First Grade: Aboriginal Dream Paintings

The first graders were introduced to dotted dream paintings created by the aborigines of Australia.  We talked about the materials, techniques and symbols that the aborigines used and then made our own artwork using the dream paintings as inspiration.

The first step of the project was to use a q-tip to make dotted outlines that created a pattern around a pre-painted snake. The snake was used in this project because the rainbow serpent is an important symbol in aboriginal culture.

After finishing the outlines we talked about the symbols that we found in the aboriginal art.  The students chose symbols to use in their own artwork that would tell a story.

When their artwork was finished the students paired up with a partner to share the story they created with the symbols