Crocodile Crocodile Down by the Lake: Box for a Drawing Exercise

Working at a school you get to see what crazy things teachers come up with, what crazy things teachers take from other teachers, teacher friends and of course pintrest. 

So I saw a teacher friend with  cute crocodile she used in her room, I liked it but I wanted to take it up a notch, that is where my crocodile comes in.  This instructable will teach you how to create your croc for your drawing excersize let's get started.

A cascade dishwasher container (the kind the tablets come in)  Any container that has a lid the lifts part way up will work
White School Glue (I like Elmer's)
Small bucket or dish
Various acrylic paint
Various scrap fabric (I used jeans for this project)
Egg cartons (cardboard)
Masking Tape

Here is the original I saw in the room of a kindergarden teacher, it's cute, I like it but it was not what I wanted to do.....sooo I took it up a notch.  I did want you to see her's however so you could see where the inspiration came from.

To make an armature for this project, I used cardboard egg cartons.  I cut them apart and taped them int place.

For the eyes, I took to areas of the egg containers and taped them together.

I would suggest taping these down pretty well so you don't have your armature slipping and sliding around on you.

Glue Mache is great, and is wonderful will fabric.  I applogize, it's a really messy process and I forget to stop and take pictures, but I talk you through this.

Mix 1/2 glue and 1/2 water.  Mix with a fork.

Have already cut fabric.  I used jeans fabric for this, but any fabric will work.  Dip into the glue mache mix.  Pull it out and gently run your fingers down it. Don't wring it completely out, but get excess off.  Lay on the armature.  Now so the weight of the mache didn't shut the mouth I put a wad of paper in the mouth to hold it open.  After my first round dried, I took it out flipped it over and did the bottom jaw.

For his teeth, I let fabric hang over the edge.  When the project was dry, I used a razor blade to cut the teeth out.  I'm sure scissors would work as well.

Using acrylic paint, mix up a color you want your creation.  Paint away!

I layered, using a dark green base, then going in with black. 

When that dried, I used a gold paint to hit the top highlights.

After that dried I went over it with a light green.

At the end I spray painted the inside black (see me tips)

Crocodile Crocodile Down By The Lake
I'm Goin' To Reach In Your Belly
And Draw What You Ate!!!

Inside the crocodile you can put strips of paper or actual items.  have students reach in (they can say the rhyme) and pull out what they are going to draw.  This is a great way to push creativity.  You could have paper that says things like draw a mouse with an elephant nose, draw a dog with wings, and other wild ideas.  you could also put small plastic toys that they must pull out and draw, they could draw that critter in an environment, they could draw their hand holding it, the possibilities are endless!

Note:

A student asked me today Miss PoofRabbit why is it a crocodile not an alligator, how can you tell?  Good question I said, when an alligator mouth is closed all it's teeth are inside it's mouth.  A crocodile has teeth in and out of it's mouth, just like our crocodile.

* Spray paint the inside of the crocodile first.  I get excited and forget to rattle can to start!!

* You can spray paint the outside of the crocodile if you like, I just enjoy hand painting

* Choose your material wisely.  The smoother the material the less texture, the more texture the material has the more will show when you are finishing your piece

Questions?  Ask away!