This Blow art paper plate lion is so much fun to make and if great for a large group of children and so easy to do. Plus how doesn’t like blowing paint to see where it goes.
Originally we were going to make our lions on paper, but then Mini had the great idea of using paper plates and they worked even better. As they have a slight upturned edge the children really have to blow hard to get the paint to the edges if they start in the centre and if the start at the edge they learn that the paint will blow to the centre much easier, so it is great for learning.
We went with a super simple lions face and through exploration of different materials learned that using crayon or oil meant that the paint glided over the face and didn’t sink into the plate like it did when the faces were drawn with a marker or pencil.
Make your own Blow Art Paper Plate Lion
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Materials:
- Paper plates
- Straws
- Ready made tempura or powder paint
- Needle tip applicator bottles or droppers
- Warm water
- Crayons or oil pastels
- Tray
How to make your own Blow Art Paper Plate Lion
Draw the lion’s face onto the centre of the paper plate using your chosen materials or like us try using different ones to see what happens.
You need to water down readymade tempura, we used a third paint to two-thirds warm water and then tested it.
Place droplets of paint around the place, either at the edge of the lion or the edge of the plate. We did one colour at a time.
Then BLOW using a straw. With younger children make sure they understand the difference between sucking and blowing before you introduce the paint. You might want to have a practice with water or milk!
We had so much fun making our lions manes. There is something really magical watching the paint move around and also the colours mixing too.
I loved how this was a mix between process art and craft and created a fab piece of art to be hung in our gallery.
Did you know that March is National reading month? Well, our blow art paper plate lion was inspired by one of the boys favourite books from when they were younger. Can you guess which one?
Dear Zoo by Rod Cambell. I still have the anniversary edition board book version that we used to read to them each evening again and again. In fact, we all knew the words of by heart for Dear Zoo, which along with The Hungry Catapiller was they favourite book. They sent back the lion in the zoo as he was too fierce, but I don’t think our lions look fierce at all! What do you think?
They sent back the lion in the zoo as he was too fierce, but I don’t think our lions look fierce at all! What do you think?
This post is a part of the National Reading Month Book Inspired Play Blog Hop hosted by Amy at Learning and Exploring through play. Make sure you clink on the link to see all of the other amazing ideas!
