Circles, Circles, Everywhere

• PRINT
• EMAIL

Painting and printing with everyday objects reveals hidden circles

OBJECTIVE
Developing Skills:
• recognizing shapes
• naming shapes
• compare size

MATERIALS
• collect a group of everyday objects for children to use for printing circle pictures of different sizes, such as a paper cup, spool, film canister, old record, bowl, or yogurt container
• tempera paints / paint brushes
• large paper 12 x 18

DIRECTIONS
Activity
Display the objects with round openings or shapes on a table. Discuss with your child which object will make the largest and smallest circle prints.

Explain to your child that he can make circle pictures with the objects. Model how to dip the mouth of the cups in tempera paint and print on the paper. Model how to use the paintbrush and cover the whole object.
 
Offer your child paper and invite him to make different size circles all over their paper. Then set the prints aside to dry.

Once his work is dry, let your child make different objects out of his circle prints. You might suggest he try making a bicycle wheel, sun. Earth, face, clock, window, swim tube, or cookie from the circles.

Remember: Younger children may randomly print over each circle. They may not have the fine motor skills to keep them apart. Older children may be asked to keep the prints separate.

LESSON EXTENSION
Invite your child to make a shape collage together by cutting out pictures from magazines that represent triangles, squares, rectangles, ovals and circles. Discuss with your child how many everyday objects are actually common shapes.

Cut many same colored circles, triangles and squares out of construction paper. Hide the paper shapes all around the house. Offer your child a lunch bag and invite her to go on a shape hunt. After the hunt, invite your child to sort her shapes into groups. Ask her questions such as: Who found a triangle? Who found a square? Suggest she hold up each shape as you ask the question.

Books
Museum Shapes
by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Little Brown and Company, 2005; $17)

The Wheels on the Bus
by Jim Becker
(Scholastic, 1996; $6)

Magda’s Tortillas (Las Tortillas de Magda)
by Becky Chavarria-Chairez
(Arte Publico Press, 2000; $15)

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