Hidden Safari

In this lesson, we learned how to create a "hidden" image within a picture full of various patterns.  This is done by first drawing the image you want to be hidden softly with a sky blue colored pencil.  Once you have completed this image, fill the rest of the page with various patterns, sticking with warm colors like red, yellow, and orange.  These colors will help to hide the image.  

In order to be able to see the hidden image, special glasses are needed.  To create these Ruby Red glasses, take a 3" x 10" piece of red cellophane and glue this to the back of red construction paper, which has some sort of eye holes already cut out.  Either a piece of string or a long 1" piece of red construction paper can be attached to the glasses so they can be worn.  

For my Hidden Safari picture, I drew an elephant with the sky blue colored pencil.  To hide it, I made a pattern of yellow diamonds and triangles, followed by various circles and squares made with red and orange.  

                                   

This activity could be implemented several different ways.  Students can create various hidden images and come up with several clues to give other students as to what their picture contains.  Another way to use this activity is to allow students to create a "cheat sheet" for an upcoming test or quiz.  Students will get a good review of the material while they are creating the picture and will be able to reference the picture during the test, as long as they have their Ruby Red glasses.