Mouse Paint New Spin

Kindergarten
2 class periods

Mouse Paint, Kindergarten Art Lesson

Day 1:

On the first day of this lesson we explored the primary colors and discussed the color wheel.  Together as a class we read the story White Rabbit's Color Book by Alan Baker. 

Students took a 9 x 12 inch piece of paper and folded it in half.  (Don't forget to have students write their name on the back).  Students were then instructed to paint on one half of the paper with liquid tempera (only the primary colors were used).  After the paper was painted, it was folded in half and rubbed.  When students opened their papers back up, they took great delight in seeing how the paint mixed to create the secondary colors.

Paintings were set on the drying rack to dry.

Day 2:

On the second day of class, students heard the story Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  I informed the class that today we would be creating a mouse inspired by the book we just read.

Students had the choice of red, blue or yellow construction paper pre-cut in 6 x 9 inch pieces.  Students glued this to the center of their painting.

Next students were given brown strips of paper, scrap pieces of yellow, blue and red paper and a small piece of aluminum foil to create their paint brush.

Adding the paint brush to the composition.

A 3 x 4 inch white piece of paper was given to each student.  The corner were trimmed to create an oval shape for the mouse body.

Small pieces of beige paper were given to cut the ears and tail from.

Creating the mouse body.

A black sharpie marker was used to add eyes, a nose and whiskers for this cute little mouse.

Examples of Student Work: