OEA - splat painting

While we were in the UK, we saw this type of very open-ended painting on CBeebies. Froglet was quite taken with the idea so we did it as soon as we got back. I just didn't get round to posting about it before now!

This weeks theme at Teaching My Little Bookworm is Mixed Mediums. I figure we kind of did that back when we were supposed to be doing tissue paper, so our mediums are yellow paint, red paint, and blue paint. *cough*

For splat painting all you need is paper, paint, some bits of sponge, and something to splat with - we used the back of, er, one of those things you use to turn over pancakes and meat in the frying pan. (Help! My English is fading away!)

You'll also want to clear a two-metre space on all sides of the splat-er. More if they're older and likely to splat harder! Soak the sponge bits in paint - you may need to experiment a bit for the best consistency - then arrange them on paper and have at them.

And you may want to strip your child down too. Mine is wearing his undies, although you can't tell from the picture.

Disclaimer: the pile of clothes in the corner is not laundry but outgrown clothes being packed away!

Open Ended Art - yellow collage

Click here to see what everyone else did for OEA!

Not only did we start on this late, but it was not a very auspicious beginning:

After your milkshake, would you like to do a collage?
What's a collage?
It's when I give you glue and paper and you do some sticking.
No. I want to drink my milkshake.
Of course, but when you've finished your milkshake?
No. I want to play in my house.
How about if I give you the paper and you can stick it to your house?
Hmm. No.

Ah. So I tried again after the milkshake:

Would you like to do some sticking now?
No.
Not even if Mummy comes and watches you?
Yeah! Sure! Sure!

Bingo. Must remember to specify that first, next time!

Here's what he did before getting bored:

Click on the photo to get a closer look

An advert for the local bus service, fireworks, Swiss flag with yellow cheese cross (from a magazine). It's Swiss national day soon, can you tell? Also an old handprint and a bunch of the sticky-backed plastic that we used in our OEA with paint last time! Which is why those bits are yellow... and in fact he had already added them to the house, when it was still just an Ikea cardboard box.

To use up the leftover glue, I made serendipity squares - first time I've made them. They're not quite finished yet so no photos. But here's my lovely boy in his newly decorated house instead!

The handprint is one we made for party invitations back when he was turning one!

Open Ended Art: Yellow Paint

This time I got to choose what materials Froglet needed for his craft. Yellow paint was a given. We also had white sticky-backed plastic, a paint roller, scissors, a pen, imitation canvas (the sort of textured paper you get for oil or acrylic painting) and red and blue tempera. Because we only have red, yellow and blue tempera. We should really invest in another colour, like white.

I asked Froglet whether he wanted to cut up the SBP himself, or wanted me to cut it, or wanted me to draw shapes for him to cut. He chose the latter, and announced that he would like birds. We ended up with two birds, an egg, two cars and some squares. After a bit of a meltdown when the first car lost its wheels in the cutting process, peace was restored and everything else cut out rather well. I cut some thin strips from the scraps, which Froglet thought might be trees. One of the scraps looked a bit like a whale, so we used that too. Then I helped him peel the back off the SBP - he couldn't manage it himself - and he stuck all the bits onto the paper.

It's a forest, with cars and birds and a dolphin.

Some rearranging was necessary before the final result was deemed acceptable. Fortunately this stuff peels off nicely.

Next we made three pots of yellow paint and talked about what colours might result if we mixed in a drop of red to one and a drop of blue to the other. Froglet thought red and yellow might produce green, then after stirring a bit he suggested pink, and finally orange. He got blue and yellow right first time. Then we discussed whether the orange paint was really orange or whether it was still more yellow, and the same for the green. After that I let him loose with the paint roller.

After waiting for it to dry and peeling off the SBP, here is the end result.

The daddy duck is in this car and the other one is the visitors car.

I love how the greeny-yellow has dried almost fluorescent. Froglet was still in painting mode when he had finished the first masterpiece, so he did this on a sheet of Ikea packing paper (note to self: this stuff is way too thin for paint!)

He had more fun than last time and we stretched the project over a couple of days too! Check out what the other crafty mums and kids did for the blog carnival here: