Celebrating the festive season remotely with family
As the year ends, people of all faiths are preparing for a variety of festivals […]
Read moreArt for toddlers
What you need
- A4 paper
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Eraser
- 3 thin to medium tip paint brushes
- A palette or something similar e.g. a plate.
- Water cup
- Paper towels or a cloth for any spillages.
- Paint (ideally blue, red, yellow & black). Colour pencils or felt tips will work too.
Benefits
This activity will help to establish some knowledge and a love of art, and also helps to improve understanding of colour recognition, develop fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Your child will also develop mathematical skills by having the opportunity to discuss and recognise shapes.
The experience
Prepare a working space for you and your child to get creative! Use the ruler to make some squares. You may decide to draw the squares the night before or whilst they are having a nap! Have at least one or two of the squares larger in comparison to the rest of them. This helps break up the design.
Show your child some of Piet Mondrian’s work on a phone/tablet/computer, or if you have access to a printer, you could print some images for them to see as they attempt their own creation.
Next: allow your child to choose their main colour first. Once chosen, encourage them to paint a few boxes in different places with their main colour. Next, choose another colour and repeat the process. Once the boxes are dry, use black tape or paint to outline some of the squares.
Remember that your child’s work of art won’t be perfect! The aim is to give them the freedom to explore and be inspired by the pictures they have seen of Piet Mondrian.
(If you wish to know some facts about Piet Mondrian, please see https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-piet-mondrian – this can be a fun research project to carry out together!)