Setting the Table: Tempera Paint
What does tempera paint do?
So many investigations of a material start with a question just like this. This time is essential for developing the relationship they’ll depend on as they use it as a tool for thinking down the line. As children explore a new tool, they’re discovering its qualities. It’s a question that opens the door to a new relationship – it’s no wonder that many children talk about these materials as friends!
Depending on the media, they might discover:
- Is its mark permanent or ephemeral? How open is it to revision? Can that be manipulated?
- Are it’s marks broad or specific? Smooth or rough? How it can be adjusted for precision?
- How might I use it to play with shape? Line? Texture?
- What happens when I introduce another element: water? tape? a second material? a different size brush?
- How can I use this to play with scale? What happens when I increase or decrease the size of the landscape?
In this new video – the latest in our Setting the Table series – children reflect on the affordances of tempera paint.
I wonder:
How does this video encourage you to invite the children (or adults) you work with to form a relationship with a new material? What do you value here?
We hope that you become an Opal School Online Sustaining Member to enjoy these previous Setting the Table videos:
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