Our 5-9 yr. old classes created the most amazing ink-blot illustrations this week! We love this project because #1) we all remember doing this as kids, right? and 2) it is such an open ended creative project – it is like peering through a window straight into their little imaginations.
In case your first grade experience is a little fuzzy, we used an eye dropper to puddle watered-down black acrylic paint in the middle of a sheet of heavyweight watercolor paper. Students then blew the ink through a straw (stopping to take a breath so we didn’t have anyone pass out!). From that point they were challenged to see forms and shapes in the ink and illustrate what they imagined using watercolor pencils and black markers. Every single one of them turned into an amazing work of art, and I have to say this is one of my favorite projects ever! We were so rushed to finish them, it is only now as I’m posting pictures, that I’m truly able to appreciate all the whimsical details in each illustration.
This bird has five colorful little eggs in her nest. My favorite part: her little feet!
It’s hard to tell where the shirt ends and the art begins.
