May 3, 2010  by

New Painting Projects

Mother’s day is coming up so we began class this week with a spring themed gift-making project for all the moms. If you weren’t in class… don’t look! It’s a surprise!The first step of the project is painting a clay pot (which I got from the local garden store). When they dry, I’ll coat them with a sealer and then they’ll be ready for planting our flowers.


In the toddler classes, the children painted their pot little by little, as they looked for other objects to paint. I decided to bring out the next activity (potato prints!) to work on simultaneously. To prepare the potatoes, I cut each one in half and carved a simple shape into the top to create a stamp. An easy way to do this is to use a metal cookie cutter to push down on the potato. This cuts the shape for you, then all you have to do is carve out around the cut. As the children get older, they can learn to do this step themselves.
Along with their paper, I gave each child a plate of paint to use with the potato stamps.
The fun part is pounding the potato onto the paper to create colorful shapes (and the potato is the perfect chunky size for their little hands).

This week I also introduced marble painting to the children. I offered each child a tray with paper inside, a cup of paint and marbles, and a spoon for scooping the marbles. They put painted marbles into their trays and shook them around to create a new kind of painting.
Some of the finished paintings…
The toddlers are still too young to be working with marbles (many of them try to eat our materials) so I gave each child a golf ball to use in the same way.


After experimenting with the new activities, the kids began to move around the studio to find more familiar materials.



A sweet moment of sharing!
Our third activity for the older children was to continue working on the spray mural that they made a few weeks ago. I taped it down to the floor and set out markers for them to use. Jordan and Anna first began drawing clouds and rain. It had been a strange day of off and on rain and sun. Here is a bit of thier conversation as they drew:
Anna: “Where do the clouds come from?”
Jordan: “I think they come for the rain.”
Anna: “I think the sun is stronger than the rain.”
Jordan: “I think the wind is stronger.”
When Jason and Jessica joined them, they began drawing bridges. Jordan first drew the bridge she crosses to get to school, then Anna drew the Golden Gate Bridge. Then Jason said: “This is the Bay Bridge because it’s so long.”


With the new warm weather, the children began to ask to go outside earlier than usual.
I brought some activities outside for them to work on as we wrapped up class.
Rock painting…
Mural spraying…
But the water play is always the most fun!
Even siblings get in on the action at pick-up time!
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April 26, 2010  by

Tissue Paper Suncatchers and Emergent Curriculum

To celebrate spring and the sunny days ahead, we have been working on “stained glass” tissue collages. Each child was given a canvas of waxed paper, a brush, and a cup of watered-down glue (tinted with color so the kids could see it better). Spread out on the table was a variety of tissue paper. I encouraged the children to first paint the paper, then stick the tissue onto the glue- this helps the tissue stay down rather than getting stuck to their fingers.
Rogan experiments with putting the tissue paper directly into the cup of glue.


This week we also welcomed our new friend, Addicus, to class!
After discovering the scissors last week, Richie asked for them again- determined to learn how to use them.
When the kids began asking for more glue mixture, I offered them squeeze bottles of tinted water so they could add it to the glue themselves.
Pretty soon the glitter came out as well!





The kids were interested in working with the water and glue so I brought out some eye droppers for them to try. The eye droppers help kids develop the “pincer grasp” which is an important pre-writing skill.




For the easel projects this week I set up two types of sticky collages. For the first one, I cut a variety of colored tape and placed it on the edges of the tray for the kids to stick onto the paper.
Some of the kids showed more interest in painting the collage, so I offered them watercolors to use as well.
On the second easel I taped a piece of clear contact paper (sticky side out) for the base of the collage. Then I filled the tray with materials such as paper, cotton balls, and feathers and showed the children how they stick to the paper.
Towards the end of class, the children began to choose different activities to work on. This group wanted to use the spray watercolors, so I set them up outside to create a spray mural.
In this group, Lucia took a break to hang out in the garden with her mom during class. She found a small lizard and a “roly poly” bug that she brought back to the class to show her friends. They all immediately wanted to go outside to find more bugs.
As a believer of emergent curriculum, I want to honor the children’s interests and shape the lesson plans to allow them to explore these interests. With half of the class left to go, I dragged out a tarp, paints and brushes and offered them the opportunity to paint some rocks for the bugs. We collected rocks from the ground and everyone took part in the rock painting. I also moved one of the easels outside in case anyone was interested in continuing the collage work.

As we happily looked for bugs and painted rocks, it suddenly began to rain. We all moved back inside where I quickly got out some powdered tempera paint for a rain project. I offered each child a tray of paper and powdered paint to bring out to the rain. The idea is that when the rain falls onto the powder, it suddenly turns to liquid paint.
But when we walked outside, it was sunny again! So I went back to the studio to collect the spray bottles for each child to make their own rain.


