Yin Yang by 2nd-5th Grades

Our school is in the process of becoming an IB (International Baccalaureate) school. One of the concepts we are working on is that of balance. Our awesome P.E. coach, who is also an artist, introduced the symbol of the yin yang to the students. Naturally, an extension in the art room was necessary considering that "balance" is one of the elements we discuss a lot. This lesson was a great way to reinforce that concept in terms of art making. 


Materials:
sulphite paper
permanent markers
sketch pencils
erasers
markers
oil pastels
crayons


Procedure:
1. Students folded their paper in half and drew a rainbow arc line on the top half of the paper with pencil. 
2. They created an arc on the opposite side to form a complete circle. This was done to help the students create a large, mostly symmetrical circle since they are so hard to draw free hand. 
3. I taught them about the "s-curve" which we drew from top to bottom. We then added the smaller circles above and below. The pencil marks were traced over with permanent marker. 
4. Finally, I showed them some examples of really innovative and different ways artists have made yin yang symbols and encouraged them to come up with their own way to decorate theirs. 


Art Teacher Thoughts:
I love the wide variety of yin yangs the students created! This was such an effective lesson on visual balance as well as the metaphor for balance in our learning and in our lives. A wonderful, simple project with big results.