Kindergarten Art Quilt -- Squares of Primary and Secondary Colors

Creating an Art Quilt with Hand-Mixed Colored Squares

Last week the children got messy mixing primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and discovered what secondary colors they created. This fun class project left us with sheets and sheets of beautifully painted paper. This weekend I cut these up into squares of varying sizes so that the kids could make art quilts this week.

The children began by filling their paper with a checkerboard of the largest squares. They were asked to really notice how the colors looked together and to choose combinations that they liked.

Once the paper was filled, they layered a second smaller square on top -- again with an emphasis on personal color preference. Finally the children were asked to add a third very small square on top.

Here are the results! Please try to ignore the glue-- I took these pictures in class on Tuesday and the art was not yet dry!

As you can see there were a wide variety of color preferences in general -- as well as quite a variety of what the children liked in terms of color combinations. It is amazing to see how strong and unique color preference can be, even at such a young age.

At the end of class, we had a little class "quiz" where all the children reviewed together what the primary and secondary colors are. They knew it well!

As a side note, we did discuss (and you may have heard) that in art class there are no "boy" or "girl" colors. I feel that it is important in art class for the children to feel totally free and safe to explore their creativity. Worrying about being judged is a hindrance to freedom of expression. So with gentle reminders (if needed), we work towards commenting on each others (and our own) work with sensitivity and kindness.