Thinking of Spring with Kindergarten

Generally I do a project with Kinders where they sponge paint a snowman after tracing three different size circles onto blue construction paper.  I just couldn't face doing a snowman this late into the winter so I came up with this idea this morning.  First I created some stencils and tracers in the shape of a simple resting bunny.  The lesson began with the reading of a book by Leo Lioni,

Lets make Rabbits.  I've used this book in the past as a collage project with Kinders.  It's a cute little book.  Next the students traced the rabbit onto blue constructions paper near the bottom of the paper using a white crayon.  Using construction paper crayons, students created grass remembering to color in a top to bottom motion to create the appearance of deep grass where the baby bunny might be hiding.  Students used several shades of green along with brown and gray as they colored their grass.   Flowers were added growing up out of the grass and around the rabbit.  After all coloring was completed, students used white tempera and a small white sponge to "hop" paint their rabbits.  Constant reminders to "hop" with their sponge were given during this time.  Once the paint had dried, pink poms and googly eyes were added to complete the picture.  These turned out really cute and are so much more appropriate as we look forward to the arrival of Spring!  A larger white pom could be added to enhance the tail as well.