck, horse, and sheep).
Finalize the book by asking each student to write his/her name on the cover page.
On the cover page, demonstrate how to draw a barn and have students follow along.
Once the students are done with their books, sing the entire song all together and flip through the pages as we sing along.

This activity was very successful because of how interactive it was. The children were excited to see each part of the video because it revealed which animal they got to draw next. The most important lesson I have learned is that when working with young children it is best to create activities that are very interactive. Young children enjoy being active!!

This lesson can be applied to any story you like! If the students are old enough, they can make their own books out of the large pieces of paper.

“Transforming Lives Through Art”

-Mary Hager