Thursday, August 28, 2014

Toddler Activities: How to begin Painting at home

He's turning 3 in 3 short months, i.e. He's a big boy now! (Read: doesn't make as big a mess as he used to) So it was time to introduce painting at home. Perfect timing also since the garden in my balcony is lush & in full bloom (Read: Not dying on me like last year) and is the perfect setting for artistic inspiration! I got a slating surface table to work as an easel (while sitting on the floor) and shopped around for art supplies such as poster paint (tempera), paper etc.




He's been painting in school for a year now, so I don't have to tell him what to do. I just keep out some supplies allotted for the day and he happily stays engrossed for a while. I still see it as a beginning, hence keep it open ended, free flowing and spare any instruction. Usually keep out two or more colors to mix and match, commenting on resulting colors etc.

Like they say, it's the process not the product. The exposure & not the learning that we need to focus on.

Painting building blocks Blue 
The mess? nothing that drives me up the wall, especially since poster paint washes off easily. Even after an hour of drying. In fact seeing paint smudges over his knees and hands after quality time spent on the easel makes me happy! It's like I love books that LOOK I like they've been read: underlined, marked, folded at various pages. According to me, keeping books in pristine condition is an insult to them! Like they haven't been given their due or their purpose in life has been defeated!


Till now we've tried mixing two colors to get another color (blue & yellow make green), two shades of a color (such as mauve and voilet), painting over colored chart paper, painting building blocks, painting with sponge roll, ladyfinger print, painting with car wheels, etc. There are a dozen more ideas I want to try out, but whats most important is to ensure enough paint and paper at home ! 

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