Pages

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Valborg/Walpurgis painting.... making fire with paint

This is a great technique for children who do not like getting messy, but do get the opportunity to play with paint - it involves putting cling film over the paint... (although at my last preschool there was no clingfilm so I used a plastic freezer bag that I cut open - and to be honest I found that soo much easier to manage as it does not curl and cling to itself as you are trying to get the plastic over the paint - so in the future I will be using plastic bags again... make sure they are clear so that you can see what you are doing - as its the process that is the most important...)

This time red and yellow was used to create flames - but using green, blue and white works great to make planet earth, and when its dry cut out a circle shape (if you look at the colours of the planets its actually possible to do the whole solar system this way...)

start with squeezing out paint onto the paper - if it Earth you are wanting to do, think that the planet is 70% water so you need mostly blue.
place the plastic over the paint and then let them move and press the paint around to mix it - the children DID look at their hands and were surprised that they were not covered in paint (2-4 year olds). I also used this art session to practice patience - that the group of 4 children each session had to wait for each other before they started. In my head I feel this is trying to create a GROUP feeling that the art session is not just about the individual interaction with the materials but also the interactions between the individuals watching, listening - essentially giving the children the TIME to learn from each other rather than simply being engrossed in their own activity...
then it is time to remove the plastic film - for best fire effects removing the plastic upwards (away from the child) creates the feeling that the flames are going upwards. It also allows the child to see the effect. In this session I was fully focussed on each child being a part of the group and did not recycle - usually I have an extra piece of paper waiting on the side to put the plastic on and it's good for another print... this is MUCH easier with freezer bags! The second image allows for another art approach - like using a black pen to create silhouettes...
the glue-gun came out to stick on small twigs - no photos of this as I was with the children 100% for their first time with a glue gun - this time I held the gun and they pointed out to where they wanted the glue - hopefully next time they are ready to use the glue gun themselves... still working on listening skills - and safety comes first...
one of the finished fires. Hopefully it contributes to giving the sun warmth so that spring comes and summer is warm! The great part of this process is yet again the fact that all the products are so so very different despite the same materials being used - some turned out tall, others wide, some with yellow and red other's almost totally orange - again coming back to similarities and differences...

Check out this site for more information about Walpurgis - so you know why we have been "playing with fire"

No comments:

Post a Comment