Big Canvas, Big Imaginations

Inspired by some children’s interests in throwing, balls and pom-poms were added to a tray of paint, alongside the more common paintbrushes. These were left beside a suspended canvas in the orchard, ready to see how the children’s creativity would express itself.

To begin with, the children laughed when they saw the balls, seeming intrigued by why they were in the paint. One child began to throw the balls onto the canvas, noting the marks left behind. It did prove a little challenging to always aim the ball onto the canvas (some went flying up into the sky!) but the children were tenacious and kept on trying. We commented on the shapes that they left behind on the canvas, spotting small circles.

As the colour started to appear on the white canvas, the creativity unravelled and the children’s imagination began to show. The children painted rainbows and dinosaurs, swinging our paintbrushes from left to right and up and down. There was lots of stretching too as children tried to paint the very top! 

Some children decided to mix the paint colours together (using their hands!) discussing with each other the new colours that had been formed…. multiple shades of brown!! They then decided to use their hands to paint the canvas finding that this was the most effective way they could cover the entire canvas in the shortest amount of time. This also involved lots of laughter as they tried their hardest not to run into each other with paint covered hands! 

It was lovely to see how the children worked individually and yet collaboratively to create their masterpiece. 

• Category: news