FABERGE
EASTER EGG
Lesson
Plan
Author: Paul
Schmitz
School: Wm.
B. Cruise Memorial School #11, Passaic, NJ
Grade
Level: 1-5
Purpose: This
project helps the kids make a bright and attractive Easter picture while
exploring beautiful objects from a culture distant in space and time.
Objectives: Listed below are
Objectives for a Plan Book entry for a Grade 3 class:
SWBAT blend color.
recognize
linear and radial design.
master overlapping in their artwork.
master drawing of all basic shapes.
3.2-7 Follow oral directions.
6.2-3 Discuss how works of
esthetic expression serve as cultural representations.
6.5-2 Discuss the customs of a
people from different geographic, cultural, racial,
religious, and ethnic backgrounds.
Resources/Materials:
· 8 1/2" X 11" white or pastel copier paper with a lightly
drawn egg shape Xeroxed on, and a pre-cut "Double-door." You will
have to make a mat-board template and cut in batches. See the photo.
· 9" X 12" pastel-tone construction paper.
·
A few 9' X 12"
mat-board templates of the whole egg shape to help the students fix the
area for the interior design on the construction
paper.
· Oaktag stencils of small Spring items--- bunnies, butterflies,
birds, flowers, etc.
· Crayons (including gold, silver, copper), markers and/or colored
pencils.
· A good library book of the Easter eggs created by Peter Carl
Faberge (1846-1920) and his studio for the Russian court in the late- 1800s and
early- 1900s.
Activities
and Procedures:
1. Give
the students a brief glimpse at Russian culture under the Czars; the
fabulous wealth of the Romanov court, the demand for intricate and beautiful
objects. Show the students examples of Faberge Studio products. Describe the
importance of the egg in Russian religious imagery as a symbol of purity,
rebirth, resurrection. Show the students photos of the eggs, shots of the
outside and the objects within.
2. Pass
out to each student their choice of colored copy and construction papers.
Students should not choose the same color in both papers. Have them pass around
the 9" X 12" egg templates to locate their design on the construction
paper. IMPORTANT: Show the students that eggs are not ovals, that there is a
thick and a thin end. If they're not aware of this the pieces won't line up
when they assemble the finished parts.
3. Talk
about Faberge as a jeweler. They should try to work carefully and create a
"jewel-like" object within and a rich exterior surface. Encourage
them to create their own designs but allow them to build from the Spring
templates you've supplied. Have the students color their designs densely, like
an enamel surface.
4. When
the coloring is done, have the students glue the copier paper
"exterior" onto the construction paper "interior," taking
care to glue only the outside and not the egg part together. There should be a
1/4" border of the construction paper color around the copier paper.
My
students loved this project. Many used their projects as Easter cards for their
mothers.