March 14, 2011  by

Color Mixing- All ages

It’s a new session with very experienced, returning students! For the 2s, 3s and 4s, I was confident that they were ready to pump their own paint for our color mixing project so I set up a color bar. Each child was given a few cups and brushes to create their own colors. They brought one cup up at a time and pumped out their choice of the primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) then added white to make lighter tints (I used old gallons of paint and mixed in plenty of water so the kids could pump out as much as they pleased. I knew that the pumping would probably be more exciting than the painting, so using watered down paint was a good way to cut down on the waste!)

When they returned to their seats, they stirred and painted to check out the colors they had made.

For the 1s class, I offered them squeeze bottles with watered down tempera instead of pumping it straight from the gallon.
Once they mixed their paints, I offered them tissue paper shapes to use in their paintings. Sometimes we found that they had mixed a color that exactly matched a tissue shape.






The children began to collect new tools from the shelf to use with their paintings (mostly cars, combs, and whisks).



As the children moved around to work at the easels, I switched out their finished paintings with new paper that had circles and squares cut out of it. This was partly to continue the shape theme from the tissue paper, but also to see if the cut out shapes inspired them to paint differently. I got this idea from the Artful Parent, but she used markers which seems to make a difference- maybe next time we’ll try that.
The kids began to experiment with pouring their paint onto the paper without mixing it. This created a marble effect that they could swirl and move around the paper… this is where the messy art really began!




In one of the 2s classes, the children were obsessed with pumping the paints from the gallon jugs (even though the paint began to squirt in all directions and was splattering all over them!).
I didn’t want it to squirt in their face, so I threw a mat on the floor, moved the paint jugs down to the mat and let them go at it. This photo is a little blurry, but you get the idea! Then the kids took off their shoes and squished their toes in the colorful puddle. It was too slippery to keep it going for long, but it was fun while it lasted!
I wanted to offer a similar experience for the 1s class without the slip factor, so I set up a paint puddle station on the water table outside. We also experimented with making prints of our swirly colors.
Towards the end of class, the 2s groups requested scissors to practice cutting. This was a nice calm ending to a super fun, super messy day.



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March 2, 2011  by

Exploring Watercolor- All Ages

For our last week of the session, all of the classes started off learning about drawing and watercolor resists. The 1s and 2s classes used oil pastels as their drawing medium, which provide smooth deep pigments and work well in resisting the paint.
After taking a few moments to draw, the children were anxious to work with the liquid watercolors. I’ve learned by now that using a tray is a must when offering any kind of liquid to toddlers!
For the 1s class, I use jars for the liquid watercolor rather than the paint cup base that the older kids use. The 1 yr olds love to practice their pouring skills by transferring the watercolors back and forth between the jars… a skill that I like to encourage!




The children experimented with eye-droppers, coffee filters, and a few other tools they found on the shelf.
The 3s/4s class began with a still life drawing of a rose. I offered them black Sharpie markers (explaining that they are important “grown-up markers”) to carefully draw the lines and shapes of the rose. Most of the kids just drew whatever they pleased- grasping the concept of a still life will take a little more practice! After the drawing session, I brought out the liquid watercolors to add to their work.



Glitter became a key medium in this project!
After working with watercolors, the 1s and 2s classes got to experience the joys of foam painting! Foam paint is like shaving cream, without the toxic smells. I squirted some onto each tray and the kids enjoyed the sensory experience of lathering it over their hands and arms.
Then they added paint to the foam to create swirls of color.

The trays soon became a station for messy sensory discovery. The children used all kinds of tools and added water and glitter to the mix.


For the 1s classes I offered an extra layer of sensory by squirting the foam onto bubble wrap.




The mixture of water, foam, paint, and bubble wrap was delightful!
The 3s and 4s class moved on from their watercolor resists, to a different kind of watercolor collage. First they used a sponge and water to wet their paper. Then they placed small pieces of “bleeding tissue paper” into a collage design (when wet, the tissue paper releases it’s color). If needed, they used the sponges to moisten the tissue paper as well. When the tissue paper dries, it will fall off and leave a colorful design in it’s place!

Outside the 2s and 3s/4s classes worked on their spray bottle skills, spraying liquid watercolor onto a cloth and bulls eye paper.
The bulls eye spray game was something we tried out last summer. The kids love to aim and shoot!

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February 24, 2011  by

1s Clay Exploration

This week we focused on clay. For their first introduction to clay, the new 1s class began with a soft, grainy clay, a rolling pin and a popsicle stick for poking. At first they really didn’t know what to make of it. They were daring and tired to touch it, but quickly moved to the easels where they felt more comfortable.
At this age I like to introduce children to clay on it’s own at first, but eventually I always incorporate water to entice them. This brings them back to the table and helps them to engage more with the clay.
Once the children felt more comfortable working with the clay, I began to introduce paint and various tools to use in their exploration.
After getting to know the clay (hard work!), the children moved on to what they know and love… pure water play!

