fish tank art by Minds to Grow, an education website
Teaching

Quick Lesson Idea: Fish Tank Art

Short on time and need a quick, yet lovely little activity for your Grade 1 or 2 students? Check out this fish tank art lesson!

Fish tank artwork
Fish Tank Art

Quick Description for Fish Tank Art

Using minimal materials, you can help your students create this cute fish tank art.

It would be helpful if students know how to do the following:

  • draw simple shapes (e.g., circles, ovals, triangles, etc.)
  • draw some organic shapes
  • draw some basic lines for design (e.g., wavy, zigzag, straight, etc.)
  • know the primary colours (red, yellow, blue) and secondary colours (purple, orange, and green)

Shapes for fish tank art: triangle, oval, etc.
Some simple shapes students can use to create their fish, plants, etc.

a book, summer reflection guide for teachers, on a table

Materials for Fish Tank Art

  • paper (e.g., lined or blank)
  • crayons and/or pencil crayons
  • black marker

*I used 8 1/2 x 11 lined paper as that’s what I had available when I taught this lesson online.

Learning Goal:

I will use a few different shapes and lines, as well as the primary and secondary colours, to create a picture.

Task Description:

Create a fish tank with six fish and scenery.

Success Criteria for this Task:

I know I am successful when I…

  • draw and colour one red fish, one blue fish, and one yellow fish
  • draw and colour one purple fish, one orange fish, and one green fish
  • add different lines to the tail and fins (e.g., zigzag, straight, etc.)
  • draw a wavy line to draw the ocean bed (e.g., sand)
  • draw and colour some plants
  • outline all of the above with a black marker (e.g., fish, plants, etc.)
  • draw some blue waves
  • colour the ocean bed brown and the rest of the background blue
  • add extra details such as bubbles, pebbles in the sand, etc.

plant in a planter; logo for Minds to Grow, an education website

My Example: Fish Tank Art

click for free weekly planning page template

Hashtag #fishtankart

If interested, please share a photo of some art samples for this task with the hashtag #fishtankart.

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