Paint & Stories...Fall Session II Roundup

Paint & Stories is for children, ages 2-4.  Every week focuses on a book which inspires a painting project.  

These were the books covered during Fall Session II:

Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin

Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds

Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg



Paint & Stories took a Halloween party turn with Click, Clack, Boo!  The students used their hand prints to make spiders and threaded yarn across the piece to create a web.  For this type of project, googly eyes are essential.

Click, Clack, Boo! spider

After reading Sky Color, the students mixed their own sky colors with tempura paint.  Baking soda was then added to the paint.  Using droppers, the students dropped vinegar onto the the tempura/baking soda mixture. The chemical reaction caused new textures and surprising mixtures.

Project inspired by the book, Sky Color

The book for the final week of class was Beautiful Oops:

They're plastic!  We swear!  Beautiful Oops clean up

The children learned about Gyotaku, a style of Japanese printing utilizing fish.  Yes, fish.  An unexpected bonus of Paint & Stories are some unique conversation starters.  For example, here's "regular life."

"What did you do today?"

"Eh.  The usual."

"Oh."

But learning Gyotaku methods during a Paint & Stories class gives you this:

"So, what did you do today?"

"Painted with my kid using a fish instead of a brush."

"Wait...hoozie...whatsiz?  Did you just say you painted with a fish?"

Then...you get to tell the person all about it!  Brag about your child's project.  Perhaps, show some pictures on your phone (or tell them about Kidstreet's blog, which we would appreciate very much). 

Play...Spot the Fish!

The children painted fish with a fish and then added some elements for a collage. 

Paint & Stories is a regular class in Kidstreet's rotation, taught by Kimberly Pancoast.  The class starts up again next week with a winter theme.  How many different ways can she think of to create snow for her students' projects?  The pressure's on.  Good luck, Kimberly!