Preschool Art Study: Painting Sunflowers

In July, our activities focused on art with the Art Studio kit from Mother Goose Time. Preschool Art Study: Painting Sunflowers

The children were inspired to draw and paint sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh’s famous Vase with 12 Sunflowers. Flower cut out shapes came with the kit and I did put them out but first offered plain cardstock to see if they would draw and paint their own sunflowers.

I introduced Vincent Van Gogh’s sunflower art with the poster included in the daily bag. We looked at a picture of him online too, so they knew what he looked like and that we were talking about a real person. I explained that he lived a long, long time ago but we still like his art.

Materials provided:

• crayons
• twig pencils
• paint: green, yellow, brown
• Sunflower seeds
• trays for painting on, defining workspace
• Mirrors
• Real sunflowers, various sizes & colors (from our garden)
• flower shape cut outs
• glue
• magnifying glasses

I wanted this to be more than a craft or art time. I was hoping my group could appreciate the beauty of the sunflowers, the colors and explore the seeds and petals, and check them out up close.

We talked about the colors and shapes of the sunflowers.

I encouraged the older ones to draw the sunflowers first and then paint.

The sunflower seeds were put out in a dish to use if they desired. I saw one child play with them in his hand, feeling them and checking them out. One of the younger ones, 2 years old, sprinkled them on his page with a mixture of glue and paint. Others were just pleased to paint a sunflower and move on.

Mostly I just let them come up to the table, look and do whatever they did. A 2-year-old painted and worked for at least 20 minutes.

It was a beautiful, fun experience with Vincent Van Gogh and his Vase with 12 Sunflowers to inspire some creativity of our own!

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