Try focusing on one illustrator or one style of art for one week. Study this style in depth by examining as many books that feature this style of illustration as you can find. Compare and contrast this style with other styles the children may have seen or studied. One common illustrator that children are intrigued by is Eric Carle. His tissue paper collage art makes an impact in his books, such as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "The Grouchy Ladybug." After studying Carle's style, allow children to try creating art in this manner. Provide lots of tissue paper squares, scissors, glue and space to create. Children can choose to copy a favorite book illustration or design their own picture.
As children are exposed to more and more books, they will begin to understand how books work. They will see how illustrations often correspond to the text on the page, how stories all have a beginning, a middle and an end and how the pictures often help to move the story forward. After studying a number of picture books, give children a chance to create their own book as a class. Choose a simple topic such as "Our School Day" and document all of the activities children do each day at school. Allow each child to have one page in the book. Take pictures of the children participating in daily activities and allow each of them to illustrate and write the text for their page. Laminate the pages for durability, bind the book and display it for visitors and children to peruse as they please.
Have children close their eyes while you read a fable or fairy tale out loud. Remind children to listen carefully to the story you are about to tell, as they will need to recall details about the story later. A few suggestions for fables or stories to read for this activity include "The Lion and the Mouse," "The Tortoise and the Hare" or "Rumpelstiltskin." When you have finished reading, give each child a blank piece of paper and some crayons, pencils or markers and ask him to create a comic book page based on the story he just heard. This will help children practice their recall and reflection skills.
Split your class into teams of two students each. Tell the pairs that they are now an author and illustrator team. Together, they will create a book with illustrations. They can choose to tell any kind of story they would like, as well as illustrate it any way they would like. They may choose to illustrate with photographs, watercolors, colored pencils or even pen and ink drawings. The important part is that children work cooperatively to both write the text and draw the pictures. This is a good project to present to the children after finishing a lesson plan or unit on picture books or literature. Give students one week to finish the project and then present it to the rest of the class.