Students will learn about color mixing as they create “blotter bugs”.
By Maryanne Messier
What You Need:
- Tempera Paint (Red, Yellow, Blue)
- Newspapers
- 5’x5′ White construction paper
- 12’x 18′ Colored construction paper
- Paint Shirt
- Blotter Bugs Handout
- Scissors
- Glue
- Black Markers
- Crayons
What You Do:
Day One
- Review the Primary Colors
- Talk about how by mixing colors you can get other colors
- Have students get their supplies
- Hand out white paper; have students choose two colors that they want
- Have students put two drops of each color they chose on the white square paper
- Students then fold the white paper in half and rub the paint around
- Open the paper to discover what colors they made.
- Repeat with other colors and allow to dry overnight
Day Two
- Have students cut out the shapes that were created by the paint mixing.
- Then have them glue all three bugs on a large sheet of colored construction paper
- Then have the students fill in the “Blotter Bug” handout with crayons
- Once the “blotter bug” handout has been done the students may then begin to decorate their bugs with black markers to look like bugs.
- Turn page over and date.
You have another completed page in your art book.
► Go to Page Three (Caterpillars)
Related Lessons and Resources:
► Blotter Bug Handout
► The Art Book – Index
The Art Book is a special series of lessons from Maryanne Messier, a teacher from Janesville Wisconsin. “This Art Book theme was created to help art educators by giving them another form of assessment. So many times we as art educators find it difficult to assess a child’s progress when projects are sent home. By using portfolio assessment it is easier to judge a child’s progress because you can see it from beginning to end. The idea of the art book came from a colleague of mine, Mary Jo Paup. She developed the “book” idea while working towards her masters. When she told me about the idea I decided to use it with my kindergartners. I used the Janesville School District’s Art Curriculum as a basis for each project page. It was a challenge but well worth it. The beauty of portfolio assessment is that it starts in kindergarten and can follow them through their elementary career. As the child grows so do the books and the lessons. If you decide to use this form of assessment in your class, I hope your class enjoys these lessons as much as mine did. -Maryanne Messier
Some images are courtesy of Teach a Fish Homeschool.
