Art in Your Classroom
Posted by Kim Murphy on 26 Jan 2009 | Posted in: Preschool, Student Activities, The Mailbox
There’s nothing quite like the texture of cotton balls mixed with glue and food coloring! I found 
myself experiencing this slimy, gooey texture when preparing to write the process art unit in the February/March issue of The Mailbox®, preschool edition. (Look below for the actual idea!) Testing the projects helps me write up the final idea—plus, as you can see, it’s a lot of messy fun! My office is currently messy, so I’m sure the paint splatters and piles of sensory goop just blend in.
Talk to me about art in your classroom. What is your favorite art project to do with your youngsters? How messy do you get with your art projects? Do you use strictly process art in your classroom or do you have students make craft-oriented projects as well? (Often teachers, centers, and schools have strong feelings toward one or the other.) I look forward to hearing your comments, ideas, and thoughts!
Your messy but enthusiastic blog cohost,
Kim Murphy
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Cotton Ball ColorsHere’s a unique three-dimensional art exploration! Have each child tear cotton balls into small pieces and place them in a disposable bowl. Next, help her mix white glue and food coloring with the cotton. Prompt her to place the mixture on a sheet of construction paper and then mold and spread it as desired. Then allow the project to dry. (From the February/March 2009 Mailbox magazine, preschool edition) |
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I think this GOOP art would be a great science project. First I would ask questions such as “What do glue and cotton balls and food dye feel like? Describe the texture of each. Can you think of anthing they have in common? How are they alike different? (They can all be touched/seen, but two are liquid and one is solid.) What do you think would happen if we combined them? Chart all answers. Graph all predictions. Draw/write in your science journal your observations. Draw/write in your science journal results How did the cotton balls, glue, and dye change? Why?” Wouldn’t these explorations be enough of an incentive to “get messy”? Yes, I am the “MESSY Teacher”.
I too love a creative mess. I have found that if you keep your ‘project’ fun and don’t worry over the mess(kids can since if your uptight), even the ’shyiest don’t get messy child’ will try it a little.
(my favorite is the one finger paint job) I’m fearless with messy art, I have 2-3 year olds, mess is our middle name.It’s the process that counts.We glue, paint, gloop etc every chance we get.If it’s to messy, I lay newspapers on the table and a plastic table cloth underneath it.
I’m going to do this with my 6th graders. I’ve been trying to figure out an art project they could do that would resemble a supernova or nebula. This looks like it would work. I’ll just have them get in groups with different colors so their pictures will look more like a supernova or nebula. I do think I’ll try something other than food coloring because it does stain…or just have them wear kitchen server gloves.
Thanks for the great idea!
I`m mostly process but a lot of the others I work with are product-oriented. I`m not afraid of a mess especially if you clean as you go. I`m excited to try this. I don`t think I`ve used a paintbrush to paint yet this year. There is sooo much else that can be used.
I love all the ideas!! I will be trying some of these ideas and especially the Cotton ball goo with our Preschool and with my before and after school program with K-5.
This sounds like a really fun project and I can’t wait to try it with my pre-k students! My question is will the food coloring stain their fingers? When working with my students I was really shocked at how many of them disliked getting messy, I can remember one time when I had them fingerpaint with jelly…alot of them chose not to do the project and it wasn’t until I started doing it myself that some of the children tried it. Thanks for this great idea!!
I love anything messy and I’m sure the janitor hates my classroom. The floor is always covered in paint, glitter, sand, scraps, etc. and that’s after we have picked up! I use the liquid watercolors and they do not stain. they are expensive but last forever. We are doing marble painting this week and I let the children drop the paint on the paper with eyedroppers. Their creations are very cool and since we are talking about balls, they had a ball! Another fun way to paint is with tootbrushes and also cut thick rubber bands and bind them to use as a sweep type of paintbrush. Very cool effects.
I only have one child in my preschool class that doesn’t like to get his hands dirty! My biggest sadness is when parents tell me they would never let their child do these kinds of art projects at home. I am even shocked by the amount of teachers who tell me, “boy you’re brave!” just because I’m not afraid to make a huge mess. I believe we have a responsibility to these children to give them an adventurous spirit instead of always being afraid to get dirty. This is what it’s all about people! Get out there and make a mess, just let go and enjoy it! Your attitude will be seared in their minds for the rest of their lives shaping what kind of person they will grow up to be. Don’t rob your children of these experiences, it’s just too important. A mess can always be cleaned if prepared for properly. My tip, get some plastic drop cloths for the floor, or cover the table with old newspaper so you don’t have to wash anything down. Like Rick Warren says, “it’s not about you” so just let go and try it.
This sounds like fun!!!!! I believe the children will love this. The children enjoy messy art work. I also will use this for the letter Gg and color day.
