In the Art Room: Painting with Kindergarten

Painting with kindergarten...ahhhh. It's kinda crazy to think that one can experience literally ALL OF THE EMOTIONS in one 30 minute class period: happiness, fear, chaos-management anxiety, bliss, fright, horror and so much more. I decided to dive into painting with my kindergarten for their second art project (you can see our first day projects here) and I thought I'd share a little of what my lesson looks like. If it strikes you as familiar, that is because it's not that different from how I introduce painting to all of my students. 

Before I dive in to that, I have quite a bit to say about kindergarten. You can take a listen to my last two episodes all about kindergarten here:

And here:

And here's me teaching painting to kindergarten on the very first day:

So much silly, so little time!

Let me share with you about this lesson. In the first 30 minute art class, you see me introduce my students the concept of The Store. In my art room, that is the supply gathering table. I also introduce how to go about using painting supplies properly...and that's it. If I continued to do much more talking, the kids wouldn't have any time to create! 

We will be reading The Dot the following art class and making sure to finish (if not complete) and signing our work of art. In case you are wondering, I never mention having the kids write their name on their papers up to this point. That is because I've been doing it for them. As they are working, I have been going around, pushing their chairs closer to the supplies and jotting their names on the backs of their papers. From here on out, I'll be teaching them to do this.

We'll also be looking at Kandinsky very soon. But, like I said, on this first day, our focus was just to get them painting and painting properly (meaning how to hold their brush and how not to mix up the paints). 

Now, in case you are looking to do this lesson with your students, I just so happened to be gifted a box of dots. That's what's in the center of these papers. Little precut concentric circles that I simple glued to the middle of each 12" square of paper. Last year, when I didn't have those dots, I just used sticker dots from the dollar store (the kind used for pricing yard sale items). The reason I like using a dot as the start as it gives the kids a little spot to begin painting around. AND, of course, because of Dot Day! 

If you are in need of some Dot Day activities, you can search my blog or stay tuned. I'll be posting all of my faves right here tomorrow!