March 31, 2011  by

Gluing for Collage and Construction

This week we focused on gluing. We started off using colored glue on wax paper and adding collage materials to the glue. The kids were encouraged to squeeze out as much glue as possible! Once dry, the design can be peeled off the wax paper and hung in the window (but that requires lots of glue). If there’s not enough glue, or the glue is scattered, the whole thing can be hung in a window- The glue and wax paper are transparent, so the light shines through the glue and creates silhouettes of the collage pieces.

For the 1s group, I added more paint to the glue so that it was easier to squeeze.

While some children were busy working at the table, others were learning how to operate a glue gun! (This was just for the 3 and the 4 year olds) I set out a large cardboard box and lots of found materials to glue to the box. Glue guns are such interesting tools because the glue dries instantly. They allow you to build in a way that wouldn’t be possible to do with regular glue.

I first used low temperature glue guns, but they were still a little hot, so I switched to “cold shot” glue guns that are perfect for little ones.

An instant sculpture to take home!

The 1s and 2s classes were given regular glue and paint to use on the collaborative sculpture.

Some of the children worked on painting projects when they were finished gluing. I’m loving our new roll of white paper for painting on the floor!

It was a rainy week, but the sun peeked out occasionally and we managed to get some creative time outside!

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March 22, 2011  by

Different Types of Collage and Action Painting

For the second week of the session, I decided to try a new form of collage with the 2, 3s, and 4s… hammer collage! First, I needed to find hammers that were small enough for toddlers, but still strong enough to drive a nail into foam. I searched three hardware stores and was unsuccessful. As I was leaving the third store, I began to eye the PVC pipe section, wondering if there was any way to use a plastic pipe as a hammer. The owner of the store, who was helping me in my search, saw my curious look and said, “How about this?!” He took a small PVC pipe, another one in the shape of a T, some rubber plugs and an end cap and began to assemble the perfect toddler hammer!
For the base of the collage, I glued together a few foam pieces to make it thick enough for the nail. We began by practicing our hammering skills with golf tees, to make sure everyone could safely drive a nail.

Once I was confident in the children’s hammering skills, I offered them a small cup of nails (with large heads and fairly blunt ends) and an assortment of collage materials. They put the items onto the foam and created a design by hammering them in place.



It was great to see kids helping each other when they had a hard time holding the nail in place.
With a new found love of scissors, many kids decided to cut their own materials for the collage. Then, when one child realized that she couldn’t nail a tube-shaped cardboard to her foam, she asked for tape. This lead the other kids to create tape collages with colored masking tape.

As the children began to finish their collages, I offered them paper and markers for “challenge” drawings, like the ones we painted last week. Just as I had predicted, the markers worked better than the paint to prompt circle drawings.



In the 1s class we worked on collages, but instead of using hammers we used clear contact paper. The children chose their collage items and placed them onto the sticky side of the contact paper.
We had some older siblings join us who were very helpful!

After working on sticky collages, I offered the children large finger paint paper, a plate of paint, rollers and a variety of tools from the shelf.

With most of the 1s class absent last week, I decided to bring back the watery squeeze paints. This time, I put a long absorbent paper on the ground and demonstrated “action painting,” which is what Jackson Pollock was known for. The paint was flying all over, mostly landing on the paper, but also making some pretty puddles on the floor!

When the paint was all squeezed out, the kids found some brushes on the shelf and used them to move the paint around the paper.
The bucket of soapy water offered a fun, easy clean-up!
Our collaborative action painting:
Contact paper collage, hung in the window:

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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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February 18, 2011  by

1s Texture Painting

This week the 1s classes worked on texture paintings, similar to the older classes. The new 1s group began by practicing their squeezing skills and squeezed out tempera paint onto their tag board. This is a hard skill to learn at first, but it’s a great way to work on fine motor development.
The older 1s (who are returning students) began by squeezing the paint into a mixing bowl that held a variety of thickening ingredients. Some children had sand, others had shredded tissue paper, flour, or coarse salt. After stirring everything together, they scooped the paint onto the tag board to begin their texture paintings.

After squeezing the paint onto the tag board, the new 1s group added their texture (sand and coarse salt) directly onto their paint. Glitter became a favorite additive as well!
Once the children all had thick, textured paint to work with, I offered them various scraping tools or items to move the paint around the paper- paint rollers, cars, sand rakes, combs, and plastic putty knives.




As they moved around the studio, the children began to paint at the easels or find new materials on the shelf. This type of movement and exploration allows young toddlers to take a breather before returning to the table to continue their work


As the children get to know each other, they are beginning work together more and make social connections through art!

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February 16, 2011  by

Making Textured Paint

This week we focused on making our own textured paint. Each child was given a mixing bowl, a spoon, a textured ingredient (sand, sea salt, tissue paper), glue, flour, and a squeeze bottle of watered down tempera paint. They added each ingredient to the bowl and stirred and stirred until it was evenly mixed.



Once a thick paint was formed, each child scooped it out onto a large piece of tag board to begin their texture painting.

To move the paint around the boards, I offered the children a variety of scrapers- craft sticks, sand rakes, plastic putty knives, and plastic notched scrapers (usually used for tile grouting). Using these tools, the children scraped and pushed the paint around, watching the colors mix together to become new colors.



After experimenting with their first batch of textured paint, the children began to add more ingredients to their mix- like glitter, colored glue, more flour, and even collage items.

The thick rough texture of the paint also provided a new type of tactile experience!

In contrast with out thick textured paint, we later moved outside to learn about drip/splatter painting with very watery, thin paint. The children automatically wanted to put the brush to the paper until I demonstrated how holding the brush up high allows for the paint to drip down onto the paper. The older children got really into it, experimenting with different wrist and arm movements.

Jackson Pollocks in the making!

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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 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 3, 2010  by

Beading and Open Studio

For the final week of the fall session, we focused on beaded sculptures and jewelry. For each child, I pre-made a base for the sculpture using a wood block, nails, and plastic coated wire. Then I offered the children beads for stringing onto the wire. For the older children, I also offered them elastic beading cord for making jewelry.Instead of planning a second project for when the kids got sick of beading, I wanted to offer them an “open studio,” with most of our materials accessible to them on the shelf. I began the fall session with only tools on the shelf (and paint at the easels) then eventually placed the glitter on the lower shelves as well. Now that the children have had weeks of experience with the materials, It is time to give them a greater sense of autonomy in their creative process. On the lower shelves I placed glitter, markers, oil pastels, tempera paint, liquid watercolor, colored glue, collage items, paper, and a variety of tools (the rollers, brushes, and eyedroppers were new additions). I was curious to see how the children would respond to the variety of choices and accessibility.
In the first few classes, the children came into the studio and immediately began beading, without noticing the new shelf set-up. Their focus and fine motor skills were incredible!

Luke and Brooks checked out materials on the floor while the big kids worked on beading… too cute to not include!




When the children finished beading their wires, I helped them to twist the wire around the other nail head and… voila! A wire sculpture that you can bend and shape again and again.
While some kids took to beading right away, others spotted the new set-up and went straight for the shelves!
The children were encouraged to use the materials on the shelves, even if that meant gluing all over their bead work or passing up the beads all together.


I think it is important for children to learn at an early age how to be self-starters and creative thinkers. In my experience it seems that young children naturally start out this way, but aren’t always allowed the opportunity to strengthen these skills. This is something that I work on with the children throughout each session. I was delighted to see on this last week that without planning and prompting from me, most of the kids knew exactly what they wanted to do and how to do it.
The rest of the photos will give you a glimpse of the “open studio” work of the children.




















Thanks for a wonderful session and Happy Holidays!

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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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