Jungle Maps

So when I was younger I liked sketching maps and imagining different realms, so  I thought it would be a fun project for my littles to draw jungle maps as we learned the letter "J."

I showed them some examples of jungle maps and what the different symbols represented.  They were thrilled to make their own maps so I got our supplies ready.

The supplies we used were:

• brown paper bags
• colored pencils
• charcoal (optional)

Here are some references that we looked at:

They loved the dead fish in this pic.

I wanted them to see both complex and simple examples of jungle maps just to get them inspired.  I never want my students to feel like they can't do something just because it's complex, so I took this assignment as an opportunity to teach them that everything can be broken down into chunks so you can better manage the problem.  So after we broke down the more complex drawings to their main components, I let them get started.

For their canvases, I cut out squares from the brown paper bags.  I used the really big ones from the grocery store just because they were a little sturdier than the smaller bags.  I felt like using colored pencils would give them a better experience than crayons or markers because with the colored pencils, they could be really precise.  They loved being able to use their white colored pencils since the canvas wasn't white.

They greatly enjoyed looking at the reference images and looking back at their own works and comparing the two.  They worked very hard to make their own lakes, mountains and some students even drew people on their maps.  At any age, it's good to teach students to use references as they build their visual libraries.

Here are some of the finished products that the students made:

 

 

 

 

You could use charcoal to darken the edges and give the maps a burned, antique look and if your students are older, you can have them crumble the paper and then un-crumble to emphasize that antique look.  Another fun activity to try is when the students finish their maps, have them draw dashes that lead to an "X" on their map.  Then have them go on a "treasure hunt" later on that day and see what they find.