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WEATHER
Stormy Finger Painting
Children will explore wind and water movement in a painting.
Lesson Objective
Children will explore wind and water movement in a painting and will make finger paintings.
Art
What You'll Need
- A large color reproduction or digital image of Ships in a Stormy Sea Off a Coast by Ludolf Backhuysen – from the North Carolina Museum of Art website
- 11" × 14" watercolor or finger paint paper – 1 sheet per child
- Finger paint (see Lesson Tips): black, white, blue, green, and purple – 1 bottle each
- Foam plates – 1 per child
- Stormy music (see Lesson Tips)
- Audio device to play music
What To Do
Note: Prior to the activity, cover tables with butcher paper or newsprint. Place a half dollar–size amount of blue, green, and purple paints on foam plates (1 per 2 children). Put small amounts of black and white paints on separate plates (1 per 2 children), and set them aside.
- Display the painting, and discuss what is happening in the painting with the children (see Guiding Student Inquiry).
- Point out the light and dark colors in the painting. Have the children describe the light and dark colors, and have them discuss how the colors they see in the painting make them feel.
- Have the children pretend they are sitting on a boat, and have them act out what happens when the wind starts blowing and a storm is happening.
- Tell the children they will be making stormy paintings using their fingers (see Lesson Tips).
- Have the children hold up their fingers and make stormy gestures. Have them make gestures for a calm, sunny day and compare the difference.
- Distribute a sheet of paper to each child, and place a plate of blue, green, and purple paints between 2 children.
- Tell the children to make stormy waves on the water and stormy clouds in the sky.
- Once the children have a good amount of paint on their papers, stop them and demonstrate how to blend colors to create light and dark colors using the black and white paints.
- Distribute the plates of black and white paints (1 per 2 children), and have the children begin.
- Monitor the children so their paintings do not turn all gray or all black.
- Place the paintings in an area to dry where they will not be disturbed.
- Display dry paintings, and discuss with the children how they were able to combine colors and the motions they used to create stormy waves and clouds in their paintings (see Guiding Student Inquiry).
Resources
Home School Resources
Home educators: use these printable lesson PDFs to teach this lesson to your home schoolers. They're available in English and Spanish.
Content Provided By
Common Core State Standards Initiative – These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge [1]. Visit the CCSS
- There are currently no Common Core Standards for pre-k, but these lessons are aligned as closely as possible to capture the requirements and meet the goals of Common Core Standards. However, these lessons were neither reviewed or approved by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices or the Council of Chief State School Officers, which together are the owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.
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