After blowing out the candles and eating yummy cake and ice cream there are always leftover candles. We are always looking for new materials to explore paint. Birthday candles are such a fun painting tool! We had so much fun exploring colors and textures!
TO MAKE YOUR BIRTHDAY CANDLE PAINTING YOU WILL NEED
birthday candles
tempera paints (red, yellow, blue, white)
white paper (we used construction paper)
painting palette or paper plate
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AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT ENHANCED THROUGH PAINTING
fine motor development
color exploration
language development
creativity
artistic expression
SET UP A PAINTING STATION TO CREATE THE BIRTHDAY CANDLE PAINTINGS
Prior to inviting your children to paint set up a station with a piece of paper, a painting palette with red, yellow, blue and white paint and 5 candles.
When painting with children remember that the focus should center on the process of the work rather than the end result. Give children the time and space to explore the painting materials freely. If your child only wants to use red go for it! If the painting looks like a brown glob in the end celebrate that you gave your child the opportunity to mix colors, feel the paint on the paper and enjoy the artistic experience.
My daughters painted with the candles for about 20 minutes and then moved on to using their hands. My girls love the sensory experience of moving the paint around the paper with their hands.
Focus your language on what your children are doing and discovering rather than what you think the artwork looks like or statements that begin with “I like”. When you say “It looks like a…” you are implying that the artwork needs to represent something. When you say “I like your painting” it is implying that I some point you may not like the child’s work. Instead you can say “Look at the way you are creating dots with the candle. Some dots are small. Some are big.” “Luca, I can see you used many colors to create a new color on your paper!” Here is a video of my daughters hard at work. This video shows the progression of their art and how I follow my children’s lead.
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The finished piece of art after a thirty minute painting session!
