Gross Motor Art Archives - Page 2 of 3

January 4, 2012 by Megan Schiller

Exploring Circles- Welcoming the Cycle of a New Year

For our last class of the session, we explored a circular theme to represent the end of one year and the beginning of a new year. The 1s and 2s classes began with different types of ball painting. We used golf balls for children who aren’t accustomed to marbles yet, and introduced marble painting to kids whose parents felt comfortable with such small objects.

The kids used spoons to roll the balls in paint and scoop them into their trays. Next, they began to shake and tip the trays to make tracks on their paper.

Stirring the balls around and shaking glitter onto them was also a major part of the experience.

As the children began to collect new tools off of the shelf, the teachers brought out large paper to continue their exploration.

We even tried the ball painting on a large scale, where the kids collaborated to get the balls rolling.

As the kids began to move around the studio, we had some more exciting circular activities to investigate.

We tried out our new “spinner art” machine that spins the paper around really fast while the children added drops of paint to the moving paper. The machine came with squeeze bottles, but we first tried using our eye droppers with watered down tempera paint to help develop fine motor skills.

Here is an example of a finished spin art design!

While some of the children focused on the spin art, others were drawn to the pendulum painting, set up over the floor. We hung a string and plastic cup (with a small hole at the bottom) from the ceiling to act as a pendulum. The kids squirted watered down tempera paint into the cup and swung the cup around in circles to create circular and oval drip designs. The floor was covered with a painting that had been previously sprayed with watercolors, so the design overlapped the blotchy watercolor effect. One group of kids began to pass the cup back and forth, creating a cooperative painting game!

Before getting messy with the ball painting, the 3s/4s classes worked on a more crafty project for the new year… a “wish catcher.” They began by drawing a design onto a pre-cut poster board with holes punched into it. While they were drawing, the teachers asked them about what types of wishes they had for the new year and helped them write down their wishes. Some kids wished for snow, or to play with friends, and one even wished for a chainsaw (which it turns out he actually got for Christmas!)

After drawing on the poster board, the kids practiced their fine motor skills by “sewing” yarn in and out of the holes.

After sewing, the teachers helped the kids apply clear contact paper to the middle of the hoops so they could create a “stained glass” collage (they also made sure to stick their wishes into their collages).

Here is one of the finished “wish catchers” hanging in the window. Maybe they will help to manifest all of the children’s hopes and dreams for the new year. Happy New Year!!!

July 20, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Back to the Basics with Finger Painting

This week in the older 2s class we went back to the basics with good old finger painting. Although our tempera projects often turn into finger painting, we haven’t focused solely on this sensory experience in a long time. When we’ve done finger painting in the past, it was always with regular tempera paints so the kids could really get to know the type of paint that we use most often. This time we tried out some gel-like “finger paints” that have a very different consistency than the tempera paints. The kids had so much fun squishing, mixing and rubbing the paint all over!

After using our hands for a little while, I offered the kids a variety of tools to use with their paints to add texture- They especially liked our new sponge wands!

After finger painting we moved outside to paint on our large floor mural with bouncing bean bags, mops, and brooms- a super messy and super fun class!

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July 13, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Exploring Clay- Creating Textures

This week was dedicated to clay exploration. For the mixed age class, the young kids worked inside, getting to know the clay and experimenting with various tools. The older kids sat together outside making sculptures.

In the 2s class, we experimented with different textured tools. The children first rolled out a slab of clay with textured rollers to see what kinds of marks they made on the clay.

Then I offered the kids clay hammers that pound different shapes into the clay. They got creative with the tools and began making textures in the clay in new ways.

After creating a variety of textures on their clay, the children decorated their work with glitter glue and fun materials like buttons, jewels, shells and pebbles.

After putting their work to dry on the shelf, I offered the kids new clay to explore with water. This is a sensory experience that is an important part of learning about clay. It won’t result in a finished product (more like a mushy clay soup )- but it sure is fun!

After working with clay, both classes got some painting in before class was over.

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June 23, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Summer Contact Paper Collage

This week the 1s/2s class celebrated summertime with a flower petal and shapes collage. I taped clear contact paper (sticky side up) down to the table and offered them petals, sequin shapes, and tissue shapes to stick to the paper. I was inspired by the Artful Parent who recently used this method to make fairy wings!

The kids glammed up their work by adding plenty of glitter.

After the collages, I brought out some golf ball painting materials. The children caught on quickly how to shake the trays to create interesting lines on their paper. They had fun exploring the studio and periodically returning to the golf ball painting to do some more shaking.

Hard at work!

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June 12, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Printmaking and Open Studio

For the first class of our summer session, we worked on mono-type printmaking and stamping. We started off rolling out paint onto acrylic boxes and then using a cotton swab to draw a design. The mixed-age open studio class used large acrylic boxes as a base, while the 1s/2s class used small boxes to print fathers day cards.

We continued the theme of printmaking by using a variety of stamps. Some children used cookie cutters to stamp out shapes, while others used the letters DAD to add to their fathers day cards.

We also experimented with bubble wrap printmaking. The children painted the bubble wrap (which was taped to the acrylic easel) then pressed paper against it to make a print.

The 1s/2s class moved on to painting with fun tools and gathering new supplies from the shelf.

For the mixed-age class we had a large group of 11 kids, so while some children worked on printmaking inside the studio, others were busy at the five outside stations. These stations included a floor mural with gross-motor tools for painting…

ball painting…

easel painting…

a bleeding tissue mural collage with water spray bottles…

and a mixing table with sand and powered tempera paint.

