Lesson 30 - Back to Basics

In today’s lesson we concentrated on reviewing basic painting skills. At the preschool level, children usually concentrate on spatial elements, (how to fill up the paper with paint) as well as vigorously mixing paint to create new colors. The children began by using

only primary colors (red, yellow, blue), and black and white to lighten and darken hues. We set up two stations, a “small painting” table which included small pieces of paper in various geometric shapes, and a “big painting” table which was totally covered by paper for the children to paint on.

We also had large and small paint brushes to choose from, to enhance the sensorial activity by allowing the use of both large and fine muscle groups.

Many children experimented with color and brush strokes, and some came up with new colors. Whether deliberate or accidental, it is exciting to see children discover new colors by mixing only a few shades.

We went over skills such as brush dipping, rinsing and drying as well. This lesson stressed the tactile application of paint on paper on various sizes (from the very large to the very small, or odd shaped sheets, allowing children to perfect the use of fine motor skills for very small paper, to the use of large muscle groups; standing up to paint and using long strokes with the brush on the large paper.

We concentrated on the feeling of the brushes as they glide on the paper, how much paint to use if you’re painting on a small surface vs a large one.

Most children enjoyed their time at the “small” painting table, taking care to fill their strips of paper with various colors, both pure shades and shades they mixed themselves. The large table painting area was much more animated; children used large strokes and used mainly darker colors, occasionally changing the hues by adding black or white.

There was much color mixing, with many shades discovered (pink, peach, purple, grey, green, and some brown). The children were excited to discover a “new” color they mixed on their own.

Some of the children kept their colorful creations, while others were just happy to be able to freely paint and discover or their own.

This lesson was much more process than finished product. The purpose was to reacquaint or remind children of the sensory and mechanical process of art; the experimentation and discovery of the internal art process for each individual. These beginning skills are very important and will build on themselves as children grow and discover a more sophisticated spatial awareness and learn to organize their ideas to depict objects and events to achieve interesting and more unified compositions.