Playful Penguins by Primary Students

 Many of you who teach in a private school setting are well aware that large populations of Primary age students is common.  It is always challenging week after week to keep the projects fresh and interesting, to say nothing of holding the attention of a large group of four year olds for 40 minutes! 
 Luckily every winter we have lots of fun reading the story Flip and Flop by Dawn Apperley.  It's a cute and simple little story about two brothers, penguins of course, and the games that they play with each other and their new found friends.  "Boomba" is a real hit with the Penguins and the children!
We incorporate many tactile skills in this lesson while exploring the cool and smooth texture of the white paint.  When drawing the Penguins we talk a lot about how we can make the Penguins black eyes show up on his black face.  I like to have my young artists place their pointer finger from one hand onto the palm of their other hand.  We experiment with applying a different amount of pressure so we can actually feel the differences in the pressure. They understand the same technique can be used with a black crayon when drawing the Penguins eyes.  A firm pressure is used for the eyes and a gentile pressure is used for the face and body.
 It's always fun to "tickle" the Penguins tummy with the tip of their finger which has been dipped in white paint.  The falling snowflakes are also printed with finger tips but the snowbanks are rubbed on with their fingers.  We learn that we don't always need a paint brush and that our fingers make wonderful painting tools.  "Boomba" anyone?