Art Classes: Level I

Level I-Art Lesson 8: The Kitenge Tree Wall Hanging From Tanzania

Learn to Create a Batik Effect With Crayons and Acrylic paint

The lesson is suitable for students in grade 2 through adult.

Art Lesson Description:

Craftsmen in Tanzania are masters of creating large Kitenge cloths--gorgeously patterned fabric that is worn as headscarfs, sarongs, baby carriers, and more. Craftsmen in a free-trade organization used scraps of kitenge cloth to create the wall-hanging that forms the foundation for this lesson.

This is a multi-media lesson. In it, students will:

Draw the tree, landscape, and leaves with crayons on drawing paper,
Color the picture with crayons,
Crack the crayon surface by crushing the paper, and
Use acrylic paint to create a batik effect.

This lesson is appropriate for students in 3rd grade through adult. (Children younger than 3rd grade could do the lesson with adult help.)

This lesson includes both POWERPOINT and VIDEO versions of the lesson plus 2 downloadable printouts: a warmup and a drawing of the landscape with the tree.

List of Supplies for Each Student:

A copy of the warm-up (it comes with the lesson)
A fine tipped permanent black marker (#ad)
A set of crayons (#ad)
1 set of brushes (#ad)
A small bowl to mix acrylic paint with water
A bottle of a dark color of tempera paint (#ad) or acrylic paint (#ad)
A sheet of 11" x 14" drawing paper (#ad)

Suggestions for Cross-Curricular Connections:

Tanzanian Culture:

Learn more about kitenge cloth
Watch Tanzanian craftsmen create their designs

Geography and Writing: Tanzania is an amazing country. Pretend you are a tour agent. Study the following resources and propose a tour of Tanzania’s parks. Estimate the costs of the tour in order to make you tour proposal complete.

Scroll below the map to learn about national parks in Tanzania.
Maps and other information about the parks.
Tanzania has 7 World Heritage sites. Learn about them, and learn about the problem of wildlife poaching.

Science:

Learn where African violets originated from.
Learn how to grow African violets.
Clarinets are made from the wood of African blackwood trees that grow in Tanzania. Learn more about the tree.

Literature:

We All Went On Safari (#ad) by Laurie Krebs. Go on a counting journey across Tanzania.
Only the Mountains Do Not Move: A Maasai Story of Culture and Conservation (#ad) by Jan Reynolds. A photographic essay about contemporary Maasai—the changes in lifestyle, land, and farming practices they face and how they are adapting to those changes. An excellent introduction to Tanzania for children.
Dogodogo: Tanzanian Street Children Tell Their Stories (#ad) by Kasia Parham. This book can be read by students at either primary or secondary level. The text tackles a range of serious, global issues and provides many opportunities for discussion with more advanced readers.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (#ad) by William Kamkwamba. An inspiring true story from nearby Malawi about a boy who saved his family from a desperate situation.
The Honey Bird: An authentic Masai story in English and Swahili (#ad) by David Read. A Masai folktale about how the Masai and the honey bird work together.
An terrific online collection of folktales from Tanzania.
A Tanzanian folktale with a moral: "Lion, Chameleon, and Chicken: A Gogo Bantu folktale from Tanzania." Find it online
Read some Tanzanian proverbs. Have students identify an equivalent they may have from their own culture. Why are they similar? Why are they different?
Peace Like a Monkey: And Other Tales of Life in Tanzania (#ad) by Marya K Plotkin.