Masterpiece: Yellow Horse at the Lascaux Caves

Keywords: Art

Grade:Kindergarten

Month:February

Activity:Stone Age Art

Background of the Lascaux Caves in France:

In 1937, a cave was accidentally found by four teenage boys and their dog. The children were playing fetch with the dog. The ball they were throwing was accidentally thrown into a complex underground cave. Looking for the ball in this cave, they found wonderful cave paintings on the walls. These walls had drawings of animals, people, and handprints on them. People believe this is the beginning of art since some of these caves that have been found are 15,000 years old. Scientists believe that the handprints were their signatures.

Possible Questions and Discussion:

  • What is ART?

Humans have always created ART. Show prints of cave paintings through modern art from the portfolio or have examples of other forms of art to show such as picture books, photography, quilts, sculpture.

  • Why is there ART and why would people draw thousands of years ago?

People who create art are called ARTISTS. Artists create art to express themselves or to show their feelings and ideas, to record events or to satisfy their creative spirit. The artists who made the drawings in the cave could not read nor did they have a written language. These artists may have believed that by drawing these animals they would be successful in hunting them or maybe they just valued and loved these animals and drew them to honor their beauty.

  • What makes a piece of ART? Briefly introduce the basics.

Color – three colors: red, yellow and blue are mixed to make all the other colors of the rainbow.

Composition – this is how an artist arranges the people or objects in their picture.

Shape - An artist uses all types of lines to make shapes such as circles and squares.

Pattern – an artist uses different shapes and lines to make us want to look at their picture.

Texture – an artist can make us see how something feels to touch by using different lines and patterns in their picture.

  • What colors did the cave artists used? (black, brown, gray, yellow, orange-earth colors)
  • What do you think the cave artists were trying to say on these walls?
  • What do you think the surface of a cave wall feels like?

Activity:Modern day Cave Painter

Supplies needed: brown paper bags, black and white tempera paint (each diluted with water), brushes, earth toned chalk, bowls for water, hairspray (as a fixative for the chalk), small cups for paint, newspaper and smocks

Process:

  1. Cover desks with newspaper, give each child a brown paper bag and paint brush. Put on each work station, cups of water, small cups with small amount of black and white tempera paint in each, and chalk.
  2. Tear open the brown paper bags so they can lie flat on the desk. Uneven edges are great. Have them rumple it up and smooth it out again. This is “their” cave wall to paint on.
  3. Starting with black paint, have them draw the body of an animal. An oval is perfect, tell them like a jelly bean. Have them add neck, head, legs, horns, tails, etc.
  4. Have them fill in the animal with chalk.
  5. Fill the background with simple designs or handprint (see #6) and let it dry.
  6. If the animal is too difficult for some, the child may create their hand print(s) with the help of a teacher or volunteer. This can be done in two different ways: 1) have the child place their hand on the paper and using a chalk, trace around their hand and fill in the hand print using another color of chalk. OR- 2) have the child paint their hand with the black or white paint and press it on the paper. Let dry.
  7. Once the paint is dry, spray it with hairspray. Explain to the children that this helps keep the chalk on the paper.

Art Masterpiece – Kindergarten- Yellow Horse at the Lascaux Caves – January

Today, your kindergartner participated in Art Masterpiece and learned about the print Yellow Horse. In 1940, the Lascaux Cave was accidentally found by children and their dog. The children were playing fetch with the dog. The ball they were throwing was accidentally thrown into a complex underground cave. Looking for the ball in this cave, they found wonderful cave paintings on the walls. These walls had drawings of animals, people, and handprints on them. People believe this is the beginning of art since some of these caves that have been found are 30,000 years old. Your child had a chance to create their own cave art using this paper bag as their “cave”. Take a minute to talk to them about their animal design.

Art Masterpiece – Kindergarten- Yellow Horse at the Lascaux Caves – January

Today, your kindergartner participated in Art Masterpiece and learned about the print Yellow Horse. In 1940, the Lascaux Cave was accidentally found by children and their dog. The children were playing fetch with the dog. The ball they were throwing was accidentally thrown into a complex underground cave. Looking for the ball in this cave, they found wonderful cave paintings on the walls. These walls had drawings of animals, people, and handprints on them. People believe this is the beginning of art since some of these caves that have been found are 30,000 years old. Your child had a chance to create their own cave art using this paper bag as their “cave”. Take a minute to talk to them about their animal design.

More Cave Paintings From The Lascaux Caves