There are a lot of skills packed in to this fun project!  We started with textured painted paper, which later would be sandy hills.  Then we painted a colorful sunset sky.  Clouds were added to the sky after a discussion about objects receding in space, how objects close to us appear larger and get smaller as they get further from the viewer and closer to the horizon line.  Lastly, we drew camels on black paper, one large, one medium, one small.

The next day, we tore the textured paper and layered it to create rolling sand hills.  The next challenge was to create pyramids.  To make things easier for the younger kids, I let them trace three triangle shapes.  Then I showed them how to shade the triangles with vine charcoal to create a three dimensional pyramid.  Theses were glued down, again keeping in mind the lesson of objects receding in space.  Finally, we cut out our camels and arranged them with the largest closest to us and the smaller ones closer to the horizon line.

I really think most students were grasping the concept of creating space on a page with the clouds and pyramids.  But, I have to say, the camels are my favorite!

Thanks to Cassie Stephens for the idea. : )