Learn Textures with Patch Painting

Learn about art and texture while having fun with paints. You’ll also reuse some plastic lids, an important step in helping the environment (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)!

What You Need:

• Tempera paints
• Paintbrushes
• Plastic flat covers or lids
• Paper
• Containers for paints

What You Do:

1. Tell your child that he will paint using recycled materials of round plastic lids. Help him collect a few plastic lids. Clear lids are nice to give a better view of your paints, but non-transparent ones will work also.
2. Pour paints into containers so he has colors to choose from. Tell him to use paintbrushes to paint patches of colors (or all one color) on the flat side of a plastic lid. He should apply paint thickly.
3. Have him turn the painted lid face down and press it onto a piece of paper. He can smear it around in circles if he wants to vary the design. He may want to slide the lid or twist it.
4. With a different plastic lid, have him paint colors on the thin lid edge. Then place that part on the paper. When he lifts it up, he’ll notice thinner lines of paint rather than the big patches first created. Talk about the texture created on the paper and how it’s different than painting with a paintbrush.
5. He can experiment with the thin lines of paint (from using the lid’s edged side). For example, have him paint the lid edge, place it down on the paper, and move the lid in a spiral motion. Then lift the lid and observe his creation!
6. Let him experiment with paint and square or rectangle lids if you have some.
7. With paint brushes and paint, he may want to “fill out” patch paintings with other brushstrokes to complete a design. Have fun with it!