I had the third art lesson at Logan’s class today.  This hands-on project was more messy, so I recruited one more mom this morning to help out.  I arrived at school while the children were at lunch; I said hello to Logan along with some of his classmates as I wheeled my cart by.  I set up the supplies, then my helpers joined me.  The regular teacher was out today and I was a bit nervous how well the class would be with a substitute teacher.  The class returned from lunch, and I asked them to sit down with me on the rug.  We reviewed our last lesson briefly, then began the new topic “colors” for the day.  We used a color wheel to discuss primary vs secondary colors, and we learned about complementary colors and analogous colors.  We also talked about warm vs cool colors and I utilized a few famous paintings for discussion.  The kids were engaged and eager to answer questions as usual. 

    Next, we moved on to the hands-on project.  I demonstrated a “wet-on-wet” technique using primary colors (watercolors) on a dampened coffee filter to show how colors diffused together.  Then it was time for the kids to try it out; I sent few kids at a time to the four parents at the paint table to make their artwork.  I had the rest of the class coloring in a color wheel and making another color drawing while they waited for their turn.  The flow worked quite well.  The kids cooperated and listen very well.  Before the end of the hour, all the kids made their beautiful artwork.  The parents and I quickly cleaned up and wrapped up a successful lesson.