Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Watercolor Fun!

This week the older class started off making suncatchers. They were very interested in peeling off the tissue paper after gluing it down and seemed focused on the sensory aspect of their artwork over the design- which is probably why they requested clay again for the next class! After suncatchers they moved on to watercolor painting with various brushes and tools.





This week the toddler classes worked on watercolor and oil pastel resists. They began by first drawing with oil pastels on the watercolor paper.



After a while I brought out the liquid watercolor paints for them to add to their drawings. Soon, the children were bringing various tools and materials to the table to use with the paint. The new foam shapes and glue were a big hit!
Kirsten takes a snack break as she watches Austin experiment with a necklace.



On the easels, the children painted over a large paper decorated with foam stickers. Once the paintings are dry, we will peel off the stickers to see what's underneath!



Towards the end of class we brought the watercolor spray bottles outside for a different style of painting.

See you next week!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Clay and Monoprint Cards

We began our first summer session working with clay. I gave each child a slab of clay and plenty of tools to explore and manipulate this cold, pliable material.





After working for a little while with the tools, I offered the children cups of water and sponges to moisten their clay. I showed them how the clay can easily dry out and how a little water can soften it right up again.

Of course everyone wanted much more than just a little water, so I offered them squeeze bottles to fill the cups themselves.
The slippery feeling of water on clay captured their attention for quite a while!
Because Father's Day is coming up, I thought it would be fun to make gifts out of our clay work for all the dads. After much exploration, it was time to decorate the work- so I brought out some decorating items that dads might appreciate... screws (with flat ends for safety), nuts, washers, buttons, and shells. The kids had fun sticking these materials into the clay for their dads.
And some children even brought out paint to add to their creations.
Taking a break from their clay work, some of the kids worked on paintings at the easels.



To make Father's Day cards, I brought out materials for making monoprints- just like we did here for Valentines Day. The children rolled out paint on acrylic boxes, drew a design with a cotton swab, then pressed a folded piece of paper down onto the design to make a print.
A sneak peek at the final results!

Happy Fathers Day!