Produce Portraits

Celebrate the colors and shapes of nature’s bounty in a Giuseppe Arcimboldo-inspired self-portrait. Learn about incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet as part of a healthy lifestyle in this cross-curriculum lesson plan.

• 1.

  Your body needs the vitamins in fruits and vegetables to help maintain a healthy weight and fight disease. Break the students into small groups. Work as a group to brainstorm a list of as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Which are the class favorites?

• 2.

  Artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo created portrait paintings using fruits and vegetables. Divide students into groups to research Arcimboldo’s life and works. Examine how he uses simple items to create more complex forms. What artists has he inspired? How does he inspire you?

• 3.

  Create your own Arcimboldo-inspired self portrait. Use Crayola® crayons to add facial features, hair and other details using fruits, vegetables and other healthy food choices. Look at Arcimboldo’s paintings and real produce as inspiration.

• 4.

  Use a variety of creative coloring techniques when making the portrait. Use crayon pressure variations, outlining and creating new colors to add dimension to the drawings.

Benefits

• Students understand that the human body needs nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables in order to stay healthy and function well.
• Students gather information about food-inspired artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo.
• Students use Arcimboldo’s works as inspiration for a produce self-portrait using a variety of crayon techniques.

Adaptations

• Read Hello Fruit Face! The Paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo by Claudia Strand.
• A healthy diet includes more than just fruits and vegetables. Go to www.mypyramid.gov/kids to learn more about nutrition.
• What types of food do people eat in different parts of the world? Select an area based on the curriculum in another class and learn more about cultural cuisine.