paint mixing...

After mixing up pink to paint our classroom chair, the children had mixing on their mind. We mixed up paint in a variety of ways for a number of different activities. After we discussed warm and cool colors, the children got to mix their own classroom paint. Some went for warm, most went for cool, and they mixed, mixed, mixed away to create their own paint. I think their favorite part was naming it. We will use this paint for the rest of the year, re-mixing when we need to. I can't wait!

who says...

That painting is for flat surfaces only? We found this chair just in time for a reading of Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats. The children spent most of the day mixing up their own pink and working together cooperatively to paint our classroom chair.  The next school day, they wanted to paint it some more and so they did. We're gonna need another chair for next year!

circle circus

This is a project I did in when I was in first grade class with a visiting art teacher. We created our circles with black paint and used crayon to add our color. I recently happened upon my happy paper of circles and thought how much fun it would be to revisit it with brighter colors and markers for a more fine line feel to it all. Are you ready?

 Materials 

large sheet of sturdy weight paper 

acrylic or tempera paint in three shades of one color 

shallow dish or paper plate 

assortment of cylindrical containers such as yogurt containers, paper cups, etc 

markers

Set up your plates with your paint. Here we used two shades of blue and two different sized containers. Dip your container into the paint. And make a print on your paper.

Repeat the printing process until you have covered your paper with a circus of paint-happy circles. Here is where you can change it up by using only one color, two colors or a trio of happy colors.

Gather your markers and get to doodling. You can have your kiddo stick with dots or stripes or they can jazz up the spaces with squiggles and stars. Use all the colors in the markers pack or use just one or two colors. 

Your kiddos can make one ENORMOUS piece of art or several all summer long. Try making one in each color of the rainbow. Save the artwork and repurpose it as gift wrap. Make a tiny print using a drinking straw for your circles and toothpicks dipped in watercolor for your designs. Happy summer!

mouse paint: drawing mice

 

When we do guided drawing in the classroom, we first talk about breaking down the thing we wish to draw into manageable shapes. The children tell me how to draw it first.  I use this part of the lesson as a tool for guiding descriptive and prepositional language. Where do the eyes go? Is this the head? Does the nose go above or below the eyes? For Mouse Paint, we drew primary colored mice. We used crayola markers to draw the mice, then painted them in with liquid watercolors. Not every child chooses to join us when we do projects like this. While we encourage participation, we do not buckle down and force anyone to do it. Generally, a child who may be apprehensive about such a task in the beginning, will eventually show interest. When they are ready, we will sit down and invite another firend to help. They always turn out so cool, and the children are always so proud!

mouse paint: color mixing

A little clear hair gel and two primary splashes of liquid water color into a zip bag taped to a tabletop create a fun exploration as the children used the mice (tied to the table) to mix the paint.

mouse paint: paint with mice

cat toy mice, paper plates, and primary colors 

a big mouse painty mess

mouse paint

I found the template online from Kiz Club...I glued on beads for eyes, and little pink talis and ear parts....

and then we painted with cars...

Sometimes we set this up as an invitation to paint, sometimes we do it as a group. This time, we set it up as a group and used our primary colors to see if mixing would happen. We pulled all of the chairs away from the table and gave each kiddo a piece of paper that they began with and carried with them as they moved around the table to the next tray of paint. There is a lot of language when we do this as the children laugh and communicate what the cars are doing on their paper. I love our group projects, I feel they serve a position in our classroom community. That said, we do not always do large group projects like this. In the beginning of the year we do more of them to help guide the children in how to use the materials. Once the children begin to engage with the materials on their own, we step back and watch to see where we can next guide their creativity.

mixing paint...tinting things up

When it comes to paint, for most kiddos, the more there is, the happier they are. We like to use paper plates for color mixing as they are both inexpensive and sturdy enough to hold the massive globs of paint the kiddos add to them. Here, we've given a short lesson on tints...adding white to other colors...we've given the kiddos paint palettes with primary colors (there was a discussion as to which blue we should use) and white, and then they were let loose to mix it all up!

let them mix paint!

art supply storage, a work in progress

We have open shelves in the classroom that we use to store the art supplies we use most often. Paint, glue, paper, paint cups, etc. are all housed here.

For the past few years we have been using these decorative plastic bins I foudn at various dollar style stores. While handy, they are visual clutter with all the different colors. We have greem pink, orange, blue...yikes!

For our work day, I picked upa couple cans of grey spray paint to pant the bins so they would all be the same color. While it's not my dream storage, it will do for now.

Not too bad. I want to switch out the fabric bins for all grey, we use them to store the children's rest items. My dream to switch out all the plastic for wicker and rattan baskets. It might get spendy, but I think I am going to start looking for some. Can you imagine how pretty it would be?

end of year tea party

strawberry themed cuteness 

with real tea cups, saucers, and tea! 

eats fit for a tea...

and of course we dress up

as our favorite book characters...

such as lions who paint...

strawberries in disguise...

or lions who are friends with mice...

classroom canvases

One of the ways I build community in the classroom is through our classroom canvases. Each child gets a flat canvas to create art on but with a twist. The owner of the canvas gets to choose the colors and paints the base however they wish.

We use acrylic paints for our canvases which elevate the process for the children. I keep the acrylics in a cardboard suitcase so they know something fun is afloat when it makes an appearance. Once the original coat is dry, the owner of the canvas selects a new color or two for a classmate to use on their canvas. For me, the fun part is switching out the tools the children use. I place a variety of tools on a tray and the painter selects which one they wish to use. This helps to keep the canvas from getting muddy while alerting the child that this is mindful work.

Some of the tools we've used are strawberry baskets, q-tips, pieces of cardboard, dollar store massage rollers, tp tubes, cups, sponges, toys, the bottoms of cups, toothbrushes, and our fingers.

The evolution of each canvas is pretty magical. We paint on them throughout the year so some may have layers and layers on them, while others might not.