Violeta Monreal

Violeta Monreal

This activity, based on Van Gogh’s Sunfl ower paintings,

has been adapted from the book

TALLER ARTE de PAPEL, written and illustrated by Violeta Monreal.

Published by MACMILLAN Infantil y Juvenil.

Other famous paintings used in this book are:

Error on Green, by Paul KleeMaya With Doll, Pablo Picasso

Catalan Peasant, Joan MiróLa Gioconda, by Leonardo da VinciThe Meninas, by Diego Velázquez

Archimedes’ Principle, by René MagritteThe House in Grey, by Marc Chagall

Little Blue Horse, by Franz MarcThe Kiss, by Gustav Klimt

Materials needed

• Different coloured paper, preferably with a white background so that shapes have a nice white edge

• Cardboard for base• Glue

Scissors not necessary as students can tear out shapes

VOCABULARY

Colours, Shapes, Materials, Actions

Van Gogh

Tear triangles in different shades of yellow and orange.

Glue them on to the cardboard.

Glue more petals. Your sunfl ower should look like this.

Tear a brown circle ... and a smaller circle in another shade of brown...

Tear a long and thin green strip.

This is your stem.

Tear an oval shape for your vase.

Tear some green leaves.

Your sunfl ower is now ready!

...and an even smaller circle

in red.

Glue them together, with the smallest circle on top.

Vocabulary

Parts of a fl ower: petals, stem, leaves

Colours: yellow, orange, green, red, brown

Shapes: triangle, oval, circle.

Try making another fl ower!

Sunfl owersBuy a sunfl ower and put it in a vase.

Show your students van Gogh’s paintings of sunfl owers. Tell students that sunfl owers grow and the fl ower turns to face the sun. Draw your students’ attention to the name in Spanish and compare it with its English name.

Talk about the petals and their colours.Talk about the shapes you can see in the fl ower.

MAKE A SUNFLOWER, STEP BY STEPIt’s easier than it seems, just try and have fun.

These sunfl owers are beautiful.

Van Gogh painted several picturesof these fl owers.