Printmaking with Round Things

On the floor laid was a large white paper taped to a muslin canvas fabric. On top of the paper were a plunger, hula hoop, a funnel, and other round objects that children could use to make prints!

Theo this time wandered around the room wondering what he should make. He walked by the shelf and noticed the Rhino at the top of the chimney. He requested it and had a AH HA moment. “I’m going to build a home for my rhino and he’s going to have a mud bath” as he stacked some blocks and picked a bowl for the bath. He mentioned that his home was hot. Mateo picked up his penguin and mentioned that his penguin lived somewhere cold. The two created homes for their animals.

Next, the children joined Julie at the table to make some art. On table were some coffee filters along with watercolor and brushes. The children were invited to paint. Mateo began by dipping his brush in the blue paint and applied it to the coffee filters along. After adding different colors, surrounded his filter with water and the colors dimmed and gave a translucent look. Theo mixed the blue and green and gazed at it in awe. He made plans to give one to mommy, one to his Doda, Savta, and Saba. He added streaks of glue and tried to brush it away.

Once the children were done painting their coffee filter, Mateo dipped the hoops into paint and spun them across large sheets of paper. As the rings rotated, they created circular tracks and layered prints. He experimented with spinning the hoops quickly to see how the paint spread across the paper. Theo watched him and helped choose which color paint to use next.

The materials encouraged experimentation with force, rotation, and pattern. Children observed how different speeds changed the marks that appeared on the paper, and how repeating circles and button prints began forming visual patterns. Each movement created a different result, allowing the children to test ideas and adjust their actions.