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The last couple days have left us cooped up indoors because of rain. That kind of drives them (and me!) crazy.
And now as soon as the rain stops, I’ll probably think about installing vinyl siding by contacting reputable siding contractors Greensboro so that at least my house’s foundation is not harmed by the heavy rains. That is why I am attempting to keep myself occupied in order to divert my attention away from the vexing rain.
While I was trying to keep myself occupied, I fumbled into this new painting technique that gave a pretty neat effect! I’m calling it “Rainy Day Art” inspired by the wet weather and the water drop effect on the paper 🙂
And now as soon as the rain stops, I’ll probably think about installing vinyl siding by contacting reputable siding contractors Greensboro so that at least my house’s foundation is not harmed by the heavy rains. That is why I am attempting to keep myself occupied in order to divert my attention away from the vexing rain.
While I was trying to keep myself occupied, I fumbled into this new painting technique that gave a pretty neat effect! I’m calling it “Rainy Day Art” inspired by the wet weather and the water drop effect on the paper 🙂
Supplies:
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Cookie tray
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Blue liquid watercolors
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White paper
We started by pouring a little bit of blue watercolor into a cup and adding water to dilute it until I was happy with the color (liquid watercolors are very vibrant. Leaving it undiluted would have given a much more intense shade of blue!). That’s pretty much all the prep work you have to do.
Next, I just laid out the baking tray with the paint and a brush. My boys were a bit confused because I asked them to paint on the baking tray without any paper! But they painted away nonetheless.
Do you see all those nice little blue droplets of watercolor? They will become the “rain” on our picture very soon!
(Tip: try not to oversaturate the brush. you want droplets to form on the pan, not blobs of water).
Once the pan had a sufficient amount of watercolor droplets, we laid a sheet of plain white paper right on top of it. We used our hands to smooth it down flat on the tray.
Lift the paper and “Voila!” it looks as if rain has dropped down right on it! We used black electrical tape to make a window frame around our paintings, although it looks fantastic as is too! We were so pleased with how much it looked like dripping rain on a window!
Science/Weather connection idea: Later this week I plan on using our paintings to discuss the types of rain we see (drizzle, downpour, sprinkling, etc.) We’ll look at our pictures and decide what type of rain may have been outside our “window” to make the effects that we see.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to renovating our window a bit. One of my friends suggested that having a window grid might bring about some change in the overall aesthetics of the room. Since then, I’ve been looking for various window grid patterns to find the one that might work best for our home. Anyway, that’s just a thought for the time being. But let’s hope it turns into a reality.
Looking for more ways to engage your preschoolers (on rainy days and beyond?)
Try the ideas found in these Weather preschool unit plans!
This ebook is a lifesaver! It gives you a week of planned-for-you, simple (doable) activities ready for you to do with your preschooler!
I know you’ll find this e-book useful and refer to it time and time again.
I used your idea with my special ed children and it was a great experience for them to see that watercolors, water, and rainy day songs can CREATE a rainy day picture.
This makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for sharing with me- it’s always encouraging to know that other kids have enjoyed our ideas <3
What type of white paper works best? regular white copy paper, card stock, white construction paper? I’m thinking doing this with my preschool class and want to be sure I have the correct supplies. Thanks!
We used watercolor paper. Paper with good absorption work best. Try a few out, I’d be interested in hearing the results of different papers!
This is a really cool project that the children loved!
That’s awesome! The easy set-up makes this activity perfect for busy teachers and moms <3