Wednesday, March 30, 2011

drawing a still life

We smelled and touched the flowers and then arranged them in a pretty glass vase.  Once the vase was in the middle of the table, we asked the small group gathered there to really look at the flowers.  To notice the shapes and colors.  To think about the parts of the flower.  Which parts could they see?
We gave the children large sheets of heavy white paper and oil pastels and then stood back to see what they came up with.  When they finished, they were able to apply a wash of watercolor over the pastels.



I think it's so interesting to see how each child "looked" at the vase of flowers.  One little boy seemed to be attracted to the red vase which he drew in the middle of the page and then filled with red flowers (even though there were flowers in other colors as well).  Most children included the vase, but some only saw the flowers.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

So pretty! I love the idea of letting them use pastels as a new type of medium. I've never used them in the class. I think I will now! :)

Kat said...

Thanks, Jessi. I usually use Silky Crayons - which are very similar to oil pastels but they come in a tube like lipstick. I think I actually prefer just the regular old oil pastel, though. There was a lot less mess and way more control for the child.

Deborah said...

I have been meaning to try drawing a still life with the kids! I am going to mark that down on my to do list!

Preschool Crafts said...

What a great idea. I love how all the kids drew something a little different and made it their own. Fun to see what they come up with. I am going to have to try this with my home daycare. Thanks, great site.
Angela
http://www.daycareheadquarters.com

Scott said...

We've done some painting with still life but not drawing. I need to do that, too.