Making Home Made Liquid Watercolor NOT using old markers

I really love using liquid watercolor with the little ones in my school.  It is so convenient and easy, especially when you are not needing to use a multitude of colors.   Yesterday my 2nd graders were doing a watercolor/crayon wash with blue and I knew I did not have enough precious liquid water color to do the job.  My options were limited: 1-only give them a small amount and hope it was enough,  2-water it down some more and dilute the color, or create a choice 3.  Here is how I came up with choice #3!  I always have those trays of watercolor where the little oval only has a little paint left in it but being the thrifty one, I just can't bear to toss them out until the last little bit of paint has been used.  Hearing lamenting students: "But Mrs. H, the container is empty."  I gathered up a couple of those almost but not quite empty ovals and dropped them down into a jar of warm water and SHAZAM liquid watercolor!  And yes, it was great!  The color was vibrant, it painted just like the stuff I had previous bought and you could not tell the difference!

You can bet, I'll be stockpiling those "almost empty" containers for now on and tossing them into a jug of water.  Oh, and the little ovals from the paint, saving those, too!  The art club is planning to create with recycled materials next week.  I can't wait to see what they come up with using those things.  I'll be sure to post something and let you know.

Thanks to Mr. E! A Pout Pout Fish Lesson

Back in November, Mr. E over at Art with Mr. E ran a giveaway for copies for the Pout Pout Fish book series, and I won! I read the books and couldn't wait to figure out a way to use them.  Well, I finally came up with an idea a few weeks back and here are the wonderful results made by my kindergarten students.  They began the project by cutting shapes and assembling them into a fish.  Week two was about texture as students added scales and other details to the fish.  We also investigated the under sea habitat of a fish and used crayon to create the bottom of the sea.  Week three, students finished any coloring from the week before and added the sea to their work with liquid watercolor.  Once dry, shape fish were added to the composition.  So, here is to Mr. E.  We loved the books and with the three book series were able to enjoy a new one each week to accompany the steps of the project.  My personal favorite was the one about school but I think my kinders really enjoy hear about the Deep Deep Dark!

lots of coral and sea weed in this sea

This one imagined a clam with pearl and a star fish

I love the castles in these two girl's work (top and bottom) and the
unicorn fish.  You can tell they sit closely together.