Wet on wet watercolors

Today, after having some friends over to play we did some fun watercolor painting. This is the painting technique used in Waldorf Steiner schools, and it's my favorite way to teach painting, as it's so playful, calming and fun to set up!

We use Stockmar watercolors, and a good quality watercolor paper. We only work in the three primary colors - red, yellow and blue - as this is a good way to get used to children mixing colors and discovering that you can make any color of the rainbow - therefore these are the only colors we really need to begin with! 

Painting is something Acey really looks forward to, so the anticipation when setting the paints up is almost as much of a joyful experience as the actual painting itself! Diluting the paints in water in individual small glass jars, with a bigger jar filled with water to clean the brush in. Soaking the paper in the sink, laying it carefully on the surface and dabbing the paper with a sponge so it's just the right dampness. And then it's finally time to begin!

Sometimes we just experiment with one or two colors, sometimes you could paint how you're feeling on that day...or like today sometimes I will recite a poem or sing a song and Acey will paint along to it. Today's poem was about a little dandelion in the spring sunshine. Sometimes the whole page is covered with color, other times there will be a few painted pictures on the page. It's a really nice calming activity, and something fun for grown ups to join in with too! 

Acey says; ''Mama, can we do painting every day''

and I say...

''yes Ok''