The Arts · Foundation · Making Marks and Telling Stories · Term 1

Exploring Textures in Art

Investigating different textures through touch and sight, and replicating them in drawings and collages.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9AVAFE01
• AC9AVAFE02

About This Topic

Exploring Textures in Art introduces Foundation students to texture as a visual arts element through sensory experiences. They investigate rough, smooth, bumpy, and soft textures by touching natural and found materials, then represent these qualities in drawings using lines, marks, and patterns. Collages combine paper, fabric, and natural items to create layered effects. This aligns with AC9AVAFE01, where students explore ideas and experiences, and AC9AVAFE02, focusing on visual conventions like texture to make marks and tell stories.

In the Making Marks and Telling Stories unit, texture builds descriptive language and observation skills. Students compare visual representations of rough bark versus smooth leaves, design collages with at least three textures, and explain how texture adds interest, such as making a sleepy cat feel soft or a rocky path feel dangerous. These activities foster creativity while connecting touch to visual art.

Texture exploration suits active, multisensory learning because students handle real materials, experiment freely, and share creations in peer critiques. This tactile approach makes concepts immediate and engaging, helping young learners internalize differences between textures and confidently replicate them in their artwork.

Key Questions

1. Compare the visual representation of a rough texture to a smooth texture.
2. Design a collage that incorporates at least three distinct textures.
3. Explain how texture can add interest and meaning to an artwork.

Learning Objectives

• Compare visual representations of rough and smooth textures using descriptive language.
• Design a collage incorporating at least three distinct tactile qualities.
• Explain how specific textures contribute to the meaning or feeling of an artwork.
• Identify different types of textures by touch and sight.
• Replicate textures in drawings using varied marks and lines.

Before You Start

Making Marks

Why: Students need to be familiar with using various tools to make different marks on paper before they can explore how those marks represent texture.

Exploring Colors and Shapes

Why: Understanding basic visual elements like color and shape provides a foundation for exploring how texture adds another layer of visual information to artworks.

Key Vocabulary

Texture	The way something feels or looks like it would feel, such as rough, smooth, bumpy, or soft.
Tactile	Relating to the sense of touch; how something feels when you touch it.
Visual Texture	The way an artist makes a drawing or painting look like it has a certain texture, even though it is flat.
Collage	An artwork made by sticking different things, such as pictures and pieces of fabric or paper, onto a surface.
Pattern	A repeated decorative design or arrangement of marks, used to create visual texture.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Texture can only be felt with hands, not shown visually.

What to Teach Instead

Show side-by-side photos of real textures and student drawings. Hands-on matching games help students see how lines and marks mimic sensations, building visual recognition through peer sharing.

Common Misconception

All textures look the same in art.

What to Teach Instead

Compare smooth watercolor washes to rough crayon scribbles. Sensory sorting activities reveal distinctions, as students touch and draw, leading to discussions that clarify rough versus smooth representations.

Common Misconception

Texture does not change an artwork's meaning.

What to Teach Instead

Display two identical shapes, one smooth and one textured. Collaborative collages demonstrate how texture evokes emotions, like spiky for angry, helping students articulate its role in storytelling.

Active Learning Ideas

Texture Rubbing Gallery: Nature Walk Prints

Students collect leaves, bark, and fabrics on a short outdoor walk. Back in class, they place items under paper and rub with crayons to capture textures. Display prints for a gallery walk where pairs discuss similarities to real textures.

30 min·Pairs

Collage Creation Stations: Mixed Media Layers

Set up stations with sandpaper, cotton wool, foil, and yarn. Students select three textures, glue them onto card to form a picture like a textured animal. Groups rotate stations and add drawn details to enhance effects.

45 min·Small Groups

Texture Sorting Relay: Feel and Match

Prepare bags with hidden textured items like pom poms, shells, and smooth stones. In teams, one student feels an item, describes it, and relays to teammates who select matching visuals from a chart. Switch roles after each round.

20 min·Small Groups

Storytime Texture Hunt: Book-Inspired Art

Read a textured picture book like 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Students hunt classroom items matching book textures, then draw or collage their own page replicating those sensations.

35 min·Whole Class

Real-World Connections

• Interior designers select fabrics and finishes for furniture and walls, considering how their textures will feel and look to create specific moods, like cozy or elegant, in a room.
• Children's book illustrators use different drawing techniques and materials to create textures that enhance the story, making a character's fur look soft or a monster's skin look scaly.
• Sculptors often work with materials like wood, stone, or clay, intentionally leaving surfaces rough or smoothing them to guide the viewer's tactile imagination and add emotional impact.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with two small squares of paper, one with a rough texture (like sandpaper) and one with a smooth texture (like cardstock). Ask them to draw one line or mark on each square that they think best shows its texture. Then, ask: 'Which one feels rough, and which one feels smooth?'

Discussion Prompt

Show students a picture of a familiar animal (e.g., a sheep). Ask: 'What words would you use to describe the texture of its wool? How could you draw that texture using only lines and dots? What other textures can you see in nature, like on a tree or a rock?'

Quick Check

During the collage activity, circulate and ask individual students: 'Show me the three different textures you have used. Can you tell me how they feel? Which one do you think looks the most interesting, and why?'

Frequently Asked Questions

What everyday materials work best for texture exploration in Foundation?

Use accessible items like sandpaper, tissue paper, bubble wrap, feathers, and natural finds such as leaves or pine needles. These provide clear rough, smooth, and bumpy contrasts without cost. Encourage students to bring safe home items for authenticity, rotating them weekly to sustain interest and expand sensory vocabulary across the unit.

How does exploring textures link to Australian Curriculum standards?

AC9AVAFE01 supports exploring ideas through sensory play with textures, while AC9AVAFE02 targets visual conventions like line and pattern to represent textures. Activities meet key questions by comparing representations, designing collages, and discussing texture's role in meaning, integrating into the Making Marks and Telling Stories unit seamlessly.

How can active learning deepen texture understanding?

Active approaches like texture hunts, rubbing stations, and collaborative collages engage multiple senses, making abstract visuals concrete. Students manipulate materials, experiment with effects, and critique peers' work, which reinforces differences between rough and smooth. This hands-on method boosts retention and confidence, as children naturally connect touch experiences to their drawings over passive viewing.

How to differentiate texture activities for diverse learners?

Provide verbal descriptions and models for visual learners, extra tactile time for those needing sensory input, and simplified choices for beginners. Pair stronger describers with others during relays, and offer pre-cut collage pieces. Extension tasks challenge advanced students to invent new textures, ensuring all meet standards through scaffolded, inclusive participation.