Splat Art!

Last week, the Caterpillars experimented with splat art!
 
We’ve noticed that the Caterpillars love to paint, especially on large pieces of paper, so we decided to offer them a painting experience where they could experiment with height and practice their artistic and mathematical skills. 

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We pushed the tables aside and rolled out a large piece of paper on the floor. Then, each child chose two sponges that they wanted to use for this experience and then sat back down in their seat. One at a time, I called up each child to take their first turn. 

They dipped their sponges in paint and then carefully climbed onto the chair. Next, I brought out the meter stick and held it next to the child who was standing on the chair. I asked the children if that child was taller or shorter than a meter stick. The children all yelled, “taller!” and I announced that the sponge was going to be dropped from a height a little taller than a meter. When the child was ready, we all counted down from three. 3… 2… 1… SPLAT! The child would let go of the sponge, letting it fall on the paper and then retrieve the sponge to uncover the splat that it formed. 

 
After each child had a turn, I gave the Caterpillars some free time to make any types of splats that they wanted, but I did ask them to keep two questions in mind:
 
What does the splat look like when you drop it from the chair?
What does the splat look like when you drop it from the ground? 
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I offered a ruler and a measuring tape to the children who were interested in measuring how long their splat was. Three children continued to take turns standing dropping their sponges from the chair, while the other three decided to finger paint instead. 

Throughout this experience, the children practiced taking turns, sharing the space and created some colourful splats! It was definitely worth the messy clean up! 

- Vita