Drawing Compasses

More on the seafaring theme! This time a lesson taken pretty much straight from artisan des arts.

This lesson was ideal because we'd been working on observational drawings and reading about navigation in Kensuke's Kingdom (also good timing as I'd just rescued some out-of-date atlases!).

The children drew their pictures in pencil from images of old, decorative compasses (in some cases elaborating or simplifying slightly). The were allowed to use a pair of compasses at the start but most of the drawing was free hand. The original lesson used metallic paints to finish the drawings but we just used coloured pencil and black pen.

The children then picked a map to rip out for the background (they were very specific in their choice of locations!) and stuck on their compass - no other mounting needed.

This was a straightforward but highly satisfying lesson with great result - I'd recommend a look at the original inspiration.