2nd grade pattern rainforests

I adapted this lesson from 'Ms. Brown's-art website' who adapted it from Mr. G's art website. Yes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. :) In 2nd grade we studied patterns in nature and created our own designs. We discussed foreground and background and how things in the distance are smaller than things that are up close. We drew wavy trees complete with bushy tops (I compared them to clouds for my students) and added details like branches, birds, flowers, rocks, etc. The trees were where we put our patterns in marker and the background was where we painted with watercolor. I had them fold a 9x12 piece of newsprint to create four boxes where they practiced making designs using only closed shapes (many of them had a hard time understanding that an open shape is just a line and can't be colored in). Overall the lesson went well, however in hindsight, I would have had the students do a watercolor wash before even coloring the trees in, this will keep the compositions neater and make the little lesson a little less time consuming. Overall though, it was fun, and the students seemed to really like it!