When I was teaching art to hundreds of children, one of my favorite ways to teach children how to use paints was to begin with kid-friendly subjects like fish, butterflies, or flowers. In fact, I have so many projects based on these subjects that it’s almost dizzying!
Once children have a base drawing, the real experimenting begins. And that’s what I’m demonstrating in this video: how to mix paints together to create colors.
Designed for children who may not have an art teacher guiding them through the steps, this project is perfect for parents hoping to create a little magic at home.
Here’s what you’ll need:
– 12″ x 12″ white mixed-media or all-purpose paper
– Black crayon or oil pastel
– Circle tracer (food container tops are great!)
– Paper plate for paints
– Medium round brush
– Craft acrylic paints or liquid tempera paints (warm colors like yellow, pink, red, orange and cool colors like blue or green)
– Tissue paper in various colors
– White school glue
The Project
In this video, I walk kids through a very basic flower drawing that literally falls off the page. Inspired by American artist, Georgia O’Keeffe, children learn how to see a flower from an insect’s perspective.
We explore mixing paint colors together to create tints. I use craft acrylic paints in the video as that is what many children have at home. But if you have liquid tempera paints (I love Faber-Castell and Crayola Premium) then please use it. Liquid tempera is washable whereas craft acrylic paints (the kind that comes in limitless colors in small bottles from craft stores) are not.
If you liked this lesson check out our Easy Chalk Flowers lesson!
Not a member? Join the waitlist here.
PIN ME!
i love to do art!
Beautiful art activity and easy to do too.
thank you so much for your lessons! esp. during this hard time, our school is going virtual, probably starting next week, and who knows how long we’ll be doing that!
Thank you from AZ!
Fun fun fun I love it very much
These are so pretty 🙂
I like the colors you add
I’m from hunduras and painting
Your ideas are so great! Thank you for making these available to families! We love them!
Wonderful instructional video. Simple yet beautiful results. Thank you!
The flowers are beautiful.
This is super cute!!! I cannot wait to do this project with my kiddos.
I enjoyed watching! Thanks for sharing this flower video lesson.
This looks so fun!! What ages/grade levels would you suggest for this?
Love your projects, so easy to follow! Colorful, fun, & educational! Thx!
I liked the idea very much, kindly share more similar activities through which we can connect children with nature.
Hi! Have you thought of joining The Sparklers’ Club? We have an entire bundle dedicated to Science & Nature in The Sparklers’ Club and so much more! We are the go-to resource for art educators because we understand that teaching art isn’t just about setting out a tray of crayons and a few sheets of paper.
We understand that teaching is about connection and being your students’ trusted guide through exciting art adventures that will shape them for life. You can join the waitlist here: https://deepspacesparkle.lpages.co/the-sparklers-club-waitlist/
Thank you so much ! The flowers are beautiful , I love them!
awesome as always!
I am so excited for art class tomorrow! Thanks from New Brunswick, Patty!
I love your enthusiasm, I love the set designs (polka dots in the flower demo) & your ideas are great! Thanks!
Wow – This is sooo cool! Great wrap up Warm & Cool Color activity to use for my 5, 6, and 7 year olds. Thank you
So beautiful
Love the art ideas. Plan to use the Georgia O’Keefe idea for Mother’s Day.
Going to end my year with this.
I am confused. Why can’t I find this fabulous lesson on Primerry Episodes? I guess I am still confused about all of these differing offerings you have created. Thanks for your help.
We absolutely love our time with Miss Patty and she has become a beloved member of our family.
Hi Dana! This is Bethany from Team Sparkle. I’m so happy to hear your family enjoys following along with Miss Patty. Primerry has a Georgia O’Keeffe lesson that will be released on May 23rd! So keep your eyes out for the Primerry Parent email and you will see it soon 🌈
Hi Dana! Miss Patty here….Deep Space Sparkle is Primerry’s parent company and we often offer free lessons and projects to showcase what we offer for our paid memberships. This Happy Flower project is a free project that anyone can access. It isn’t produced in the same way…we don’t offer the drawing guides on screen for instance. That’s only for for paid membership.
It’s a great choice of lesson for parents who aren’t interested in teaching the lesson. I’m glad you love the lesson!
Can you recommend a source for liquid tempura that does not come in the huge 16oz containers per color?
Crayola is great. You can order from Blick art supplies
My kid will love this!
Thank you.
This is great
Thank you for this great art lesson. I also loved that there was a video to go with the lesson. Having a visual with step- by step instructions made it easier for the students to see and know what they had to do. I also like that there were options about how to create their flowers and many of the students were already deciding on how they were going to make their art piece different.
I love it. I wish i would have joined before the deadline.
Hi Deb! The Sparklers’ Club is an affordable and flexible pay-as-you-go monthly membership—perfect for anyone who teaches art to students aged K-7. To join the Sparklers’ Club waitlist and learn more about The Sparklers’ Club and our next enrollment click here: https://deepspacesparkle.lpages.co/the-sparklers-club-waitlist/.
We look forward to welcoming you into The Sparklers’ Club.
I like this
I enjoyed watching! Thanks for sharing this flower video lesson.
I am excited to teach this to my 5th graders
I really loved watching this. Your personality just shines, and even my 5 y.o. not English speaking daughter (we’re from Germany) now wants to paint beautiful flowers like this! Will definitely do this with my art class kids, just have to decide wether for mothers day oder for start of spring time… Thank you!!
Love this!! Thank you so much!
thank you
Fabuloso y tu lo haces ver muy fácil. Yo he trabajado también la obra de ella: La Escalera al cielo, con papeles pintados, al estilo Carle
Love this.
great ideas
PLEASE!!! I love this so much
SUPER CUTE
I do this art project every spring with my grade 1/2 class, I love it so much!! I use my PAC money to buy acrylic paints in gorgeous colours, and the flowers always turn out so beautifully. The students love the colour mixing. Tracing over the flowers after the paint has dried with black pastel just makes them pop. The tissue paper adds an interesting mixed media touch and the final product is always absolutely amazing. This project makes my heart so happy!!
Simple for students to follow.Great!
This looks awesome!
I absolutely love this project for Mother’s Day! I’m thinking about doing one myself for my Mom:)
Awesome lesson!
love your ideas
love your work!
Please
It is very beautiful, bright and interesting
Using this activity to make beautiful Mother’s Day cards.
Thank you
Love the large flowers. Will do it tomorrow with my grade 1s. Thank you!
thank you