Roses and Dot Painting

Well it is just after valentine’s day so I thought I would share this art project with you. This is dot painting using those plastic vial things that florists stick on the ends of roses (hence the Valentine’s reference.)

 

I used liquid paint (you can use food colouring but I always worry about staining) and water. I just fill like a quarter of the vial with paint and add water and shake the heck out of it.

 

Now I usually do this activity as a group project to that I can cover the whole table with paper cause my guys always end up with puddles of paint on the table otherwise. This way the paper soaks up the water and clean-up is easier. Of course, you can use individual paper if you want but be prepared for some of the papers to turn into soggy piles of mush! I talk to the kids beforehand about being gentle and thoughtful about paint placement ie. Not just banging one colour over and over onto their paper until the container is empty. However some of the kids do it anyway and honestly I don’t stop them since it is their art. You should also beware of the splatter effect. This project is pretty messy when they are still banging the vials on the table and paper when there is already a good puddle of paint. We all know that some kids turn all art projects into a sensory experience.

Okay so the vials . . . I did not collect them off of flowers! I simply went to a florist and bought them. They cost like $0.25 each and have lasted awhile now (we have done this activity at least four times with the same vials.) You might be able to get a florist to donate them but I had to pay for them. They are not something that florists usually sell apparently so you may have to do some searching to find a place that will either give them to you or sell them to you.