Art Ed Wednesday is written each week by Rachel Johnston, a fiber artist and art educator in Ruston, Louisiana Today I have a good project for kids to work on if they’re stuck inside all day in this icy weather! My students refer to it as “making big art”, and that’s actually an accurate name for it. Get a roll of brown paper and unroll it, cutting it when you have a section as long as you’d like. Tape it to the floor with masking tape, and let your kids use their favorite art materials on it. Crayons, markers, colored pencils, paint, and stamps are all good choices. If they’re using paint or other messy supplies and you don’t want paint on everything else, tape the paper to a kitchen floor, or another area that’s easy to clean up after they’re done.
I’ve mentioned this brown paper before, as it’s a favorite supply in my classes. Big rolls of it can be found at Lowe’s. Smaller amounts of a thinner brown paper can be found at Dollar Tree. If you want to do this project right away and don’t currently have a roll of paper, cut open a brown paper bag and lay it flat.
The finished artwork can be displayed on a wall (if you have a lot of empty wall space….), used as wrapping paper, or cut into small sections and turned into note cards. (Although some children will not be okay with having it cut into.)
These photos were taken in the summer, when I let kids finger paint on the paper outside.
