Ideas for Children to Use Tempera Paint
Tempera paint is an excellent art medium for children. In addition to being economical and water-soluble, it's available in a wide range of colors. As they paint, children can experiment, learn about colors and how colors mix. To make the adult's job easier, it is a good idea to splash a small amount of dish-washing soap into the liquid tempera paint to make the paint glide better on the paper and to assist in washing the paint off of clothing, tables and other surfaces.
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Bubble Painting
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Mix a small amount of tempera paint into a few spoonfuls of bubble-blowing soap. Place this mixture in a pie pan and give it to the child with a plastic drinking straw. Direct the child to use the straw to blow bubbles directly on the pie pan; ensure that she does not suck on the straw. If in doubt, have her practice blowing through the straw with no paint and, when you are sure she will not ingest the paint, let her blow the paint. Lay a piece of paper directly on the bubbles. This method results in beautiful round designs. For a more sophisticated effect, use more than one color.
Texture Painting
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Texture painting is a creative art activity that acquaints the young child with the concept of texture. For this project, the child will paint on colored construction paper with textured paint. Mix a textural substance, such as coffee grounds, fine sawdust or sand, into liquid tempera paint and then let the child use this to paint on the construction paper. The result will be a painting made with three-dimensional effects on a background of solid color.
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Painting Music
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Have the child listen to a piece of music. In addition to being an art exercise, this activity can also serve as an introduction to classical music. Direct the child to sit with his eyes closed and to concentrate on the music for several minutes, imaging the shapes and colors that the music brings to mind. When he is ready, ask him to paint the colors and shapes he saw. Interesting abstract paintings have been created this way.
Wax Resist Painting
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In order to create wax resist paintings, you will need paper, wax crayons and tempera paint. Darker colors of paint work very well for this project. Direct the child to draw on the paper with wax crayons and then completely paint over the drawing with tempera paint. The crayon drawings can be of any color, and the child can fill up as much of the paper with drawing as she likes. The tempera paint will not adhere to the wax, creating stunning effects.
Pointillism with Cotton Swabs and Tempera Paint
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The pointillism technique creates interesting pictures that are reminiscent of the work of the French impressionist painter, Georges Seurat. You will need tempera paint, cotton swabs, a pencil and paper. First, the child should sketch a simple picture in pencil. A landscape works well for this project. After the sketch is complete, ask the child to dip a cotton swab into the paint and press down on the drawing to make a dot. Light pressure creates a small dot while heavier pressure will make a larger dot. Encourage the child to fill in the picture with dots. If the child places yellow dots next to blue dots, from a few feet away that part of the painting will appear green. Similarly, a block of the painting that is covered in red dots placed next to blue ones will seem to be painted solid purple from a distance.
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References
- Photo Credit little girl painting image by Wojciech Gajda from Fotolia.com
