Bubble-wrap dot painting

 The dot painting inspired by the Aboriginal artwork in Australia has been a fun experiment. Last week we attempted to make more dots on the joint picture inside shape stencils (circle, square or triangle) that the children could choose between. They had the option of making dots with their fingers or with cotton buds. All opted for the cotton bud - something new. But all used the cotton bud like a paint brush, swooshing it across the paper rather than making dots. Our dot painting was not very dotty - but we were having great fun on the way...

So over the weekend I had a good think - how could we make dots AND meet the needs of the children to brush and smear paint over the paper? Then I had the idea of using bubble-wrap -  the children could use their hands for a sensory experience or a paintbrush...

They all chose a paintbrush - at the moment using a paintbrush seem to be "painting" for them - it almost feels that if they are using their hands or something else then it is not qualifying as painting... (so, I have to admit, now I feel challenged to think of all sorts of different things to paint with...)

The same earthy Australian tones were used again and the children each had their own piece of bubble wrap to paint on. When they felt satisfied with the pattern/colour of the bubble wrap I placed a piece of paper on the top and we smoothed our hands gently over the paper. THEN the paper was lifted and the magic appeared  - lots and lots of dots!! There was a big wow or sigh of delight each time the paper was lifted...

The use of bubble wrap to paint on

some added plenty of paint

there was a wow factor every time

the same earthy tones inspired as before - did not take long for the colours to get mixed up

then the magic - a piece of paper on top to make a print

Some children returned to painting their bubble wrap after making their print, others were satisfied and went to clean up before we went out to play in the snow.

This certainly felt like a good project for these children, as they have been able to use the paint as they have wanted to (they were just not ready to make dots yet) and at the same time learn about the magic of printing. Maybe later in the year we can return to dot painting and they will then show a readiness to explore using painting tools in a greater variety of ways.