Paint Provocation for a Range of Ages

Posted: June 14, 2012 | Author: Jena | Filed under: Artsy Fartsy, Community, Developmental Themes, Paint, Printing, Working Together | Leave a comment »

We have a paper covered table set up in the kitchen with several jars of paint, each with it’s own paintbrush, some chunky pencils. Wrapping a table in paper, whether it be large poster paper or newspaper, is almost always a simple and winning project. It’s open ended and any age friendly.

The first to notice the table is Miss Lil, age 4. Little K, age 3 quickly follows. They sit shoulder to shoulder, criss crossing arms to reach favorite colors. Miss Lil looks over to Little K’s scribbles of paint, and says, “that’s not how an artist paints. He’s not doing it right.” Miss Lil is at a stage with her art where she is drawing representationally. She paints with with product intention. Little K is still at the stage of feeling as he paints without an intentional end point.

Friend E comes around after Miss Lil and Little K leave the table and he paints spirals and circles with each color, making all the colors blend.

The 5 year old boys join in and are focused on mixing colors. They fill the rest of the paper with color. They choose smaller pieces of paper and make lots of prints.

Here is a representation of painting at different ages.

From the left to the right…Friend E 2 years old, Little K 3 years old, Miss Lil 4 years old.
We string a rope on the sliding doors. The kids use clothes pins, hanging the papers to dry.

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