Painting with Fly Swatters

While I was going through old photos, I realized that there are oodles of activities that we have done that I thought I had blogged about and shared with you... that never made it past the photo shoot! There are literally not enough hours in a day! So, for those of you who have children enrolled- you'll realize that these photos are quite old - circa 2010. For those of you in cyberspace- I bet you would have never known if I didn't mention it!

For those of you who follow the blog, you know that I am a huge fan of process based art. This activity is a little bit busy for indoor use- although the mess can easily be cleaned up if you are brave enough to try it. I gave the children a selection of paints. (The determined which colors). We used washable tempera paint this time with a little bit of dish soap added to ease in washing.

The process is quite simple. 1: Dip the swatter in the paint, 2: Swat the paper 3: Repeat.

The children had the opportunity to use a couple of different shaped fly swatters. In all honesty, it doesn't really matter what kind of swatter you use. The children typically become so engrossed in this process that the print marks from the shape are no longer recognizable.

I like to give the children an easel to work with when they partake in this activity, although giving them a canvas on the ground also provides another dimension of exploration.

Have you ever painted with fly swatters?

I'd love to hear about your experiences!

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