Salt & Sea Magic

Overview

Curriculum Area: The Arts – Visual Arts
Curriculum Level: Level 3 (Years 5–6, New Zealand Curriculum)
Big Idea: "Art reflects and responds to the world, and our ideas, relationships, and identities."
Focus Strands: Developing practical knowledge and Developing ideas
Achievement Objective: Students will investigate and develop visual ideas in response to a sea creature theme, using salt dough to explore texture, shape, and proportion.
Lesson Duration: 2 hours
Class Size: 27 students

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Understand how shape and proportion help communicate ideas in art
• Explore the texture of marine creatures through tactile sculpture using salt dough
• Create a 3D salt dough sea creature with attention to form and surface detail
• Use paint to enhance details and textures after baking

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Success Criteria

Students can:

• Accurately shape their sea creature using good reference (look, sketch, sculpt)
• Include at least 2 key textured areas (e.g. scales, tentacles, fins)
• Name and justify their creature choice and how they captured it through shape and texture
• Cooperate and safely use materials in the classroom space

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Key Competencies

Thinking – Selecting key features of real sea creatures to inform their designs
Using language, symbols, and texts – Interpreting visual sources and translating into 3D form
Managing self – Working patiently through multi-step process
Participating and contributing – Collaborating at shared tables and giving/receiving feedback

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Resources Required

For Prep:

• Salt dough (pre-made optional: 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, ¾ cup water – multiply for class size)
• Baking trays and access to an oven (teacher to bake post-lesson)
• Access to reference images of NZ sea creatures (e.g. kina, pāua, Hector's dolphins, sea stars, wheke/octopus)

For the Lesson:

• Salt dough portions (about a tennis ball-sized lump per student)
• Laminated cards with names and images of NZ marine life (for inspiration)
• Sketching pencils and plain paper
• Wooden modelling tools or blunt sticks
• Toothpicks, shells, old forks (texture tools)
• Plastic boards or paper placemats for working
• Water containers and cloths for cleaning hands
• Paints and brushes (next session, after baking)

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Lesson Sequence

1. Mihi & Whakawhanaungatanga (5 minutes)

Settle and greet students. Begin with a brief karakia and acknowledge the local marine environment. Ask: “What lives in our waters? What textures come to mind when you think of those creatures?”

2. Te Ao Moana – Explore & Observe (15 minutes)

In pairs, students examine image cards of Aotearoa New Zealand sea creatures (e.g., kina, pāua, seahorse, wheke). What features define them? How are they shaped? What part of the creature is rough, slippery, soft or hard?

💡 Prompt: Have students describe aloud or draw texture patterns with their finger in the air.

3. Concept Sketching & Planning (10 minutes)

Students each choose one creature they want to sculpt. They do a quick, labelled sketch showing:

• General shape
• Size and proportion considerations
• Where they’ll apply different textures

🎯 Success Reminder: “Two different textures, proportionally accurate, and clearly recognisable.”

4. Salt Dough Sculpting (35 minutes)

Hand out salt dough and tools. Students model their sea creatures on placemats using their sketch as a guide. Move around offering formative feedback.

🧂 Tip: Show demo of pinching vs coiling to build different shapes. Encourage fine detail and decision-making on texture.

✅ Early finishers can help peers or create a small ecosystem feature (e.g., seaweed, bubbles, coral cluster) to accompany their creature.

5. Gallery Walk & Self-Review (10 minutes)

Students place their sea creatures on labelled trays. Complete a self-assessment slip:

• “What part was most successful?”
• “What texture did I include and where?”
• “What will I paint after it’s baked?”

They walk around and observe classmates’ work, offering “one wow, one wonder” verbally to peers.

6. Cool-down & Tidy (15 minutes)

Clean stations together – focus on teamwork. Then circle up for a short reflection:

• “What new thing did I notice about sea creatures from sculpting today?”
• “How did using salt dough help me share my ideas about it?”

Explain that sculptures will bake overnight and be ready for painting in next session.

7. Teacher Wrap-Up (5 minutes)

Celebrate creative risks. Preview next session: Painting with attention to how real ocean light affects sea creatures – shimmer, shades of teal and blue, use of metallics (linking visual arts and science).

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Differentiation

• Support: Provide creature templates for neurodiverse learners or those needing scaffolds
• Extension: Invite confident sculptors to add baby creatures or create environmental add-ons
• Cultural Connects: Encourage inclusion of creatures from mātauranga Māori e.g., taniwha of the sea, or interpretation of pāua as taonga

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Assessment Opportunities

• Formative: Teacher observation during modelling, peer feedback in gallery walk
• Summative (next session):
  • Final painted model (presentation, surface treatment)
  • Student reflection writing on their design decisions (texture, proportion, inspirations)

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Next Steps (Future Learning)

• Finish with painting and display - possibly set up a classroom "Under the Sea" exhibition
• Reflect and link with local marine conservation – invite students to consider how sea creatures inspire storytelling or design in other cultures
• Link visual art with writing: students write a narrative or info report about their creature

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Kia kaha te auahatanga – Strengthen creative thinking by building connections between Aotearoa's coastal landscapes and hands-on expression through sculpture.