Although the spontaneous curriculum adjustments were a little exhausting, it helped me to realize how I can bring more of the Reggio Emilia approach (especially the concepts of emergent curriculum and project work) into my art classes. Which got me thinking about my oldest class… (stay tuned for more about them)

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April 19, 2010  by

Squeeze Painting

Have you ever done a gluing project with toddlers and wondered why they continue to squeeze glue from the bottle until they’ve just about emptied it out? Young children need to squeeze! Squeezing is an important fine motor skill that is also very entertaining. One way to offer this activity to kids is through squeeze painting.
I purchased empty squeeze bottles at an art supply store, but you can also use empty bottles from glue, soap, ketchup, etc.
To make the paint, I mixed flour, water, salt, and a little tempera paint to get a consistency like thick batter. I covered the table with cardboard so they could use the entire surface to squeeze out their design.


I realized that this paste would work great for paper mache- so for the older class, I offered them bowls and newspaper and showed them how they could cover the bowls with the strips of paper to make a sculpture.
My original squeeze bottles were a little tough for the children to use, so I brought out various glue bottles to add to the squeeze painting.
Jacob tries to squeeze the glitter glue into the larger bottle.

Rogan offers Liam the glitter glue.
By the third class, I had found some squeeze bottles from the Container Store that were much easier to use. Richie squeezes the paint onto the truck wheel to see what kind of tracks it makes.
Lucia begins to work on making a cupcake.
As the older kids work on their paper mache sculptures, Jason decides to squeeze all of his paint into the bowl to make a cake.
Of course, the other children realize that making a cake sounds much more fun than a paper mache sculpture!
After a while of squeezing, I offered the children bowls of colored sand to sprinkle on their paintings. Kirsten decides to squeeze the glue into the bowl of sand.
The children loved scooping the sand onto the table and mixing it around.


Anna, Jordan, and Jessica add the sand to their cakes.
Jason uses glitter glue to make a cake decoration.
Eventually, everything made it to the table- paper strips, paints, brushes, cars, horses…
As the children began to move around the studio, they explored various activities. Kirsten makes a print on the acrylic easel.
Kate creates a crayon drawing.
Rogan checks out the materials on the shelf.
Our new student, Mariana, discovers the easel.
Richie and Lucia found the toddler scissors (which cut only paper) and practiced their scissor skills.
Mariana decided to glue a collage, so I brought out the bin of collage materials- which was exciting for everyone!
The mound of materials in front of Lucia is her finished cupcake :)
Jason, Michael, and Karuna gather more materials for their cakes.
At the end of class, the cakes were finished… just in time for Jessica’s Birthday. Happy Birthday Jessica!
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April 6, 2010  by

Finger Painting

We began the new session with finger and object painting- a fun activity for a rainy afternoon! I offered each child a bowl of paint and a spoon to get started. Some were eager to get their hands messy, while others first used the spoon to begin their paintings. I slowly added tools for the children to paint with- such as interesting brushes, combs, and necklaces.




Eventually, the toy cars came out- as always, they were a hit with everyone!


As the paintings progressed, the children got more into the sensory experience of the paint.

Jason uses his paint-covered hands to make prints at the easel.
Jordan focuses on her brush painting at the easel.
Jessica and Karuna came up with the idea of painting the wall and then washing it off with a wet towel- It seemed that cleaning the wall was just as fun as painting it!
Anna continues to work at the table with the necklaces and paint.
Karuna showed Jason how to make a monoprint on the acrylic easel by rubbing a piece of paper onto the paint and then peeling it up.
Jessica was soon making monoprints as well.
Collaborative painting and making new friends!
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April 6, 2010  by

Painting 101

We started off our spring session with Painting 101… painting with fingers, spoons, toy cars, necklaces, and other fun objects. This is an exciting way to introduce our new student, Lucia, to the painting process.Richie immediately gravitates to the cars, while Karuna is all about the finger painting!.

The various brushes and objects available create interesting lines in the paint.

After a little while, the children began to move around the studio, trading places at the table and working on the easels.

The addition of glitter to the table brought them back to work more on their paintings. Glitter sure has a way of getting children’s attention!

After class we cleaned up at the water table outside, which provided more interesting exploration!


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March 31, 2010  by

Bead Amigas

For our first class of the session we worked on a special project, lead by Linda, Austin’s grandmother. Linda is visiting from Nicaragua where she works with a group of women called “Bead Amigas,” who make beads and jewelry out of paper. Linda offered us the opportunity to have the children create paintings that will then be made into beads, necklaces and bracelets. Here are some examples of the finished product.This photo shows how the paper is cut into strips and then wrapped around a dowel to form the bead. For more information, check out their website.
We started the children off with thick paper, sponges, and brushes to apply the paint. The sponge helps to keep the paint thinned out, so the paper doesn’t become too saturated. This makes the bead-making easier.



Eventually, the children asked for more tools to work with- and of course the cars and necklaces found their way to the table!
The kids began to move around the studio, but we kept the paper on the table in case they decided to continue working on their bead paper.
Logan looks at his stack of cars that he created. Maybe this is a clue as to who stacked the jars of paint so well in our last class!
Zander is painting with the cars on his first day of art class- Welcome Zander!

