Friday, October 5th

This week, we were excited to go more in depth into various paint explorations. We started out the week with watercolor paint. The students figured out how to carefully dip their brushes into water, then onto the paint to make marks on their paper. As they worked, some noted that the water was turning the colors of the paint they were using. A couple of students then tried to paint with just the water but realized that it was not as effective and returned to dipping brushes in paint.

We then worked together on painting a sheet with foam spike brushes and tempera paint. Some children eagerly rolled their brushes in the paint and dabbed the spikes onto the sheet, while others chose to use their hands to spread the paint around. We returned to the sheet the next day to paint with foam brushes which allowed for smoother and broader strokes.

On Wednesday, we decided to make paint together as a class. We added water, salt, flour, and a little bit of liquid watercolor to make a paint like consistency. The children delighted in adding in the different ingredients and noticing the changes that were happening in the bowl. After the paint was made, it was poured into bottles so that the children could experiment with squeezing out the paint. Once the paint was on the paper, the students were excited to run their hands over the paint, noting the bumpy texture.

Finally, we returned once again to painting the sheet, this time with trays of paint and cars! Friends were excited to take our toy cars and dip them in paint then run them over the sheet to make tracks. Some drove the cars slowly while others moved them around fast. With this activity, we finished painting the sheet which now hangs in our classroom. We look forward to continuing to explore paint throughout the year.