We Decorate Our World - Coast Salish Carvings

Today's activity stems from the comments from the children last week that a decoration needs colour.

Does a decoration have to be colourful?

I brought in a number of Coast Salish carvings for the children to explore. None of these carvings were painted. I wanted the children to see the geometric designs that the artists used to transform the wood into decorative pieces of art. We compiled a list of the different shapes we found in the carvings.
Byron/Alan: circles
Sophie: triangles
Esme: squares
Jayla: lines
Grace: ovals.

The children practiced drawing those shapes before decorating a whale to make their own Coast Salish drawing. Being able to touch the art and not just see it from pictures was helpful for the children to make a connection with the Coast Salish art. This hands-on experience helped the children see some one else's perspective and that for some people decoration does not require colour.

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