School Holiday Project 44 - Finger-painting A Bunny & Building Confidence.

Today's blog is entirely aimed at the younger kids. It is essential that they learn the consistency of the paint they work with and develop the fine motor skills involved in finger-painting. I show how to draw a very simple bunny step by step so that the kids can draw their own bunnies. Then we dip our fingers in some Dala Craft Paint and set to work. Do make a point of allowing the kids to figure out for themselves how they want to paint their bunnies. It builds their confidence when you show trust in their decision-making abilities.

Start with a smallish circle towards the side of the paper. This will be the head.

Now draw a large oval attached to the smaller circle to form the body.

A tiny oval at the back represents the tail.

Two ovals at the bottom form the feet.

Two upside down tears form the ears. My niece also insisted we draw some flowers. Keep these simple. I am still only working with round shapes.

Draw an oval for the nose and a circle for the eye.

Some scallops at the bottom will remind us to paint grass.

I love Dala Craft Paint for these type of projects as it has brilliant colours.

Dip your finger in the paint and scrape off the excess paint.

Dab the finger to the paper, lifting away quickly. You can make quite a few dabs at the paper before having to load the finger with more paint. Leave white spaces in between. It is important to teach kids to use the white of the paper to create different tonal values.

Concentrate on one space at a time and fill it.

My niece found the large space a little daunting and left wide open spaces. I did not prompt her to fill it any further as it was clear she had a good idea of what she wanted to do with her painting. If a child seems to be faltering in making decisions, feel free to step in with 2 or 3 suggestions. Refrain from becoming prescriptive. Children need to learn to make decisions and to trust their ability to do so. Praise the decisions they do make!

It soon became clear that my niece's interpretation of the picture was widely different from my own.

Here is my interpretation. You will note that she followed my lead in her choice of colours up to a point, before venturing off in her own direction.

When painting the stems of the flowers, I dragged the paint with my finger. This is yet another technique for kids to play with.

I also wanted to move away from predictable colours to encourage more creativity. That is why I opted to paint blue flowers.

Once I saw that my niece was comfortable with choosing her own colours, I introduced the concept of mixing colours visually, if not actually mixing the paint. I did not talk about this, but taught only by example, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do and needed no discussion. Kids are quick to pick up new ideas and we don't always need to throw so many words at them. (Although all children are different and learning is different for different children. Be sensitive to the needs of your own child).

We stuck on some plastic eyes for interest sake, although painting them is a very acceptable option of you don't have plastic eyes in your craft room.

I explained why it was important to wait for the paint to dry before using markers/koki's on the painting and then we drew whiskers in once the paint was dry. (The felt tips of the pens clog up with wet paint).

My completed painting. It looks as if it was done by a child. This is as it should be. Crafting with kids is intended to build their confidence, not to discourage them by outperforming them.

Some more images of my niece's art.

A very proud lady who takes pride in a picture that testifies to her own ideas and decisions.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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