I’m so in love with this Eric Carle inspired Mixed up Chameleon art.  Have you read The Mixed Up Chameleon?  It’s the latest highlighted book for the Preschool Book Club Series I’m a part of.  It’s such a nice story about a chameleon who doesn’t see his own strengths and tries to be like everyone else.  What stands out to me the most about Eric Carle books, are his amazing illustrations.  I love the texture and bright colors he uses.  Plus, the collage affect he uses is captivating.   We tried our own interpretation of Eric Carle art and I just love it.

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First, we made the paper.  I used sulphite drawing 9×12 sheets.  The kids took turns painting different sheets different colors as the base.  Then we added smaller amounts of paint in different colors on top of the base.  We just dripped it on.

I handed out different interesting materials to be used for “painting.”  We had a cup, a spoon, the back of a perler bead template and a fork.  The kids tried out the different materials on the paint and found fantastic results.

They loved dragging the spoon and fork across the paper.  They tried the utensils on either sides, noticing the different textures they created.  The perler bead template made these great dots that added a lot to the paint.  The favorite was probably the cup.  It made circles on both sides.  One child had fun making a smiley face that was pretty great.  I think the back of a few paint brushes were used to.  This was a really fun process.

After the sheets of color dried, I cut out different shaped chameleons based on the book.  My kids are too young for this part.  Older kids, ages 4 and up, would be great at tracing pre made templates and cutting them out.  You can help with the tricky parts or draw more simple chameleons.  The last touch was to glue on the googley eyes.  This part is always really fun for the kids.  We took the chameleons and arranged them on one of the sheets of paper we painted.  I don’t know about you, but I think the results are pretty fantastic.  I love when process art meets awesome results.

To read more great ideas from The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle click the links below.  Click here see the whole Preschool Book Club series.

Snack Mix Activity by SugarAunts

The Mixed Up Chameleon Sensory Bin by Frogs, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Eric Carle Inspired Mixed Up Creatures by Homegrown Friends

Fine Motor and Counting Game for the Mixed Up Chameleon by Buggy and Buddy

The Mixed Up Chameleon Camouflaged Chameleon by Mama.Papa.Bubba.