The other 1s class are returning students with a little clay experience under their belts. So instead of the soft pliable clay I use with beginners, I offered them a modeling clay that is more firm and very smooth. Because it isn’t as squishy as the other clay, it shows pokes and prints really well. The children began rolling, stamping, and poking the clay and seemed to be intrigued by this new material.


After a while, I offered the children more tools, paint, and water to use with their clay.


This clay is soooo smooth- when combined with water it creates a sensory experience unlike any other!

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February 20, 2011  by

Clay Pinch Pots and Messy Exploration

This week we focused on clay. While the new students spent some time getting to know the clay, the returning students were offered a chance to learn a new clay technique. The 2s class started off with a soft, grainy clay (usually used for wheel throwing) which is easy to manipulate for a first clay experience. They held and poked the clay, then used a variety of tools to explore its properties.




As returning students, the 3s/4s class learned a new technique to make “pinch pots.” They used a modeling clay that is more firm than the throwing clay, but very smooth. After they formed a small bowl shape, they decorated their pinch pots with rhinestones, buttons, glitter, and paint.





When the children finished their pinch pots, we put them to dry and I offered them new clay to explore with tools and water. Allowing the children to continue investigating clay in an open-ended format is an important part of the learning process.





After some messy clay exploration, I offered the 2s class new materials to incorporate into their clay work (paint, buttons, rhinestones, popsicle sticks, and toothpicks).





It’s been a rainy week, so the children gathered around a bucket of water for wash-up time inside the studio.

The finished pinch-pots from the 3s/4s class…

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February 9, 2011  by

Finger Painting and Getting to Know the Studio

The new mini-session has brought a whole new group of children to the studio. Two of the four classes (a 2s class and a 1s class) are mostly newcomers so we started off the session with finger painting. I love to offer finger painting to new students because it is one of the messiest, simplest activities and is a great introduction to the qualities of tempera paint. The kids also learn that the studio is a place for messy exploration and open-ended creativity! I first offered the children bowls of paint and encouraged them to scoop the paint onto their glossy finger-paint paper.
For children who were reluctant to get their fingers into the paint, I gave them a tool (a popsicle stick or small whisk) to jump start their exploration.


I slowly began to bring out more items to use with the paints that would encourage the kids to get their hands messy- like these mardi-gras beads!
Shaking glitter from a salt shaker was another exciting addition to the painting experience.

The children were also invited to move around the studio and investigate the interesting materials on the shelf.
The 1s class took the opportunity to toddle around and check out the studio, while the 2s class was content getting messy at the table!
After a while, everyone moved around to work at the easels and the collaborative canvas.


For the twos group, I introduced bubble wrap prints towards the end of class. The children used foam rollers to cover the bubble wrap with paint, then pressed it (paint side down) onto a piece of paper.
Another fun use for the bubble wrap was to make “jumping prints” on the ground. The kids used the same rolling paint technique to cover the bubble wrap, placed it onto a piece of paper on the ground, and jumped on the bubble wrap over and over to create a popping sound.
Then they peeled up the wrap to discover their jumping print!
All of the messy discoveries eventually led to clean up time in the water table- which is sometimes just as fun as making the mess!

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January 26, 2011  by

Exploring Clay

For our third class of the session we focused on clay work. I first offered the children a few tools to roll, poke, or shape the clay.

Many of the children have worked with clay here in previous sessions and immediately knew what tools they wanted to use. Soon they were at the shelf retrieving trucks and animals to roll and stomp in the clay.
We talked about how you can pinch off parts of the clay and roll it in your hand to make balls or coils. I offered them toothpicks to use with their clay to continue our exploration of building up from last session. I also offered the children a tray of little “treasures” to decorate their clay (this included beads, buttons, rhinestones and googly-eyes).


The children in the 1s class were not quite sure about manipulating the clay with their hands, but they were very excited about decorating the clay!

Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from working at the table…


After working with clay for a while, it can begin to dry out, so I always offer the children some water and a sponge to moisten their clay.
Sometimes it can get really wet and the kids will soak up the excess water with the sponge or an eye-dropper.
After working with fabric last week, many of the kids wanted to cut and add fabric to their clay work- an interesting new combination!

And sometimes a bowl is needed for all that water!


In one of the 2s classes, the children asked for the spray bottles and glue. They began to mix the glue and water together which began to drip onto their chairs. This gave one of the kids the idea of spraying the chair with watercolor, then cleaning it off with a sponge!
Pretty soon all of the kids were “cleaning” the chairs.

I thought it was interesting how the chairs suddenly became a new surface for their art experiments (good thing these materials are washable!)
At the end of the 2s class, the kids painted the batiks that they had started last week. Next week I’ll show you the final results.

Yay for clean up time!

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January 13, 2011  by

New Session For The 1s

For the 1s class, we began the new session with finger painting of course! I always start the sessions with finger/texture painting at this age because it is a great introduction to messy, open-ended art. The children get to explore the feeling of the paint as it slips around their skin and the way it dribbles from their spoon, or rolls underneath a toy wheel.
I first offered paint and one or two tools to the children so they could begin a simple exploration. Eventually, I brought more tools to the table to further incite their investigation.
Glitter is always exciting to children. I’m not sure if it’s the sparkle or the fact that they can shake it!
After working at the table for a bit, the children began to move around the studio to find new items on the shelf or to paint at the easels.


