Raindrop Painting Lesson Plan for Kids

This activity shows kids how they can work with Mother Nature to create original works of raindrop art.

By Holly LaForge (with notes from KinderArt.com)

What You Need:

A rainy day!
Heavy white paper
Powdered tempera paint (various colors) OR hard watercolor paint that you can break apart into little pieces.
Shaker bottles (old spice shakers, salt shakers, or I used empty glitter shakers with the shake top in place)
It’s a good idea to have smocks or some other slip-on garment to help protect clothes.

What You Do:

Lay out newspaper on a flat surface such as your back counter or table.
Have different colors of powdered paint set out in the shaker containers. (Or, break apart dry watercolor cakes by placing them in plastic baggies and hitting them with a rolling pin).
Give each child a piece of the paper.
Gently shake a color of your choice onto the plain paper. Sprinkle it randomly around your paper using a light hand with the color.
Choose another color or two and repeat step 4.
Have some plastic such as large trash bags or old vinyl table cloth to lay on the ground outside in the rain.
Lay the children’s pictures paint face up in the rain on the plastic.
Depending on how hard it is raining, let the pictures stay out in the rain till desired effect is achieved.
The raindrops will pitter-pat on the dry paint and will create designs when the water and paint mix. My kids were very excited about this fun project, I even got in the act!!
Bring in painting to dry flat over night.
When dry, spray with some hairspray before putting on bulletin board to help keep paint adhered.

Alternatively…

Paint a watercolor picture of a flower, butterfly or fun and wild abstract shape (make sure you use paper that’s nice and thick).
When you are finished, take your painting into the rain – secure it down with a couple of rocks – and let Mother Nature add her own special raindrop signature!

Display Idea:
I made up my bulletin board with letters spelling out “Raindrop Pictures”.

More Ideas:
Elsie Marley has a lovely step-by-step version of this lesson: http://www.elsiemarley.com/rain-painting.html

Image: neverlandarling.blogspot.ca

Book Suggestions:

My Very Favorite Art Book: I Love to Paint!

Creating with strings, fingers, rollers, straws, and other super techniques: no wonder this entry in Lark’s fabulous new art series will have kids saying “I love to paint!”

Painting with Children

Painting with Children contains sections on the “moral effects of color,” the experience of colors, preparation, color stories and poems, panting with plant colors, painting the moods and seasons of nature, and much more.

The Science Book of Color
by Neil Ardley
This book explains the principles of color and gives instructions for a variety of simple experiments.