Thanks for your compliment and suggestion, Laura! I actually developed a project on cave painting and have a great DVD and Powerpoint presentation to accompany it. The only thing is that it has been difficult for me to create a cave painting project where the students are satisfied with the final outcome. Most students haven't wanted to keep their cave paintings when I pass them back :( so I decided not to do the project this year.
I really enjoy teaching them about the cave painters because I talk about how old the technique of painting is, how we are very connected to these people and are continuing an ancient tradition when we paint. I especially appreciate the paintings of hands in the caves, because I point out how our hands look the same and how these people were more like us than we tend to believe. I miss teaching about that actually, even though I do have a lot of other great projects to teach them about.
When I taught it last year I showed the students images of animals in the caves and then had them either copy them onto paper that had been crumpled to simulate the cave wall texture or they could design original creatures from their imagination. They also had to include arrows, rows of dots and hands to decorate the walls like how the actual caves were decorated. Maybe in the future I can require my students to create a story and develop the creatures a bit more, perhaps. Maybe I could require them to combine an animal with a human like in the "Sorcerer" painting seen here: _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorcerer_%28cave_art%29. Oooh maybe it could be a self-portrait combined with a spirit animal they want to associate with!! Just writing this out gave me that idea and I think it might be a good one!! :D
In the past I thought of having my students draw on sandpaper for texture, which is difficult, but would give them a feel for how difficult it must have been for the actual cave painters to paint on the walls and ceilings. My coworker discouraged me from doing that though because he gave me a critical look and said, "Would YOU like to draw on sandpaper??" Lol, I would not. So if anyone can think of ways to improve this lesson I would be so delighted to hear about them! But if you can't think of anything, no worries, because I've been thinking about it every autumn for a few years now.
