Carnival at the kindergarten: experiment with Action Painting, looking at Jackson Pollock.

Looking for an engaging activity to help you create a carnival costume?

 

 

We experienced dripping in the manner of Jackson Pollock and really enjoyed creating our group disguises: beautiful painter’s aprons that will serve us for the show.

 

 

Dripping or dripping color to tempera, for five days at kindergarten.

 

 

 

 

Action Painting, with the dripping technique, engages the body as a whole: movement, color, thought, everything is involved in an intense and free way; This means that, for this particular use of color, the activity can be particularly dirty.

Due to the rainy weather of these days, we had to perform all the activities described here in the classroom but I can say that we were able to find the right compromise between enjoying the experience and managing movement, space and color.

To avoid big trouble, just organize and keep a couple of wet cloths handy, useful to pass quickly on tables and floors in case of need.

As for clothes and hair, keep in mind that it can happen that a few drops of color fall where they should not but do not be scared, children are so involved with the action and gesture to stay alert and focused, If some little who has never tried these techniques, launches in large actions, getting dirty, it will be enough to keep near wet wipes cleaning.

 

 

 

 

Dripping with brushes and thin sticks: activity for Monday.

 

 

 

 

Starting from a white apron, which will serve as a group disguise, I have proposed each day to the boys and girls two colors with some common characteristic: dark colors, light colors, in gradation, or primary or secondary, to be used with different tools, The resulting effect was gratifying, especially for the action of experimenting with new techniques with the body.

On Monday we started to make dripping with the colors black and purple, which the children have autonomously defined as dark and we literally threw them on the canvas with brushes and thin sticks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brushes and dripping goblets for tempera: activity for Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday we added two colors recognized by children as primary: red and blue.

For tools, the choice fell on brushes and droppers.

Depending on the choice of instrument, the only thing to pay attention to, is the density of color, if the instrument collects a lot, as the dropper, the tempera may be more diluted, if instead the instrument for its nature, It collects little, then it will be advisable to keep the slightly denser tempera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting with teaspoons and tongue depressor: activities for Wednesdays.

 

 

By offering two tools at a time, we help children to perceive the different characteristics of materials and they are themselves to notice and describe what helps them and what makes dripping more difficult.

In this case, for example, with both tools, the same action was carried out to collect the color and the children noticed how, with the lowered tongue this action was more difficult, while with the spoon everything turned out easier and more immediate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colors used light green and dark green, also helped us to focus the conversation on color gradations and possible mixtures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dripping with magic balls and fingers: activities for Thursday.

 

 

 

 

The use of the finger has been proposed by the boys and girls themselves and this says a lot about their taste for manipulation and color.

The idea of the magic ball comes instead from the need to show a different graphic effect, so far in fact, the rule that we gave was: do not touch the canvas with the tool and drop the color from above, now instead, with this technique, Dropping the ball from a certain height, we went to create different color spots, which gave more character to the whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colors chosen were orange and fuchsia, both warm colors.

 

 

 

 

Painting with toothbrush and sauce dispensers: activities for Friday.

 

 

 

 

The finish, graphically speaking, had to be lively and intense, in order to make the final effect incisive and pleasant, so we obtained the desired result, using two very different tools.

We used the toothbrush, collecting the color with the bristles and splashing it on the canvas with our finger, the effect that is created is made of tiny droplets, almost imperceptible, that offers boys and girls an unexpected texture different from those experienced previously.

The same goes for the sauce dispenser, but here the amount of color that falls is more massive and therefore it is advisable to follow the children closely, avoiding that the use of too much color can go to cover what was previously made.

Dripping the yellow first, with the dispenser and the brown then, with the toothbrush, directly above the yellow, a pleasant and unexpected effect was created, which also enhanced the fine drops of brown tempera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end result of this activity dripping at kindergarten, documents a week of intense experiences, lived with color, the discovery of new techniques and fun to have tried to use the material, with different intensity and intentionality, depending on the instruments used.

 

This activity of Action Painting can still be proposed and reproposed at different times of the year, maybe outdoors for more freedom and in a single session, just like did Jackson Pollock and other exponents of the current of Action Painting.

 

 

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