Mrs. Cambria's Art Room

Chinese New Year Dragons

1st-3rd Grade version

4th and 5th grade version

 

Materials:

-Red construction paper cut into the following dimensions:

    *4.5x 12 inches.  This is the body 

    * rectangles 3 x 4.5 inches to cut into 4 pieces for legs 
    *rectangles 6 x 4.5 inches for the head 
    *triangles made from cutting a whole sheet of paper diagonally into two equal parts        

    *squares 2.5 x 2.5 inches for eyes

-white paper 4 x 2 inches

-orange paper scrap

-yellow paper scrap

-scissors

-glue

-construction paper crayons

student's finished dragons

Chinese New Year Dragons Overview: These dragons are made of construction paper for new years.  Wings are optional.

1- Fold the large triangle back and forth like an accordion.
2- Fold the 3 x 4.5in rectangle in half hamburger style twice, you'll have 4 long rectangles, Cut along the creases into 4 equal legs.
3- Cut 2 triangles out of the bottom of each leg to make 3 clawed toes.
4- Glue the legs onto the body.
5- Fold the 6 x 4.5 inch rectangle in half to form a head with a wide, open mouth, glue this to the top of the triangle body.
6- Draw scales onto the dragon's whole body.

*For the 1st-3rd grade version of the dragon draw the eyes and nostrils onto the head and skip to step 9.

7- Fold the 2.5 x 2.5 inch square in half, cut the top half on the square into a sideways “B” shape and draw eyes onto it. Glue the bottom half of the square onto the top of the head.
8- About half an inch from the front edge of the face up and draw 2 big black nostrils, then cut a curvy line around the nostrils.
9- Fold the 4 x 2 inch white paper in half hot dog style.  On one half of it draw sharp teeth then cut out the teeth.

10- Glue the uncut half of the white paper into the roof of the dragon’s mouth.

11- Cut or rip up the orange and yellow scraps of construction paper and glue it into the mouth for fire.
12- Use extra red, orange or yellow paper to make any extras the students want to add like wings or spikes.

R.J.'s Dragon was awesome!  I should have gotten a better photo.