Cardboard Printing with Watercolor

Open ended projects are a great chance to reinforce the concept of abstract art and that “Art” doesn’t have to be a person, place, or thing. It relieves tiny hands of trying to be perfect- and let me tell you, I meet so many four and five year olds who break down or stall because they want to be perfect. It’s heartbreaking but a huge part of our job as art educators.

I believe that because many parents (really, adults in general) feel unprepared to navigate early art experiences with their tiny humans they focus on the “I Can’t” of art making and not the exploration. I’ve stood in front of some masterful paintings- Biedermeier florals, Renaissance portraits, fantastic landscapes, and more- and thought the exact same thing. I can’t. Stepping back, slowing down, and embracing some of the basics elements of art is a great way of reorienting the thought that “I can’t”. Tiny humans can really thrive when given materials and little to no directions. This is an awesome example of that.

Materials:
+ watercolor paper
+ cardboard scraps
+ black tempera
+ watercolors, brushes, and water buckets

The tinies used the cardboard scraps to print random lines across the paper. Some just printed, others scraped. No matter the process they were a beautiful starting point. Once the paint was dry we were able to go in and layer watercolors. I encouraged them to fill their paper with color. The movement, rhythm, and color of each piece is gorgeous. This was a wonderful quick project that yields such beauty!