We are continuing to think about farms and the type of activities that happen at a farm. While the title specifies Animals the stamps we used are more suited to building a farm scene and exploring what happens on a farm.
We started with:
- Newsprint Paper
- Classroom Stamp Pad Kit (red, yellow, black and brown)
- Farm Adventure Stampers
- Tempera Blocks and Tray
The stamp pads were set up in the middle so both children could reach. A child-sized table would work better as they had a little too far to reach.
The stamps have a sticker on the top showing what the stamp is and a suggested colour of ink pad to use. Rose liked to double-check!
The stamps have comfort grip handles, perfect for little hands.
The clear see-through top allows the child to see exactly where they are placing the stamp.
A directional arrow along with the picture sticker allows easy placement. As someone who has used regular rubber stamps for years, these make life easier and avoid over-stamping.
Considering we used totally inappropriate paper, the stamps turned out really well. Newsprint does not allow the ink to absorb into the paper so although the inks look vivid the stampers can slide easily in little hands. Regular white paper or construction paper would have been better.
Rose continued to double-check the stamp as you can see here, not quite trusting the sticker or possibly enjoying seeing the stamp reversed… who knows?
The following day we pulled out the paints and added to the farm scenes with paint.
Mixing media always seems to add to the art activity.
Teaching Rose to; “water, paint, paper, wash” was a struggle and practising this alone would be useful. Daisy did get annoyed at her sister for messing up the paints!
One thing that did come up in conversation with Daisy during the process, was the need to discuss sightlines and the horizon. I asked her why she put all her animals at the bottom of the page. She responded with an explanation that included “the animals would be stuck in the mud” and “I can’t have the rooster on top of the dog”.
The conversation did not go terribly well in terms of her understanding of what the horizon is so it is definitely on the list to work on.
Adding painting to the activity did pump up the excitement and allowed more detail to be achieved.
The conversation around the stamps they were using allowed us to discuss a visit to friends’ farm, compare with our own menagerie and prepare for a group farm visit next week.