Paint Center

The Paint Center ~An Overview~

By now you probably realize that TAB in most configurations is very “Center” oriented. This post is a collection of past posts and the ways my paint center has been set up in various years.Â

The Paint Center in 2020-2021

With Covid completely closing our school and putting us online 100% from March 2020 until April 2021, we did very few paint related activities or challenges. In the fall, I created take home kits for students which included little containers of tempera paint. I bought plastic condiment containers in bulk and filled them 1/2 way with the basic 5 (red, yellow, blue, black and white.) I sent that home with a piece of cardboard for a pallet and a paintbrush (along with a number of other supplies including a variety of art papers.)Â

Once we were back in the classroom on a Hybrid basis, I kept only this one type of paint out and used the same containers for distribution. It worked out pretty well and I might use some version of this going forward.Â

The Paint Center in 2018

This year I had to be in a small temporary room, during construction. I had only one small sink, no counters and very little storage space. Due to that huge change in environment, I switched to ONLY using ‘dry’ paint media. We had tempera CAKES, water color CAKES, water color pencils and pastels. This worked fine and I discovered that kids really liked the tempera cakes.Â

The Paint Center in 2014

This center is in flux this year. With the building of my new kiln room it changed my wall set up. So I flipped paint and clay centers. Not sure if it is working out yet… I always observe and modify as we go along. But the basic supplies still exist.

Painting Challenges

Paint center obviously has all the paint! We have tempera paint in plastic portion cups with lids held in muffin tins. Water color palettes, pencils and crayons are stored in small boxes on a lunch tray. The liquid water colors are in portion cups inside a Tupperware. Acrylics are given out to individuals as needed.

Brushes, aprons, water cups and work mats are also stored here. I really need some better signage and menus in this area. The drying rack is close by and someÂ counter space that we use for painted sculptures that are drying.

The nice paint paper is stored in a drawer near by, but students need to ask for this paper. Tag board for experimenting is in the main paper center and up for grabs whenever.

This center is also opened with an “around the the room” activity. This lesson was new this year (2014) and needs some tweaking. I am thinking about adding some color mixing and some brush care directions.

Paint Center

The Paint Center in 2007

The Paint Center contains a variety of paint and painting materials that students can use to both create 2-D artwork and to finish their 3-D creations with color and style. Before the paint center is opened we have a class lesson about PAINTÂ and have a tour of proper set-up and clean-up procedures.Â This will be followed up during the next few days with quick demos on different types of paints and painting brushes, tools and surfaces. Sixth graders are required to make a color wheel using ONLY the 3 primary colors and mixing a 12 color wheel.

Types of Paints availableÂ include: Tempera Paint; Watercolor (both tubes and pallets) Paints; Acrylic Paints; Fabric Paints. (Only the tempera paints are out for daily use and other paints are brought out for special projects or by request of the student.)

Types ofÂ TOOLS Â availableÂ include: many sizes and variations of brushes, paint combs, foam sponges and brushes, as well as random kitchen objects that make great tools… like a PIZZA cutter, potato masher, spray bottles, squirt bottles and plastic bottle lids.

We often see many abstract experimentation with color mixing and discoveries of how different brushes work, a LOT of name posters, hearts and flowers. Students get very excited once the “Splatter Box” comes out. We also have paint combs, squirt bottles, foam sponges.