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Expression with Pencil or Brush

Let the child early be given charcoal or colored chalks, and later the three pigments—red, blue and yellow—wherewith to express his ideas. Allow him some choice in the medium he uses—as pencil, charcoal or brush—as one may be best suited to his purpose one time, and another one at another time.

Encourage the child to tell a story by painting or drawing. The earliest graphic method by which man conveyed messages to one at a distance was through picture-writing.

LEARNING TO OBSERVE

Painting From the Real Object (Paints, chalk or charcoal)

Place before the child an apple, banana or flower of simple form and let him copy directly from the object without previous drawing. Encourage his efforts, however crude the results at first. It is more educative to draw from the real object than from a copy. Give him at first three colors only, in paints, till he learns how to get other colors by mixing these. For this purpose point out beautiful sunsets and cloud effects in Nature.

Life Stages of Seedling (Paper, paints, seedling)

Place before the child a bean or pea. Give him an oblong of paper 3 × 8 inches. Fold it into four parts. In the first let him draw or paint the seed as he sees it. Then let him plant the seed. In a day or so let him paint a picture of the seedling, after having grown so as to show the development of the seed leaves. Draw two other pictures to show later stages of growth. This gives a picture history of the little plant and while so occupied the child is learning to observe and note that which he sees.

ACQUIRING SKILL

Calendars (Water-colors, brush, paper, calendar pad)

Draw circles, squares, etc., and let the child fill in the outlines with color. A tiny calendar may be pasted in the center and ribbons put through wherewith to hang it up.

In filling in these figures show the child how to hold the brush lightly so as to secure freedom of stroke. Let him make long strokes beginning at the top of the paper and moving from side to side slowly downward, or rather as rapidly as is consistent with neatness. Have enough water on the brush so that the color will not dry from one long stroke before you are able to go back and carry it on to the next stroke. Practice making a clean, smooth surface.

Nature Pictures

Let the child fill one sheet thus with blue, a picture of the sky. Another sheet may be covered with green, a meadow. Still another sheet may have the upper part blue and the lower green.

EXPERIMENTS WITH COLOR

Prism (Secure glass prism from kindergarten store or from some candelabra you may have at home)

Place in sunlight and let child observe colors and the order in which they appear; always in the same order—the cold colors at one end, the warm ones at the other. Let the little child try to catch and hold the lovely "light-bird."

Pigments (Water-color paints, glasses of water)

Dissolve a little red, yellow and blue paint in three separate glasses. Then, by mingling these—the primary colors—show how the secondary colors—orange, green and violet—may be obtained.

Transparent Papers

Get at a kindergarten store the transparent papers and isinglass used in color work. By overlapping one upon another different hues may be obtained. This may be done also, though less effectively, with colored tissue papers; but these are not so pure in tone.

Color-Top

Color tops may be procured at kindergarten stores. With the top come paper circles, of standard colors, with their tints and shades, giving a great variety. These are so slit that by placing two or more on the top according to directions and revolving the top, any tint or hue may be mathematically produced.

If the child has made his own button-mold top, let him cut circles of white paper and slip them over the axis of the top. Make a dab of color here or there on the paper with paint or chalk. Whirl around and observe the effect. This will lead up to a better understanding of the above-mentioned color-top which is manufactured by the Milton Bradley Co.

APPLIED ART

Toy Wagons and Houses

If the child has made wagons or houses of wood or cardboard, let him paint them in broad, free strokes. It is desirable that the little child be given work which involves the free movement of the larger muscles which such work demands. This may not appeal to one as belonging under the head of art, but we learn from Mr. Pennell that in Sicily the wagons of the peasants are beautifully decorated with landscapes and other pictures, and that the artists are particular to make their names conspicuous.

In any case a certain artistic feeling is required in choosing the colors and rightly applying them even in house-painting and wagon decoration. And meanwhile the child is learning how to wield his instruments.

Place Cards

Take a clover leaf and practice painting from it until able to make a copy good enough to paint upon a place card for the table. If the drawing be correct, just a flat wash of color will do for the painting at first.

An autumn leaf will do for a Thanksgiving card.

See Festival Occasions for other ideas.

Tops

If a button-mold top has been made, it may be painted in concentric rings or the entire surface may be neatly colored.

Match-Safe

This has been described upon page 34.

Designs for Rugs (Paper, brown or white, paints or chalk)

Let child draw or paint design for toy rug he is making for doll-house. He may make an oblong of one color, and at each end draw lines across, which are to be woven in another color. There may be one line at each end, or two, or three, etc. The arrangement of these lines and their distance apart allow much scope for taste and judgment.

Designs for Wall-Papers, Oilcloths, Etc. (Parquetry papers, paste, etc.)

1. Have child observe oilcloth designs and then with kindergarten parquetry papers try to make similar ones for doll-house.

2. Having made pasted designs, let him copy same in water-colors.

Design for Stained Glass Window (Transparent paper, scissors, white paper, paste)

Cut a circle out of the white paper. Fold it once, which gives a half-circle; fold again, which gives a quarter-circle. Holding it folded, cut several ellipses, triangles, etc., into the folded edges. Open out and you have framework of a rose-window. On the back of this paste a piece of transparent paper (see page 75), red or green or yellow, and let the light shine through. Hang in window for transparency. Suitable for Easter gift. Vary by cutting like cathedral windows. (See illustrations in dictionary under "Tracery.")

PICTURE-STORY

Chased by a Goose (Pencil, paper)

Once some boys lived in a house (make a dot) surrounded by a strong fence (draw circle round the dot). A short distance off was a large pond (an oval, a little below and to the right of the circle). One day the boys ran down to the pond (draw curved line from house to pond) and began to splash in the water and to throw it at each other (a number of oblique lines from right hand end of pond). Some distance off lived some Indians in two wigwams (two oblique lines meeting at the top and next to them a similar pair, like two tents, just below the pond). When the Indians saw the boys throwing the water out they began to chase the boys, running up a zigzag path (from each tent draw an oblique line to the right for a short distance and then turn to the left till it meets the pond). The boys ran as fast as they could up a winding path parallel to the one they ran down (draw curving line parallel to first one), and then ran to the left partly around the fence surrounding the house. They had to run around the barn, too (an oblique line to the left and then another to the right till it meets the circle again), and when they looked behind them they found they had been chased by a goose!!!

Chased by a Goose.