It Looked Like Spilt Milk

Objectives:

  1. To use imagination to visualize images in finger-paint globs.
  2. To manipulate finger-paint globs to create recognizable designs.
  3. To use eye/hand coordination to make designs.

Materials:

  • Finger-paint paper (one per participant), finger paints (one color per participant), paint brushes (one per participant)

    Procedures:

    1. Charles G. Shaw's, It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Discuss "how" the author uses clouds to visualize images. Have the children practice "cloud watching". Whenever children discern a shape in clouds, have them share the shape's name with the group. (eg, "That cloud looks like a kite."...) As a class, compose additional verses to Shaw's book.
    2. Present the problem-solving situation: "Sometimes when you look up in the sky you can see all kinds of shapes that remind you of things. Your problem is to look at a glob of paint on a sheet. See if you see something in it. Fold the finger-paint sheet with the glob on it in half. Now can you see something in it. What do you see? Name it."
    3. Repeat the design brief problem so that children can follow your oral directions step-by-step as you give them.
    4. Allow children time to manipulate their imagines using paint brushes to define their "things" more clearly. Let children share their "things" with the group. Have them point out distinguishing features, (eg, "Here is its nose, tail, fin..") and guess its name. (ie, "What is this thing?")
    5. Display finger paintings in the hall. Have other children guess their "things". Keep a class chart of "things" and the number of children who guessed their things' identities.

    Evaluation

    1. Assess student contributions to class discussions.
    2. Credit students with completion of their finger-paint things.
    3. Assess student abilities to record simple data onto a class chart.

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