And of course the studio eventually turned from a print-making station into a messy, fun, free-for-all!

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June 6, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Collaborative Canvas

As one of our final projects of the spring session, we created a collaborative canvas art piece. The children worked on the canvas in 7 phases, beginning with this picture of the canvas on the floor. To preserve each phase of the work, I used painters tape to cover up some of the areas on the canvas each time a new group worked on it.

For the second phase, I brought the canvas to a block party in my neighborhood. The kids had a blast going at it with long brushes, rollers, and child-sized mops and brooms.

For our final week of spring classes, each group contributed to the canvas in different ways. Some classes worked on the floor with bouncy bean bags and long tools, while other groups worked on it vertically, attached to an easel.

Each day when the canvas was dry, I added more tape (often with help from Karuna and Aaron). For this project, the tape was placed randomly (except for the small heart at the top), but next time I want to try doing a more planned out design!

The tempera paints don’t keep their true color when painted over, but often turn muddy after many layers. So I decided to let the oldest class use non-toxic acrylic paint to get back to some brighter colors add more texture.

After some painting, the kids decided to stick collage materials onto the canvas… brilliant!

The next day, I wanted to preserve the collage materials from the previous class, so I taped up a large piece of paper over that section of the painting.

I realized that the kids enjoyed having one area that was a blank canvas, so I taped up another piece of paper for the final class.

After 7 phases painting and taping, I spent about 2 hours peeling off all of the tape (much of which was hidden under all those layers!) And here is the final piece…

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May 24, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Collage Treasure Hunt!

Before beginning our monochromatic collages, we began by going on a “treasure hunt” to find our collage materials. The children each chose a color, then searched around the yard for treasures in their specific color.

When the kids found a color other than their own, they immediately ran to give it to the person looking for that color. What great teamwork!

The 1s class also went on a treasure hunt, but it wasn’t limited by color. Most of them were just trying to understand the concept of collecting and keeping the treasure in their baskets!

After our treasure hunt, we returned to the studio to create a collage using glue and our new found materials. I think the treasure hunt helped to get the children excited about using only one color. After the hard work of hunting, they formed a special bond with their color!

The 1s class used colored glue to add to their colorful collages.

After making our collages, we worked on a variety of projects. Some children squeezed colored glue into plastic tops- which will dry and become translucent window hangings.

Other children worked at the easels…

painted the window…

and some got messy outside with gross motor tools: bouncy bean bags, child-sized mops and a broom!

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May 11, 2011 by Megan Schiller

So many kinds of Prints!

This week we worked on various print-making techniques. In the older classes we began with a scratch foam activity where the kids used toothpicks to scratch a design into a piece of foam. After making marks with the toothpicks, they rolled paint onto their foam and flipped it onto a piece of paper to make a print. We used basic craft foam that I had in the studio, but next time I’m going to try scratch foam boards that are softer and easier to scratch a design into.

After printing with foam, we moved on to try many other printing materials like leaves…

textured rolling pins…

woodblock stamps… and more!

The kids loved the wood block stamps, dipping them into the paint and banging them down onto the paper.

The 1s classes started off using cookie-cutters to make prints, then moved on to leaves, sponges, and rolling pins.

The kids began to combine all of the techniques and, of course, decided to add glitter as well!

The easels were popular with the 1s classes as they moved around the studio.

The weather was hot and beautiful this week so I decided to bring some of the print-making outside for the last half of class. We first tried out the techniques on a longer scale!

Then I brought out some warm weather fun like ice painting for the 1-yr-olds and water balloons for the older kids. We also tried out some nylon bean bags that make interesting prints when bounced like a yo-yo.

Outdoor messy exploration… so fun!

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May 3, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Flower Fabric Dying and Balloon Painting

It’s spring time and beautiful flowers are in bloom! Because flowers have so much color to offer us, I decided to try out a flower dying technique with the older classes. I gave each child a piece of muslin fabric and a mallet. They chose some flower petals and leaves, placed them on their fabric, folded the fabric over, and pounded away.

As they pounded, the dye began to show through the muslin. When they decided they were finished, they opened it up and peeled off the petals to find their fabric filled with color.

After our fabric dying, we moved on to bigger and messier things… balloon painting! We started off painting with small air-filled balloons (for safety it was important that if any balloons popped, they were thrown away immediately). The kids dipped the balloons in paint and dabbed them on the paper, which created circular swirls of color.

Soon I brought out balloons filled with water for the kids to try out. The water added weight and movement to the balloons and were really fun to squish around!

Things began to get messy and the kids moved around the studio painting at the easels and trying out their balloons in different places.

Some of the water balloons popped and the kids decided that they wanted more water to use in their work.

I recently got some new basters and was excited to have the kids test them out!

So much fun!

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April 23, 2011 by Megan Schiller

Shrinky Dink Beading and Splat Painting!

As I mentioned last week, we began our final class of the session making “Shrinky Dinks”. The 2s classes drew with colored Sharpies on large sheets of shrinking plastic. Then I punched a hole in the top before baking them so the kids could make them into window hangings.

For the rest of the window hanging, the children beaded a string that will be tied to the finished Srinky Dink.

The 3s/4s kids made small Shrinky Dinks the week before to make jewelry. Once they had strung half of the beads for the necklace, I showed them how to add the Shrinky Dink on as a pendant.

Then they helped each other!

After Shrinky Dinks and beading, I brought out some materials to try a super fun throwing “splat” painting. The kids first began to do their own thing, excited to use the spray bottles and paint, but soon got really into the splat painting!