ACTIVITY

Vegetable Art – Part 1

Students explore art by looking at Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s paintings and create their own vegetable/fruit collage, using creative freedom.

In part 1 of this Brick, students engage with Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s paintings.
In part 2 the students make their own collage.

Before:

Read into the Visual Thinking Strategy Method (VTS). Get some artworks of Arcimboldo either on paper or on the digital schoolboard.

Introduce the Artwork. Show an Arcimboldo painting (or resource example). Facilitate the discussion by asking the three VTS questions in this exact order. As the facilitator, your role is to listen, point, and paraphrase, not to teach or correct.

Didactic tips:

Allow for “wait time” after each question
After asking a VTS question, wait 5–10 seconds before speaking again. Students often need a moment to observe carefully, and the extra silence encourages more thoughtful and diverse responses rather than quick guesses.
Value evidence over correct answers
Whenever a student shares an observation, follow up with the VTS prompt: “What do you see that makes you say that?” This helps students practice visual reasoning and supports the idea that interpretations should be based on evidence in the artwork.
Encourage multiple perspectives
If students disagree or notice different details, welcome both viewpoints instead of resolving them. You might say, “That’s an interesting observation. Does anyone see something different?” This fosters curiosity, respectful discussion, and shows that artworks can be interpreted in more than one way.

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ACTIVITY

Vegetable Art – Part 1

Didactic tips:

THEME:

Nature & biodiversity

SUBJECTS:

TOOLS / MATERIALS:

METHODS:

RESOURCES: