Escher Tessellations

1. With your pencil draw a line from left to right across the index card. The line can be straight or squiggly. (Figure 1)

2. Draw a line from top to bottom on the index card. Again, the line can be straight or squiggly. (Figure 2)

3. With scissors, cut along the lines. You should end up with 4 pieces. (Figure 3)

4. Rotate the pieces so the outer corners (corners marked x on the diagram) touch. Tape the shapes together. Now you have created a stencil for your tessellation. (Figure 4)

5. Look at the shape you created. What does it look like? Does it look like a flower, a turtle or maybe a frog? Decide what it is going to be. You will be coloring it in later. We decided that the shape in our example would be a flower. (Figure 5)

6. On your large piece of paper, use the stencil to create a repeating pattern. If you did the stencil correctly, your outlines should fit together like a puzzle. (Figure 6)

7.Use your crayons, color pencils or paints to color in each of your objects. Alternate colors to create a really cool pattern. (Figure 7)

Kids, do you want to learn more about art and famous artists?

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