Painting Flowers with Children

For Mother's Day the Kindergarten teacher asked me to help the children create a special gift for their moms. I wasn't sure how this project was going to go, but I really found that the children did a splendid job.

 

I bought 8x10" wrapped canvases that were a very good deal. They came in a package of 24 and cost only about a dollar each. We painted from the actual bouquet instead of using photographs for reference. Tulips were my choice since they are a nice simple shape, and a blue mug was used for the vase. I did a quick demonstration on a table easel. Acrylic paints were squeezed onto a large plastic lid that substituted for a palette. You want the palette to be large enough for the children to have room to mix colors without everything turning murky. I started by sketching in the basic shapes with a small brush and blue paint. We talked about the different shapes and fitting everything onto their rectangle of canvas. Once they started to paint with larger bushes, I only intervened if they were making the mugs or the flowers too large or too small for the canvas. For the acrylic paint a stiff bristled brush is required as opposed to a watercolor brush.

 

Acrylic paints are not your typical paint medium for children as they will not wash out of clothing. However, they wore oversized tee shirts for smocks. The paint is great since it can be layered and "mistakes" can be corrected.