Warmcool colours: ask pupils to paint the background to a frieze representing the change in climate during migration. Colours will be cool pale greys and blues at the start, changing to warm yellows and greens when the birds arrive at a temperate region. Pupils can make birds, some on the wing and some in flocks on the ground, and attach these to make a collage.

The theme can develop by introducing Aboriginal art depicting journeys of people and animals. Write a story of a journey of a bird and illustrate this, adopting the style of Aboriginal art.

Introduce watercolour and tools which facilitate careful detail. Fieldwork observation in sketchbooks is challenging; taking digital photos will enable the detail to be added later. Look at the work of Charles Tunnicliffe, who illustrated the Ladybird books, and other bird illustrators such as Noel William Cusa, thus broadening the traditional range of critical studies references.