Finger Paint Printmaking

These Kindergarten children had a choice of three warm colours or three cool colours. The regular classroom paint was spread directly onto their class desks by myself and then the students took turns at finger painting straight, curvy and zig-zag lines – one line type per colour. We made a single print from each. Once they were dried the children decided on the order and orientation they preferred for presenting their three prints. The shock, horror and pure joy of seeing their school desks smeared in paint and then painting with their fingers was a big hit with the students and they really enjoyed seeing their prints come to life as the paper was peeled from the table.

For me the really appealing part about these prints is the brush patterns created behind the finger lines. On a day when I'm feeling more adventurous I'd like to let the children be responsible for this part of the process too, and experiment with variables like more or less paint, sponges, squeegees etc. But as a relief teacher I'm always in someone else's room, with a class I don't know back to front, and in this case already with paint smeared over half their furniture, so I often end up erring on the side of caution... Perhaps I'll try this with an older class where the children are obviously up to the responsibility. I'm guessing that students of every age would relish the chance to get their fingers wet!

I first encountered this finger painted printmaking technique in a primary art teaching class while undertaking my undergraduate studies in primary education at UTS. Anne Bamford was our lecturer and I really looked forward to being in her art room each week, where the learning was always hands on. In hindsight I would like to have chosen visual arts as my major, oh well. I have kept a large folder of resources we made as part of that subject and still refer to it for inspiration. Looking through it a few months ago I was reminded of this very idea and had opportunity to use it only a few days later. And by the way, even once dry the paint easily comes off the desks with a wet cloth!

Type Demo

I was on a five-week block with this class when they began a new topic based on democracy and federation here in Australia. I decided to link this in with some typographic art inspired by the work of Californian artist Jeff Canham. As well as an artist, Jeff is a designer and sign painter. I showed the children a selection of his completely hand-painted work similar to his piece below. This seemed to excite them, especially his surf related art as a number of the students are keen surfers themselves.

Each child chose a word, phrase or personality relating to the topic and then one of about five or six fonts as seen on the computer. Next I printed out their word written in their chosen font. To begin they redrew their word/s much larger on their art paper in lead pencil. Most students made guide lines with rulers and used their erasers judiciously. Once they were happy with their lettering, they carefully painted them in black. After the letters had dried, the background was also painted in their choice of colour. Keeping the lines between black and colour was a definite challenge and a number of students used a permanent marker to make some final adjustments once everything was dry.

Other than the initial lesson, the signs were finalised over the space of about a week with small groups of children often painting in the wet area while the rest of the class continued with set work. I'm not sure too many students will have remembered, but I did take the opportunity to talk about some vocabulary specific to the disciplines of graphic design and typography such as serif and sans-serif fonts (a little French for the day) as well as kerning. And after advising the students not to come to school sans pants, I think a few more will have remembered the difference between the fonts!

As you can see the completed signs became a terrific display across the back wall right above the federation timeline the class also made.

Hot & Cold

On the day I was with this year 2 class they were mid-way through a weather unit. It seemed a good opportunity to combine some art in their study by creating cool and warm magazine collages. I had only just previously spotted some blue/purple/green and red/yellow/orange collages at Riverside Elementary's blog.

As there wasn't time in the day for an entire art lesson this activity became (and worked very well as) a collaborative effort. Initially the collages were started by the fast finishers but then the whole class pitched in to help. The children scoured glossy magazines looking for any suitable colours, cutting them out and sorting them into their appropriate cool or warm group. Other students were busy arranging and pasting the cut-outs down. It was simple, it really underlined the two distinct colour groups to the children and was a great way to utilse some cooperative learning.

Techno Fish

Being a relief teacher, I undertake a variety of roles within the schools I visit. Sometimes I'm on one class for the day and other times I end up being the school librarian. And sometimes I end up taking a class for their allocated time in the computer lab. It's normally a short lesson, especially after moving into the room, powering up and logging on. The children usually find painting with the computers a welcome relief from internet research, word documents and the like... especially faced with a fun and colourful challenge.

These pixel paintings are the result of a very short lesson with a 4/5 composite class. I began by showing a fish I had completed myself while working with another class, and then asked the students to create their own fish. For many students this was enough of a spark, while others needed some more structure. So I began painting another fish on the large screen explaining the tools and quirks associated with the program. Soon enough they were all busy creating. 

Unfortunately on this particular occasion the students had only just over 20 minutes actually painting, and much worse – I didn't manage to successfully save all the childrens' art... I am still technologically challenged at times, but I will persevere! But for a quick gap-filling lesson I'm really impressed with the students' responses. If you're anything like me, looking at these fish you can't help but smile.

Musical Vibes

This is an art lesson that I've repeated again and again in my 6 years of teaching. I'm always really pleased with the results and invariably the children are too. I've employed this lesson or a slight variation of it with every year from 2 to 6. It has been continually refined from the day I picked up this Jazz Café – Latin compilation CD on my way out the door before school one morning.

After lunch that day I had the children create their own musical scene based on the cover art. I was so taken with the students' resulting work that I had soon made a larger laminated copy of the CD cover and also collected a small number of photographs of musicians playing instruments as inspiration. I now carry these with me to use whenever a day allows for some art time. More recently, with smartboards in most classrooms I have also been able to quickly and easily introduce the children to the other great musical scenes that Paula Cox created for the entire Jazz Café series. You can view them all here.

The lesson begins with some appreciation of the Latin percussive scene as depicted by Paula Cox. Together the children recognise (occasionally with some prompting!) big bold shapes, the limited amount of colours, minimal use of fine or intricate details, as well as the way the scene fills and bleeds out of the frame. There's obviously more to discuss, and they often pick up on more, but these are the foundations. I convert their observations into a checklist on the board. The students then create their own vibrant musical scene from any genre or culture based on these guidelines.

I use a square piece of paper and always have the children plan out their scene lightly in pencil. Some students need a number of reminders that although they are really good at making very detailed and accurate drawings, they need to practice a different kind of art here! I make a few quick sketch options on the board as inspiration. Although some children end up simply copying these, many create their own scene entirely. 

I will definitely continue with this lesson and post the results here again in the future. I only wish that I had recorded all the other great musical scenes the children have created previously!