Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Book Love: The Black and White Factory

I stumbled upon a new book at the library a few weeks ago, and it inspired this art project for our Creative Kids Art Play class.


The animals in The Black and White Factory have really specific rules about their factory, and that includes no color and no messes! But then one day, some colors start to creep in and they try everything to stop it from ruining their factory. This book is interactive and funny, and I love the way the characters embrace the mess in the end. It's such a perfect story for encouraging creative and exploratory art play.

Connecting Activity
I set out black (dollar store) frames over white paper with some colored glue, and the kids jumped right in to add some color to their "black and white factories."






A few tips for trying this with kids:
#1- When I researched this activity, most tutorials suggested using hot glue to seal the glass frame so that glue doesn't leak out. I would add that you should be very generous with the amount you use, both in front of and behind the glass. I thought I had done enough, but I still had problems with leaking glue and it was messy!

#2- Preschoolers love the process of squeezing and watching the paint fill up the frame. As such, there is a lot of glue that needs to dry. These didn't dry very much overnight, so I tried putting them under a ceiling fan in a bright room, and they dried completely after about a day.

Once they are dry, the colors show up best when you hold them to the light, so they make great light-catchers or sun-catchers. We explored the colors using different kinds of light- windows, ceiling lights, the light table, and flashlights.





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