My mum has always had a large Willow Pattern collection and the images have fascinated me for a long time. This lesson is inspired by her collection and this Willow Pattern plate activity at Activity Village.
My grade 5 students first read the Willow Pattern story, viewed pieces
of Willow Pattern china and then chose their own part of the story to
illustrate. Their designs were transferred to paper plates and painted
using fine brushes. Students had to create tints and shades to mix their
own different shades of blue for painting. There is a very cute little youtube video of The Willow Pattern Story, also illustrated by children here. There is also a children's book called The Willow Pattern Story by Allan Drummond which I haven't read but looks like a great resource for this project.
