elementary painting: organization + smooth sailing!

Hello again everyone! I wanted to talk about elementary painting and the little tricks and organizational skills I've picked up over my first 3 years of teaching art.

Painting in the elementary classroom can be very daunting, especially when you start thinking about painting with the little ones. Even the fifth graders can be scary to hand paint over to! You never know what they will do...or paint. I had a little kindergarten artist paint A WHOLE CHAIR yellow once and fifth graders paint "warrior paint" on their faces.

I try to be brave with my little artists and allow them to start experiencing painting at a young age. The younger you start them--the more experience they have with that specific medium--the better they are when they are older. I am noticing this with my little 1st graders. They are some of the best painters in my school because they are my little ones that I've trained in paint with my techniques since the beginning of their experience with art. I find my older ones harder to paint with.

I have a system. Often times I will have students gather to my carpet as I demonstrate what I'd like my students to do, even when painting. This keeps them focused on one thing at a time and to really understand the step I am wanting them to do. No playing with paint brushes, fussing with or touching the paint, and no mess--YET.

Me: We hold our paintbrushes...

Little Artists: LIKE A PENCIL!

Me: Do we scrub or stroke slowly through the paint?

Little Artists: STROKE SLOWLY!

Me: Do we make little strokes or long strokes?

Little Artists: LITTLE SHORT STROKES!

Me: How many colors do you want to see?

Little Artists: TWO OR MORE!

This is just an example of the dialog I use with my students before setting them loose to paint. It helps to reinforce what my expectations are for when they paint a specific step.

With my little ones I control the distribution of paintbrushes + paint in two separate ways depending on how we are painting:

1. Squirting paint colors directly from bottle onto the paper
2. placing little trays of paint in little lidded cups on tables

For my older students I provide them more ownership and responsibility with some verbal + visual guidance:

1. paint in little cups color coded to colored paper
2. different sized paintbrushes in containers
3. students are responsible for cleaning and returning brushes

I have by my sink a tray of different containers. This is primarily for my use. Clean a brush, place it into the proper container, right by the sink--super easy, organized, and little movement about the room. Although messy, it works for me. I love the different sized brushes I have, each for a different + specific purpose. I teach to my students large brushes for large areas and small paintbrushes for small areas or details!

Watercolors are a lot of fun for me, but I really prefer the thick tempera or acrylic paints over water color with students. It looks like a more quality product when we're finished. When I do use water colors I set up a tray:

1. For my little ones we use the big tempera cakes
2. My older kiddos use Prang Watercolor ovals

I really like to use trays to help keep things contained with a specific, visual boundary to help with messes. Although it doesn't always stay clean, I mean it's an art classroom, it sure does help.

If you have any suggestions or successes on painting in your classrooms please share! I'm always looking on ways to improve and make my little artists' painting experience a better one!