Education Category: Creative
Ages: 4-8, 8-12, 12-16

Donated by Worldsupporter Maaike

Spring has sprung,  and summer is just around the corner! 
Explore the changing seasons with children by creating a cork-stamped masterpiece. With cork stamping, your budding Picasso's can form leaves,  flowers,  rain, and other elements of nature,  turning a blank canvas into an original work of art. This activity provides learning opportunities through sensory exploration and discussion about the seasons.

What You Need:

• Clean,  dry corks in several different sizes
• Two sturdy sheets of 8 1/2” x 11' paper
• Paints
• Markers

What You Do:

1. Prepare the activity by setting out the corks and two sheets of paper on your child's workspace. Pour a small amount of paint into individual shallow containers for dipping.
2. Starting with spring, talk to your child about the weather and seasons. Ask him if he knows what type of weather and plants are usually observed in the springtime.
3. To provide some initial structure to the painting, help him draw some bare tree branches or flower stems.
4. As you talk,  help him complete a visual portrayal of springtime by dipping the flat end of a cork lightly into the paint. He can then stamp the cork onto the paper to form blossoms on the trees and flowers on the stems. As he gets the hang of it, he can use the cork to stamp additional items such as raindrops, clouds, or rays of sun, using the markers to add detail if desired.
5. When your child has finished stamping images of spring,  ask him the same questions about summer.  On the second piece of paper,  invite him to use the paint-dipped corks to stamp out elements of summer,  such as the sun or the beach. To create waves or longer shapes,  he can experiment by dragging the paint-dipped cork across the paper.
6. After he's finished,  hang the two pieces of artwork side-by-side to create a diptych,  or invite him to create cork-stamping artworks for fall and winter as well!

© Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.