I agree that many of the preschoolers do NOT like to get their hands messy, and I can relate to the issue with glue. But I can tell the difference right away which kids do art projects at home because they really like to get into it and are not afraid to get messy! The others need to have that exposure, too, so the more we do in the classroom, the better. I believe it’ll help bring out their hidden creativity! This project looks like LOTS of fun, and I can’t wait to try it!
I love a good creative mess. I think I will do the cottonball Goo for the letter “G”. I think instead of food coloring I will use biopaint. This should eliminate the staining.
One of my favorite messy activities is Mud Paint. We paint mud (with white glue and water mixed in) over a template. The kids are amazed when we peel back the template. I also like salt art. Watercolor painting with salt sprinkled on top. This makes a shinny/spotted affect. Planting seeds can also be very messy.
I work in an Infant room in my daycare center…we love getting messy! As soon as my babies can sit up in the chair at the table,they start doing sensory art! I have 6 mo. old babies that get so excited when they see me put pudding, corn syrup, jello, etc. on the table! We have made so many cute projects out of sensory! Their parents are really pleased with what they do already. By the time they leave my room(16 mo.) they are experts in the art department!
I tried this one with my class and they loved it. Take knees highs, and put popcorn seeds in them. Tie them put paint on the paper and let them bounce them on the paper my kids loved a ot of laughing going on while painting
It looks like a lot of fun! I just worry about the food coloring staining their fingers. Yes, some children in preschool have no desire to get their hands messy, maybe they could pick up the glob with tongs and place it on their paper.
I can’t wait to try it. I am going to do it for pink day. I agree with everyone that preschoolers don’t like to get messy, but I like to do activities with them like the cotton ball one so they are really exploring as they create.
To Ruth C.
Because your preschoolers do not like to touch anything messy, is a big reason you should have them do it a lot! Too many parents do not take the time or want the mess. Kids need to explore and do messy, tactile activities.
I’m the “messy” teacher at our school. I love to touch and explore everything. My class especially love to dip “squishy” balls into paint and throw them at a paper covered wall. This is best done outside for easier cleanup.
The open-ended projects we do often reinforce the theme just by the shape of paper we use, the type of “paint”, or what we paint with (pine boughs, feathers, hot wheels…) I have a degree in art, so I have to do some “real” art projects like still life and self-portraits. I do very few craft projects where a specific outcome is expected, but when these are done with little influence from the teacher, they each have a funny Picasso quality that is precious when displayed together.
I love messy art projects. Just today my preschoolers and I painted trees. I spooned a glob of brown paint on their paper, gave them a straw, and had them blow away at the glob of paint. It makes a crazy shape and the kids love it! Beware of paint splatter!
Cotton ball colors looks like fun — but very messy!
It would be a great sensory experience for preschoolers! In my class we do what I like to think of as “balanced art” — there are always open-ended activities (i.e.chalk, easel painting, drawing) but there are also crafts to reinfoce concepts as well. One of my favorite messy projects — I did it for the first time this summer–
is baloon painting. Using baloons instead of brushes to paint is very fun and creative!
Thanks for the new idea. This year I tried painting “snow” on pictures using a mix of shaving cream and glue. The children painted their snowmen shapes with it and added features.
I also tried a frosty effect with espom salts and a little water mixture. Painting it on a piece of paper is supposed to make it frosty. Mine did not work out . I may try again using a bit of hot water to more completely disolve it before painting.
The messier the better!!
Have you ever heard of Lisa Murphy ( any relation?) The Ooey Gooey Lady? She has awesome ideas.
I teach special needs preschool age children who have many sensory issues. We do finger paint with sand it it, shaving cream, pudding, glurch, etc. Scraping out our pumpkin with our hands was the best- the looks on the kids faces were priceless!
We also do activities for oral motor sensitivity. Putting something sticky (honey) around their lips to lick off, licking icing off of a printed christmas tree with no hands, gummy worms, etc.
Be messy, don’t be afraid, have fun!!! That’s what smocks, soap and water are for.
It is our responsibility to get messy in the classroom since most parents do not want the mess at home. If parents only knew what they are deprieving their children of? Getting messy is the best way to learn!
This is an awesome idea! I teach ECFE and having the parents get their hands dirty is the challenge for me. Since I love getting messy and dirty, it’s easy for me to show the parents and children that getting messy is GOOD for you. We also provide gloves for the parents and children with sensory challenges. I have some who think that it’s not enough to get their hands in! They’re the one’s with the goop all the way up their arms, on their faces, in their hair, and that’s not enough. I have a “messy” project at every class. It satisfies the sensory deprived and challenged! Plus…I LOVE it!
Hi, This looks like fun, but I have found over the years that the preschoolers I have do not like to touch anything that is messy. They don’t even like finger painting. If they get a drop of glue on their fingers they feel like they have to go wash right away. But, I think that it is neat!