3 Reasons You'll Love This Vibrant Summer Camp Art Project
Summer camps are a great way to keep school-aged children engaged with their growth when they are on summer vacation. Summer is such a fun and beautiful time of year, making it the perfect time to capture warm and vibrant pieces of art with your students and children. If you are working at a summer camp or want to provide your student with a fun summer-themed project, here are three reasons why you'll love our vibrant cactus art project.
Celebrate summer with bright and vibrant cactus art that inspires creativity and fun!
— If you’re looking for another easy cactus lesson to complement this one, check out the Watercolor Cactus Color Study lesson here.
1. Easy-to-Do
This cactus art project is filled with shapes, patterns, and colors which makes it look like a complicated piece of art. However, this project is easy to do in a summer camp setting. It only requires a few materials and can be done by campers of all ages.
2. Vibrant Colors perfect for Summer
The vibrant colors and patterns on the cactus are perfect for summertime. Students will find the cactus project engaging and exciting, especially during the warmer months. This colorful project is a great way to explore the warm and bright summer colors.
3. Great Way to Practice Shapes, Patterns, and Colors
For younger students, this cactus art project is a great way to practice drawing shapes and patterns. Each portion of the cactus is filled with a unique pattern that allows students to practice their fine motor skills by drawing different types of shapes and lines. The bright colors used in the project give students the chance to explore color combinations and complimentary color sets.
Create a fun and colorful cactus art project that captures the spirit of summer!
—Check out the Desert Cactus Watercolor Color Study art lesson here.
Summer Cactus Art
This Summer Cactus project is a fun summer project perfect for summer art camps or for a fun project at home. Here’s what you will need:
· Construction Paper Crayons (These are great!)
· White drawing paper (I prefer this tagboard.)
· Construction paper, all colors
· Black Construction paper
· Glue Stick
· Scissors (Have you seen these?)
Step 1 – Draw your Cactus
To begin, have students draw their cacti on a sheet of 11x17 white paper. Students should draw a cactus with multiple pads. Have them layer their pads to give depth to their cactus. Drawing their cactus is much easier with reference photos (which is also a great opportunity to do a cross-curricular mini-lesson on the parts of a cactus.) After your students have drawn the outline of their cacti, have them divide the inside of each cactus pad into two or three sections. These will be used to add a variety of patterns to the cactus later.
Step 2 – Color and Design your Cactus
Now that your students have their outline of a cactus drawn on their paper, it is time to color in the sections of your cactus pads and draw in fun and exciting designs and patterns. Have students color each section of the cactus pads a different color using crayons. After each section has been colored in with crayons, students will choose a different color crayon to add fun patterns to each section. Not only will this help students practice drawing different lines and shapes, but it will also show them the difference between coloring with crayons and drawing with crayons all while creating a beautiful and fun piece of art.
Step 3 – Cut Out Your Cactus
After your students have colored and added patterns to their cactus, have them cut around the outline of their cactus. Once the cactus is cut out, students will glue their cactus to a sheet of black construction paper. Be sure to remind students that they need to align the bottom of the cactus with the bottom edge of the black construction paper to leave plenty of room for the spikes.
Step 4 - Add Spikes
Now that students have their cactus designed, painted, cut out, and applied to the background, it is time to add texture to your cactus art project by adding spikes. Students will start by cutting out triangles from sheets of colored construction paper. All spikes should be around the same size, but they do not have to be perfect triangles. Students will cut spikes and glue them around the edge of each cactus pad to add texture to the outside of the cactus mimicking a cacti’s normal spikes. Remind your students that they want the base of each spike to be around the outline of the cactus and that it is okay if their spikes hang over the edge of the paper.
Step 5 – Add Finishing Touches with Puff Paint
At this point of the project, students should have a vibrant and textured cactus that is filled with colors and patterns. The only thing left to do is to have students put on some highlights with puffy paint. Have students add lines of puffy paint to some of the key lines and patterns in their project. This will help their summer camp cactus art project pop right off the page.
End your summer camp session with this fun and colorful cactus art project!
—If you’re looking for more cactus art for kids, check out this Watercolor Cactus Color Study.
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Amanda Koonlaba, Ed.S.
Hi! I’m Amanda. Teaching children to be creative thinkers is my greatest joy. I’m here to help you bring that same joy to your classroom.
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