Because toddlers love to move, I also introduced the children to two different gross-motor art techniques. For the “shake painting” technique, we put a piece of paper and a painted golf ball into a container. Then we closed the lid and the kids were able to shake, shake, shake!

For the next technique, “jumping prints,” the kids rolled paint onto a piece of bubble wrap, flipped it over onto a large piece of paper, and then jumped on it. If they jumped hard enough they could hear the bubbles pop. This group seemed to enjoy rolling the paint more than the jumping!

After class we enjoyed some warm water wash up time!


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January 11, 2011  by

Printmaking To Kick Off The New Session!

Everyone was excited to get back into the studio this week after such a long winter break! For the 2s classes, we started off our session with mono printing. The returning children were already familiar with this type of printmaking and the new students caught on right away. The children began by rolling out paint onto a large acrylic box.
Then they used a cotton swab to draw in the design
Next, they pressed a piece of paper (slightly larger than the box) down onto the design and gently rubbed the back of the paper.
And finally, they peeled up their paper to check out their print!
After making a few prints, the sensory experience and mess making began!

Adding glitter to the prints was a big hit this week.


Soon the children began to move around the studio and find new materials to work with. Although the print-making had slowed down, they were really interested in using the acrylic boxes as bases for a variety of interesting work.
After a while of experimenting with the accessible materials, I brought out coffee tins and plastic jars to introduce “shake painting.” I put paper along the inside of the containers while the children scooped painted marbles and golf balls inside and secured the lids. Then they shook the containers making different sounds between the tin and plastic.
Then we opened the containers up to find that the papers were covered in interesting designs.
The shaking was fun, but not quite as much as scooping and touching the paint-covered balls!
The children were also very interested in the easels this week.

This session I attached a framed canvas to the wall for the kids to work on each class. It will be interesting to see how it evolves over the weeks!



In our Monday class, some of the children discovered bubble wrap on the shelf. They were really interested in jumping on it to make popping sounds, so I offered them the paint rollers and paper to see if they could make jumping prints. They rolled the paint onto the bubble wrap, then flipped it over onto a large paper and began to jump. It was so fun, I decided to try it with all of the classes. One thing we discovered is that the large bubbles make much better popping sounds than the small bubbles!


See you next week!

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December 2, 2010  by

1s Dot painting and Bead Collage

For our last 1s class of the session, we started off exploring the dot paints (watered down tempera paint in sponged-tipped bottles). The kids enjoyed being able to bang the bottles onto the paper to create a series of dots. The banging can begin to sound rhythmic like a drum!
We welcomed a new friend, Aiden, to join us for our last class.

Mia and Aly were checking out each others work… or maybe they were plotting to swap colors.
After a little while of dot painting, I brought out some beads and colored glue to the table. While the older classes worked on beading with wire and cord, I decided for the 1s group to introduce the beads with glue and paper- a little more up their ally.

I placed a few of the materials that the children have worked with this session on the shelves so that the kids could access them independently. This included tools, brushes, oil pastels, markers, glitter, and glue. I was excited when the kids noticed the materials and brought them back to the table and easels to use.





Due to the rain, we couldn’t go outside for our last 15 minutes so I set up a bin of foam paint and gave the children powdered tempera paint to mix into the foam. Then I offered them squeeze bottles of colored water to continue the exploration.
Of course the water was the best part, so I brought out a tub of warm water to use for washing up and more exploration.

See you next session… It has been such a pleasure exploring art and getting messy with your children! Happy Holidays!

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November 16, 2010  by

New Clay Provocation and Watercolor

For our second clay exploration of the session, I decided to present the clay in the form of balls and coils, rather than a slab. The addition of toothpicks and popsicle sticks offers a provocation for a new way of working with the clay (Reggio Emilia early childhood experts use the term “provocation” as a form of provoking, or inviting, children to interact with a material or idea). I set up a workspace for myself as well so I could model different ways to use the materials. I wanted to present the clay in a way that would encourage the kids to build up, rather than out. The toothpicks proved to be great tool to connect the pieces together to create a sturdy structure. The children also loved sticking them into the clay to create spikes.


After our initial exploration with the toothpicks, I began to bring out more tools, water, and extra slabs of clay for the kids to work with.


Sienna celebrated her 2nd birthday with us in class! Happy birthday Sienna!






The kids began to move around the studio and found the easels set up with oil pastels and liquid watercolor paints.



Some of the kids decided to bring the watercolors to the table to use with their clay. As the table began to overflow with watercolor, I brought out coffee filters to soak up some of the liquid, creating interesting effects.
To continue the watercolor theme, I offered each child a large piece of watercolor paper with various stencils and cookie cutters to place on the paper (everyone started with a stencil of the first letter of their name). Then the children sprayed their papers with liquid watercolor and left the papers on the floor to dry.



When they were dry, I removed the stencils to reveal white images of the shapes on the paper!

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