Explore the project below to help pupils consider how they might design an Olympic and Paralympic Mascot based on either Olympic Ceremony or Olympic Values.
Mascot Design
Aim: To introduce children to mascot design and explore how they can make characters that represent either an Olympic Value or your local area through drawing, animation and the use of sketchbooks.
Step 1: Introduce Mascots in Sketchbooks
Begin the session by asking pupils to make an Olympic project sketchbook using one of the “Making Sketchbooks” resources.
Next, explore “Talking Points: Olympic and Paralympic Mascots”. As pupils watch the videos encourage them to create some “Visual Notes” in their sketchbooks, considering the different values of the Olympics and the country designing them, and how this might reflect in the mascots.
Step 2: Character Design
In sketchbooks, either follow on by adapting the resource “A School Full of Characters“. Invite children to choose one of the Olympic Values and think about how they might incorporate the value into their character.
Or you may like to adapt the “Modelling Monsters” resource as inspiration for creating characters inspired by animals.
Step 3: Animating
If you have time, consider introducing pupils to some animation with the resource “Animating a walk cycle” and make their characters come to life.
Step 4: Reflect
Invite children to display the work in a clear space on tables or on the wall. Recap with them about the exploration – where they started, what they discovered and what they enjoyed.
If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work, working in pairs or teams.
Materials:
Sketchbooks
Drawing materials
Scissors
Cards
Wooden Skewer
Plasticine (Optional)
Tablet (Optional)
Adaptations:
This pathway supports both the ‘Values‘ and ‘Ceremony‘ topics. Ensure you change the focus of Mascot Design according to the topic you choose.
Think about resources within the local area that you could visit, you may find inspiring artefacts at local museums or galleries nearby.
If you would like to give pupils the opportunity to try animating on Tablets, you might like to see the resource “Explore Digital Animation“.
Instead of animating your mascot, take it into stitch and adapt “Make a Stitched Drawing” to create colourful textiles.
Explore Other Resources in Ceremony:
Explore other olympic themes
history
athletics
ceremony
What We Like About This Resource….
“It’s a really positive thing for an artist to share the concept of the creative journey. At AccessArt we believe journeys are pretty important and we are pleased to show this in action through Toby Pritchard’s post. We particularly like the anthropomorphic element, and how this really brings life to Toby’s work.” – Rachel, AccessArt
You May Also Like….
It’s been amazing to see the animations entered for the #BeACreativeProducer Animation Competition! The teenage #BeACreativeProducer team of Alex, Amelia, Immy, Lluis and Rowan can be very proud of all the creativity they have inspired!
We had a very difficult but hugely enjoyable time watching the animations and thinking carefully about how to choose the winners. We had 32 entries: the standard was very high and the outcomes very varied.
“All the entries we received were really very impressive. The ways everyone interpreted the brief were engaging and interesting but all completely unique – some of them made us laugh and others made us cry! The range of topics made them quite difficult to judge as they were all such high quality! Well done to everyone who took part for entering such incredible animations – and especially to those who won prizes and were shortlisted.” Immy, #BeACreativeProducer Team Member
In the end, after judging against our criteria (did the animation answer the brief? was it innovative? did it communicate its message?) the team decided we had to have more prize winners! Using money raised in their Crowdfunder as prize money, the teenage team very generously decided themselves to award the following prizes!
Congratulations to all who entered – its was such a hard choice and we loved receiving your work. All the entries below will be shown at the Opening Night of the #BeACreativeProducer Project at Cambridge Junction on the 28th February 2019.
Watch this space for the next competition.
Winner – Ben Heiss
The Henry’s Odyssey Prize Wins £100 Voucher
The #BeACreativeProducer team of judges loved the very clear message behind this animation which answered the brief of “The World Needs Your Creativity” so brilliantly. They also thought the music worked well with the visuals. Great story telling and great pace! Well done Ben.
Second Prize – Zuzanna, Mariam, Malaikah
The Scolaquip Prize – Wins £75 Voucher
The judges thought this was a very powerful animation and very much echoed the messages behind the larger #BeACreativeProducer project. Created by 3 girls from Dixons City Academy in Bradford, the judges loved it because it was graphically very strong.
The ScolaQuip Prize is sponsored by Scola
Runner Up – Finlay
Wins £50 Voucher
This judges loved this animation by Finlay for its quirky humour and use of objects and technology as props for the animation. Thank you Finlay for making us laugh, and a great message too!
Leo, Jack, Sara, Megan & Dora
Each Entry Wins £20 Voucher
It was SO hard deciding who should win, and the following animations came very close. We decided we had to give them a special mention. Varying so much in style and outcome, please enjoy watching the four animations included in the next showreel, by Leo, Jack, Sara, and Megan & Dora…
Many thanks to AccessArt Young Artist Alex Tunstall
