Dutch canal houses groupwork

Part of the groupwork, made by students of grade 4

You need:

1. white drawing sheets


2. tempera paint


3. brushes


4. pencil


5. glue plakkaatverf

After a request of Amy Baldwin, art teacher in Millington, my 4th graders painted Dutch canal houses for the Empty Bowl fundraiser in Millington (Mi).

Before starting to paint, we talked about the Dutch Golden Age, a period roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. In this century many of the typical canal houses were built, in that age used as store houses. We looked at pictures of canal houses, discussed the different kinds of gables (neck gable, trep gable, bell gable) and details of the houses (windows, year it was built, stairs).



Every students gets a sheet of paper and has to draw a line on 8 cm of the bottom - this is for the canal. On the left side of the sheet there must remain a white strip of 2 cm (to paste all paintings together).

Every student draws his own canal house. Stop drawing after 5 minutes, to avoid drawint to many details. Paint the house with tempera paint. Mix colours, or for even better results: take two colours of paint on your brush and mix a little while painting.

Paste all paintings together to make a long street. Paint the canal. You might even add the words  'Groeten uit Holland'!

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