One of the first projects for my Kindergarten students this year was stamping and painting dots for International Dot Day. We talked about shapes when the students used empty play-doh containers to stamp circles into a composition. Some overlapped, some didn't. Some dragged the containers all over the paper which made it mostly turn black. I didn't encourage this but didn't make them stop. I might have said something like "Oh, you won't have much room to add color next week if you turn your paper all black!" but I was fine with them exploring the tool.

I used the opportunity to talk about paintbrush care since it was the first exposure to tempera paint for most students. They did a pretty good job for the first time! I asked them to "dip the tip", hold the paintbrush "like a pencil", and mix paint on the paper instead of mixing all the colors together on the tray. I love how the paintings turned out. Some painted inside each circle and some did not. Either way, I think they are beautiful! Some students even added crayon in the next class period. I am WAAAAY behind on this blogging thing! Oh, parenthood. The boys are worth it! :)
When is International Dot Day?? I will mark it on my calendar for next year. I'm teaching a preschool lesson on Damien Hirst's Spot paintings this week - next year I will do this on International Dot Day!
ReplyDeleteSeptember 15th of each year. :)
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