Colorful sprinkle paint pictures

I almost forgot to share with you our colorful sprinkle paint pictures we made a few weeks ago.  So let me get you caught up on this super cool process…

First of all, you should know that we sprinkle painted in our outdoor classroom and the table we used was sitting directly in some very bright sunlight which caused some serious shadowing all around the table.  Taking the photos was a bit challenging but I think we managed quite well in the end…

The children started by sprinkling powdered tempera paint on their paper.  I placed different colors of powdered tempera paint in salt shakers that I purchased from the Dollar store…

The children loved sprinkling their paper with the powdered tempera paint.  They loved it so much so that we kind of had to remind them that a little bit of color would work just as nicely as a lot of color and that it would be very thoughtful if they would save some of the powder in the bottle for their friends to have a try….

Once the children had completed sprinkling the powdered tempera paint on their paper, then they used a spray bottle filled with water to spray the powdered paint…

The children sprayed the entire paper generously with the water so by the time we would lift it off of the table, it was dripping wet…

We ended up setting a bucket next to our paintings to let some of the water drain off before hanging the pictures to dry. Being in our outdoor classroom is almost as good as being outside because it doesn’t matter if paint gets on the floor.  If you are doing this in an indoor classroom, you might want to have lots of newspaper handy to cover the space under and around the table…

As each child decided they had sprinkled enough water on their paint, we drained off a little of the excess then hung them up…

During our painting process, the children liked to watch each other sprinkle the paint and water.  I even had two students who decided to stop by and look at the paintings through a magnifying glass…

One of our youngest students held the magnifying glass over a color and would ask her friend, “And what color is this?”  And her friend would answer with the correct color – “That is red.”  The girls went through each color on the paper before moving on.  I had to wait to hang up the paper to dry until I was sure their little color review was completely over…

Because the shadows were so dark around our work space, the children also enjoyed checking out their shadows as they painted…

And here I thought this was just going to be a simple art activity!  Instead, it turned into a color review and exploration of light and shadows. It’s always good to keep your plans flexible to those natural learning opportunities that can surprise you along the way…

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention how the texture of the powdered paint ranged from bumpy, to damp, to watery on the children’s papers.  What an excellent process for exploring texture and color and with all the spraying, our hands got a good fine motor work out too….

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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