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!