The Art & Stories of Leo Lionni

Since it is Picturebook Month, I decided kindergarten and 1st grade would study an author or two who has written several picturebooks.  I also wanted kid friendly videos to introduce the author and fun centers for students to enjoy.  I searched through several authors and decided to go with Leo Lionni.

To introduce my students to Lionni, I played two videos from the Random House site: "Why Leo Writes" and "Leo Makes a Mouse".  These are the perfect length for younger students and they ALL loved watching Lionni create a mouse from pieces of paper.  

Right after the videos, each table of students had a different activity center.  They rotated through these centers every 8 minutes.

Centers:
Draw like the Illustrator bookmark:  Cut copy paper in thirds to be the size of a bookmark (for little hands) and provide crayons.  Each student looked through a Lionni book and modeled his illustration style.  

Mouse Shapes: Using Lionni's mouse books (Frederick & Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse), students took shape blocks and formed them to look like his mice.

Little Blue and Little Yellow 'picture': Provide students with white paper and blue and yellow crayons.  They draw a picture in blue and then color over it in yellow, therefore turning the picture green.

A Color of His Own 'create a chameleon': Students are given pipe cleaners and asked to make a chameleon.  The idea came from this site.

Leo Lionni Books: Students were given tablets to listen to Leo Lionni stories on via Youtube Kids.

Students LOVED these centers!




Image from randomhousekids.com