Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Easel Paint

I am very excited about what I learned today! I love using powdered tempera paints but have had trouble with them when they are used on the easel. No matter how I mix them, they are too thin. The paint drips down the paper. They are fine when used while painting on the table but on the easel, gravity works against us.

I found a recipe for paint in the book, The Preschooler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner. The recipe we tried is for Flour-Based Poster Paint. It worked fabulously - No running paint!

I read an article here about kids and the amount of time they spend using their easels. I started to think about ours. We go through phases where our daughter uses it a lot and then we can go for weeks where she hardly uses it at all. So, I was wondering what I could do to encourage her to use it more consistently? What could I do to change things up to keep the easel interesting? Would adding a greater variety of materials increase her interest?

This paint accomplished that today. The fact that we got to make it together was fun. But, while making it, she was eager to try using it. She proudly showed her artwork and her new paints to Daddy when he came home from work. Making the paint gave her a greater interest in using them. We'll see if this interest continues.

Above is her final masterpiece. She painted every last inch of the paper!

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing! I still haven't tried paints with the easel, but want to soon. And a homemade paint that Maia could help make would be all the better! We have the Toddler Busy Book but haven't read the Preschooler Busy Book yet. -Jean

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  2. Is easel painting messy? That is what keeps me from using an easel. I envision paint everywhere. I do like your paint cups. Hmmm...your post has me thinking that maybe I should try easel painting. Are you using yours in the kitchen?
    BTW: I think I spy a paint smock.?.

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  3. A few things:
    -I love the Toddler Busy Book.
    -The homemade paint worked great.
    -Yes, it's very messy. We throw down towels but a plastic tarp would probally be better.
    -The painting cups are from a teacher supply store.
    -The easel is in our daughter's bedroom...on carpet...bad idea.
    -Yes, you do spy a paint smock...I've got your's here.

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