watercolor painting at preschool

This is a fun little watercolor activity we've been setting out for the kids at arrival time.  Simple pictures are drawn on little squares of watercolor paper.  Sharpie is the best for the outlining, something else might bleed when wet.  I like watercolor paper, it's just the best.  Other thick paper could be substituted, but regular copy paper would not work.  Wouldn't it be frustrating for a little friend to have the paper rip and curl up when they add water?

Then, Bee and I add some color with her watercolor colorpencils.  Just a bit of color at the edges. I've written before about some fun things Bee and I have done lately with watercolors.  We both love love love these watercolor color pencils.  These are from the art store (and are so rich and lovely), but I used to have Crayola's set from a big-box store and they worked just fine too.

All we need to set out for the kiddos is water and paintbrushes.  The color from the pencils blends to cover whatever area they paint with water.  They swoop in and the papers are gone in just a few minutes.  I need to keep a better eye on if lots of friends are doing it, or a few friends are doing all of them.   We did one day of Valentine hearty sort of pictures, one day of "P" words, but now it's whatever simple image comes to mind.

Here's a little friend (on jammie day- hence her robe) who was showing her little brother (20 months)  how to do it.  She was the leader and her mom and little brother joined us for the morning. 

Oh my goodness, look at his concentration!  How sweet.    He kept whispering, "dot, dot, dot."  I love when little people are so focused.

This certainly wouldn't help a discussion on process vs. product, but it has been a fun little activity and perhaps an intro to watercolor for the preschool class.  We do an organized craft each day, and I suppose they are a little more product vs process, but the kids are given a number of other opportunities for process work.  They can paint at the easel each day, create something in the 'office' area, usually involving heaps of colored tape and small yarn and crepe paper cuttings.  So given the other opportunities for free creation and process work, I feel alright about this 'product' work. Plus, it's nice looking piece they feel good about participating in.