Sticks and Stones

The Montessori school where I teach was focusing on the history and culture of Australia this year. Since the children are very young it is not always easy to come up with art projects that they are able to execute and still capture the flavor or history of a region. Sometimes I tend to overthink the process , but this time I decided to focus on using natural materials and to implement the dots of color that have been used by aboriginal artists. Two simple concepts. I liked the idea of gathering the sticks from my own yard and buying the little pebbles at a garden center.

We mounted the sticks and pebbles on the black Foamcore (Dollar Tree) using white glue. The Foamcore provides a nice, stable surface. The children composed the elements in any way that they found appealing. When everything was glued down, they added the dots of acrylic paint with the Q-Tips.