paint

Multi-Sensory Paint!

September 21, 2011 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience 5 Comments

One of the things that makes young artists so great, is that they are concerned more with the whole experience than with the product alone. Expand your next painting experience by trying out these tips that encourage children to use more than just their eyes to experience art. (Originally posted January 2010.)

If you’d like to incorporate a few more senses into your painting projects, add some regular salt generously to your tempera paint and use as fingerpaint or with a brush. The resulting project will have a bit more texture and grit that becomes even more visible as it dries. [Read more…]

Bubble Paint

November 3, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience 3 Comments

For the truly brave preschool teacher or parent, looking for a creative art project, I present bubble painting!! This can be a messy project, but very unique and with many opportunities for developmental growth. Directions first, benefits later.

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Colored Glue Art!

March 30, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience Leave a Comment

For a simple spin on a classic medium, try colored glue! Children love glue, in fact, more than once I’ve prepared a collage type activity, only to have some of the children spend the entire time playing with the glue, and never using it to adhere anything to the paper! Well, it’s time to let glue have a well-deserved turn in center stage! Simply add food coloring or water color powder to regular old Elmer’s and mix with a popsicle stick, right inside the bottle. Put the caps back on and you’re ready to fire! (Well, nearly. It’s actually best if you have time to leave them on their sides, and rotate a time or two to get the color mixed in fully. That is, if it didn’t mix completely when you stirred.)

Depending upon their fine motor control and strength, your wee ones can fill their art papers with color straight from the bottle, or with paint brushes (fill baby food jar lids with the colored glue and have them use small “watercolor brushes”). Either way, you will be building fine motor skills while also fostering creativity.

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Make a Fantastic Dinosaur Mural

February 25, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience 3 Comments

To create a dinosaur mural that involves all of your preschoolers, start with a piece of paper as large as you have room for. This art project on a grand scale gives the children just a taste of how big dinosaurs were. I covered my art table, but you may want to take it outside and use even more space! Draw the outline of a dinosaur with a Sharpie. If you’re not comfortable free-handing, use an overhead projector to transfer an outline you can trace. Provide a variety of painting tools with different textures. I used sponges, combs, texture rollers, brushes, print blocks, and paint brushes in a variety of widths. The children will often use their own fingers and whole hands to paint with as well. To accommodate all the different tools, I poured tempera paint thinly into the lids of plastic containers (sour cream, ice cream, etc.).

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Preschoolers Painting with Water – Can it get any easier?

February 24, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments

dscn11802 It seems too simple for many adults to consider, but from a child’s point of view, painting with water is a fascinating activity! Paint cups filled only with water and a brush transfer disappearing patterns on chalkboards or sidewalks. The consistency of the medium causes any excesses to find their own course of least resistance, giving every masterpiece an abstract flair, while also giving the artist a front row seat to the evolving shape created. Combine the water painting with chalk for a unique creative experience as the two media are combined. dscn0938

I often introduce painting at the easel by having the children paint with water. Together, we can work through the processes of brush control, keeping the paint at easel, and keeping the lids on the containers, without the mess of actual paint. It’s almost like training wheels for little artists!

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