Ripples in the valleys

We followed the suggestions in the project outline (closing our eyes and feeling things, then crumpling and flattening out our paper). The idea that most students went with was the use of watered down tempera paints. We were hoping that the paints would be watered down enough to flow through the wrinkles or the "valleys" on the paper. Students could either use the paint brush, tilt their paper back and forth to move the watered down paint, or blow on the drops of watered down paint.

Most used a brush to drop paint onto their paper and tilted the page. We were doing the painting outside (finally some sunshine and warm weather!) and it was a very windy day, so the wind was also a factor in how some of the paint was moved around... :)

Much of the finished artworks look very abstract and like the paint was flung, but that was not quite what happened. Also, some of the students made comments like "this is New York City" or "this is a metropolis" for a paper very full of paint. Others made comments about it being more rural when there were areas with less paint, just as we would expect to see on a road map.

Overall, they had a really fun time with the activity! It is also more fun to paint outside than in the portable! :)  To see a presentation of Feel the Flow project, please click here.

Thanks!
Kaarina

Kaarina Losey is the 6th grade teacher at Ryerson P.S. in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.  Her group of artists are making and sharing art with the Päivi Huhtinen and her group of 6th graders from The English School in Helsinki, Finland.

Crinkles and wrinkles from Singapore

Children had fun playing with paper. Folding and unfolding the papers to observe shapes and patterns was interesting. The curious minds were able to observe designs on the papers and connect them with the surroundings. 

Our inquiry on skin and how it looks was explored further with comparison to the lines on a paper.  

The artists were asked to:
•Close your eyes and feel the paper
•Crumple the paper into a ball or fold it as you wish to.
•Close your eyes and feel the creases.
•Find a section in the paper that might mean something to you.

Below were some ideas shared by our children.

Warm Regards,
Rachel

Leeann 5

I folded a paper into a hand fan. When I opened the paper I saw lines. They looked like giant doors. Then I folded it into a paper wand. When I opened the paper, I accidently made a hole in the paper. Then I crushed the paper and opened it. I saw may lines on the paper. Then I painted the paper with red, pink, brown, yellow, blue and purple. I painted a rainbow treasure map.

Emilia 4+

I folded the paper and made an aero plane and opened it. I saw almost a lion face. Then I crushed the paper and opened it. It felt a bit bumpy . It looked like a bumpy design. After I painted it looked like a map. Later I tried to trace over the lines andit looked like a big map with no houses. Later I crushed another paper and made a treasure map with my friends.

Xi Wen 5

We folded the paper. Then we opened the paper. Then we folded the paper again. Then we opened the paper. I could see triangles. They looked like mountains. Then I painted it. I painted with many colours. I used the brush to paint a triangle. I like my painting. I enjoy painting.

Oliver 4

I rolled a paper into a magic wand and opened it. The paper looked flat except for the edge that was a little curved. The I folded it like a sandwich and I opened it and it looked like windows. Then I painted the paper in the middle, yellow, brown and red. Then I painted below, dark blue and light brown. I also painted the top dark green and light blue and red. It looked like rainbow blinds.

Avinaash 4+

I folded the paper and opened it. It looked like a machine. It looked like a machine that could squeeze the rubbish. I could stretch the paper and flatten it. Then I painted it and it looked very nice. It also looked like a staircase.

Advaith 5

At the beginning the paper felt smooth. I made it into a fan. Then I unfolded it and made it into a big plane. Whenunfolded it, I saw small holes . Then I crumpled it and made it into a mountain.  Then when I flattened it, there was another hole on the sides. I felt that the lines made a connecting bridge from one city to another. Then I decided to paint an orange bridge.. Then I followed the lines of the paper and painted one whole line green. I painted the other side of the bridge blue. Then I painted a slant line black andalso painted a horizonalline black. The other horizontal line was red and golden. I figuredout that it was beginning to look like an Australian flag.

Tan Jing Ru

A Shell

Caitlin 5

I crumpled up a paper and then I opened and saw the shapes. I saw lots of roofs. Then I folded it and opened it up again. I did this a few times. Then I flattened it. My paper looked like lion’s face because it had one diamond and four triangles. Then I used orange to paint and then I used purple and then I used light pink. Then I used orange but it was like orange because it was brown. Then I used dark pink and a little bit more dark pink. My picture looks like a rainbow sun.

Jordan 5

At first I folded the paper into an aero plane. When I unfolded it, it looked like a flower as it had triangles anda circle in the middle

I crumpled a paper very hard and it became like grandpa and grandma’s skin. Then I tried to connect the lines to form a lion’s face. But as I was painting I realized that it was beginning to look more like a Bison . The lines looked as though the bison was bending down eating grass. It also looked like a bumpy wall.

Jia Wen 5

I folded a paper into a plane. ThenI unfolded it and made a boat. Then I crushed it and folded it again into a rectangle. Then I opened it. When I unfolded it, I saw six rectangles. Then I painted it.  I painted with purple, orange, green and yellow and dark pink and dark purple and light pink and dark green. I added more lines onto it. I painted a bit of red on one of the sides. It looked like colourful doors. Then I crumpled another paper with my friends. ThenI made a treasure map with my friends.

The 3-4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-school in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 3-4 year old artists from Oakdale Montessori Preschool in Cape Town, South Africa.