Karuna and Austin peel the paper away from the easel and experiment painting on the board.
Rogan is checking out the goodies in our basket of recycled materials.


Linda helps Karuna make hand prints on her bead paper (while Austin looks on, combing his hair with a paint brush).

After class we sang Happy Birthday to Austin- 2 years old, what a little man!

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March 26, 2010  by

First day of Spring Session

To start off our spring session, we’re returning back to the basics… finger and tool painting. After having a week off, I thought it would be a good idea to focus on painting again- and I wanted to introduce our new student, Jacob, to our painting process. Welcome Jacob!
Since our last class, Kirsten became a big sister- Congratulations to you and your family!

I initially offered the children bowls of paint and spoons to begin their work, while some of them had already begun taking materials off the shelf to use with their paint.

Kate was a little hesitant to join the table at first, but she began to warm up when the cars came out!

The cars were a big hit with everyone!

Jacob discovers the easel.
After a while, I brought out our new glitter shakers. Karuna and Kirsten eye each other as they hold on tight to their glitter.


Grace investigates the glitter bottle that’s now plugged up with paint.
Kirsten manages to carry three glitter bottles over to me as she asks for the water bucket.
Here it is!

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March 23, 2010  by

Last Day of the Session!

On our last day of the session, colorful jars were lined up on the the table inviting the children to paint their sculptures from the previous weeks.Richie arrived first and gathered all of the jars next to his clay sculpture to test out the various colors.
Liam, Jordan, and Karuna first began working on their “found object” sculptures.

Richie decided to add to his sculpture by gluing on items he collected from the shelf.
Jordan and Liam watch closely as they pour the paint onto the pine cones. Although this seems like a waste of paint, it’s important to let children experiment with the paint and discover for themselves that they might be using too much. After experiencing what happens when they use so much paint, they will eventually figure out how much they want or need for a particular project.

Pouring the paint proved to be very interesting.
Richie uses the trucks with the paint to make tire tracks on the table.
Jordan works with a comb to scrape the paint towards her, over and over.

Karuna moved to the easel and began making hand prints.

Liam painted the trucks and said, “I’m hiding them.”
So much work being done!
Richie and Liam began to roll the cars towards each other, making zooming noises.
Then they moved to the easel with the trucks, making more tracks in the paint.
Karuna joined in the fun, bringing a truck to the other easel with Richie.
Still working hard…
What better way to celebrate the warm weather and our last day of class than with popsicles!

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March 18, 2010  by

Paint, Prints, and Glue

To end our 3-D art session, we focused on painting the clay sculptures we made the week before. I mixed paint in small glass jars and set them out on the table to entice the children. The glass jars not only show off the vibrant paint colors, but they also teach the children that they are competent and worthy of working with quality materials. Toddlers don’t usually get the chance to work with heavy, glass jars (for a reason! But these are hard to break on the wood floor).
The children were very focused on painting their sculptures as well as the paper-covered table.

Karuna and her daddy, Aaron, work together on her sculpture.
I then added more tools to the table, which Logan took to right away!
Karuna has recently discovered hand-prints. Whenever she has paint on her hands, she slaps them down on some paper and makes a print!
Austin paints with a horse on his clay.
Then he paints the horse!
Karuna and Austin make monoprints together.
As the children moved around, they began to look at the shelf for materials to work with. Austin asked if he could “scoop.” I soon realized that he wanted to scoop a cup of collage materials, so I brought the collage bin to the table. Logan then asked for the glue, which he squeezed into a cup of collage materials.
He continued to squeeze this glue for quite a while!
More experiments with glue…




Hmmmm…. interesting.

I love watching the progression of the children’s work throughout each class. In the beginning, they are quiet and focused on what’s in front of them…
And by the end of class, they are moving around, gathering new materials, experimenting with paint and glue, working together, and still very focused!
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March 17, 2010  by

Painting Clay… and everything else

For our last class of the session, I offered the children paint to decorate their clay sculptures. I used small glass (baby food) jars to mix and store the paint and then lined them up on the table before class. It is important to me to present the materials in a simple, aesthetically pleasing way so that the children respect them and appreciate their unique qualities. In this case, the clean glass jars allow the children to focus on each of the brilliant colors that they will be working with. There is something so beautiful and appealing about a simple glass jar filled with vibrant paint!
I think Grace agrees…
When the children sat down, I brought them their clay sculptures from last week which were finally dry and ready for paint. The table was covered with white butcher paper, which proved to be much more interesting to paint than their sculptures.

With paint jars in hand, Grace and Karuna soon moved to the easels to work.
Kirsten was more interested in painting with the cars at the table.
Once I brought out some more tools to paint with, the table became very exciting.
Grace was very interested in painting new surfaces- after first painting the wall, she was re-directed to the easel where she worked on painting the easel itself!
Kirsten and Karuna worked together at the acrylic easel, making monoprints.


I love that the kids are now comfortable enough in the studio to go to the shelf when they want to work more materials.

Then they bring the materials back to the table to work with.



Busy, busy, busy!
Kirsten has found something interesting in the fabric bin.
See you next session!
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