Action Painting!!!

Action painting is fun for children because it provides a novel means of placing paint on the paper.  You can use a wide variety of ways to do this whether using a squirt bottle filled with paint, a ball or marble rolling across the paper, or even a toy car whose wheels have been dipped.  You can use the work of Jackson Pollack as an example if you wish to tie it in with art appreciation.  In addition, I intentionally used the primary colors with the purpose of being able to see color mixing which can be an additional objective of your lesson.

Vocabulary to Introduce:
action painting

primary colors (red, blue, yellow)

secondary colors (orange, green, purple)

Materials:

-aluminum pan

-tempera paint (red, blue, yellow)
-containers for paint
-plastic spoons
-ping pong balls, golf balls, marbles, or toy cars
-scotch tape
-thick white paper

Preparation:

Tape the paper into the bottom of the aluminum pan.  Place the three colors of paint in the containers and place a plastic spoon in each.  You do want to let the child try to transfer the ball or marble from the container to the pan on their own in order to practice the small motor skill.

Our YouTube Video demonstrating the process:

Symmetrical Fish

This is a simple and fun lesson to teach young children about the primary colors and symmetry.  

Vocabulary to Introduce:
primary colors (red, blue, yellow)
symmetry

Materials:

-tempera paint (red, blue, yellow)

-white paper

-scissors

Preparation:

Fold enough sheets of white paper for each student/child in half.  Draw half the fish on one side of the paper.  Be sure to mention to the students they must hold the paper together when they cut (I have had students open it up and after cutting the side with the fish drawn were totally puzzled as to why there was nothing on the other side) and when they cut it will create the same shape on the other side.  You can place a paper plate of each color with a paint brush or if you are working with very young children you can place drops of paint for them asking them for placement.

Age Modifications:

Depending on the age of the child you are working with you can vary the difficulty by either allowing them to draw the half of the fish themselves on the paper or allow them to trace a half stencil to create it.

Our YouTube Video demonstrating the process:

 

Mondrian Masking Lesson

Piet Mondrian was an abstract painter from the Netherlands.  He is well-known for his grid-like paintings using black lines to form squares and rectangles combined with the sparing use of primary colors.  Choose a more complicated example for older children.  The painting we used as an example is "Composition in Red, Yellow, and Blue."

Vocabulary to Introduce:

square

rectangle

horizontal line

vertical line

primary colors

abstract art

Materials:

-watercolor paper

-watercolor

-masking tape or painters tape

-water in bowls to wash brushes

Preparation:

If you know your children will be tempted to use colors other than the primary colors for this lesson and you choose to stick to the example, tape off the remaining colors with masking tape.  Fill bowls with a minimal amount of water to prevent major damage in the event of a spill.  Pre-tear the pieces of tape for the lesson.  Painters tape pulls off easier than masking tape and decreases the chance of ripping the paper.

Age Modifications:   

-Older children can create a larger, more complicated grid of lines.  Either black oil pastel or black sharpie can be used to draw the lines.

-For younger children the lesson can be completed by either cutting strips of black paper to create the lines and allowing them to paint the primary colors in or using sponge cut squares and rectangles to print after allowing the students to use a paintbrush

Our YouTube Video demonstrating the process:
to add black lines.