Approaches to Childhood learning – Class activity Record Sheet

After every class Activity write into the record sheet. Add photos throughout the record. 15 records

min required for portfolio. Add lots of images to illustrate your understanding.

Name A K_________________________________________

Dat

e:

11th

November

Week

number:

Attended: Yes

Name and image of the Activity

Oil Pastel and water colour art (Christmas theme)

Materials used: paper, oil pastels, plastic cups, acrylic paint, water and paintbrushes

Time plan: allow approximately 30 minutes for this activity.

Room and/or equipment requirements: you will need a desk, water, paintbrushes, oil patels, paper and

paint.

General Aim of activity – to make a Christmas inspired piece of artwork using oil pastels and water

paint.

Specific Learning outcomes of the activity – the child will improve drawing abilities and use fine motor

skills when using the paintbrushes. They will learn about oil and water not mixing and how paint can

become more translucent.

Steps for making or doing activity:

1. Set up all the materials on the desk.

2. Choose the colours of paint you would like to use. Add a small amount of each to the plastic

cups. Add water to make a mixture approximately 1 part paint, 3 parts water.

3. Draw a picture on the paper with the oil pastels. E.g. a snowman, Santa, a snowflake.

4. When finished drawing paint over the drawing with a thin layer of paint.

5. Allow to dry.

How will the child/ren benefit from the activity? The children will improve their drawing skills and

painting skills. Their fine motor skills will be used when using the paintbrushes and drawing. They

will learn about oil and water not mixing and observing the water resting on the top of the drawing

whereas it absorbs into the paper everywhere else. They will have made a piece of Christmas artwork

and will learn more about that time of year and all that goes with it e.g. snow and what it is.

Age group/s: (development level) this activity could be suited to any age group. The older children

may have more elaborate drawings but the younger children will also be able to experiment

and practice drawing and painting even if it is just a squiggle on the page.

How would you make the activity more inclusive? Principles of universal design do a different theme

maybe, if a child is of a certain religion Christmas may not be celebrated and so another theme could

solve that problem.

How would you adapt the activity to suit outside/inside? Carry all the materials outside and do it on

the ground maybe. Do an outdoors theme where the children could draw leaves and cover with ink

instead of paint e.g.

Simplify this activity: use readymade water paint or ink instead of making own watered down paint.

Alternatively have Christmas pictures pre drawn and let the children paint over them.

Variations for the activity: How could you vary the activity? ‘Marbling using foam or egg whites

instead’ ink could be used instead of water paint. This gives a different effect to the piece of artwork.

The theme could also be changed to suit anything. It could be Easter, Halloween, birthdays, Mothers

Day etc.

The Learning outcomes linked to Aistear

Exploring and

thinking

Identity and

Belonging

Well-being Communicating

Aim 1 ; 1, 4, 5, Aim 1 ; 3, 5, 6 Aim 1 ; 4, 6 Aim 1 ; 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Aim 2 ; 1, 5, 6 Aim 2 ; 3, 4 Aim 2 ; 1, 3, Aim 2 ; 1

Aim 3 ; 2, 4 Aim 3 ; 3, 4 Aim 3 ; 1, 2, 3 Aim 3 ; 1, 3, 4, 5

Aim 4 ; 1, 3, 4, 6 Aim 4 ; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Aim 4 ; 1, 2, 3 Aim 4 ; 1, 2, 6

Other curriculums: Montessori, HiScope..

Safety concerns? If any not many safety concerns, just be careful as not to spill the paint or

that any oil pastels are eaten.

Could the activity link to an external activity/group/ outing?

The children could base this activity on an outing they went on, they could draw what

they liked the most about it or what they saw when they were there. The

outdoors could be brought in and the different seasons could be demonstrated in

the pictures.

Extensions for the activity: Science could be brought in when talking about the oil and

water. If the Christmas theme was used numeracy and literacy would come into it when

talking about the date of Christmas and what day it will be on this year. Geography could

also be brought in if the children wanted to do drawings centred on the weather or a place

they visited.

Interactions with children: talk about… talk to the children about what they are doing,

what they like most about the activity or the general theme of the activity you are carrying

out with them e.g. Christmas. Ask the children open questions such as “why do you thing

the paint/ink doesn’t cover the oil pastel drawing?.” This will open the child’s imagination

and allow them to think about what they are doing and how it works. Keep conversation

and interaction going but allow the child to initiate the conversation and encourage

interaction between all of the children.

Problem solving element? Make the children aware of any problems. For this activity a

possible problem could be the paint covering the oil pastel drawing. Ask the children

questions, “Why do you think the paint covered your drawing? Or do you think we used

enough oil pastel on your page?”. This will open up conversation and again allow the chid

to think about what they are doing. It will initiate problem solving and let the child think

of solutions on their own ad come up with their own ideas and suggestions.

Evaluation of activity: What did think of the activity? I really enjoyed this activity. It was good to bring

my own idea into class and carry it out with peers. I liked that a few different materials were used and

how versatile this activity is. I would definitely carry this activity out in the future and modify it each

time to keep it interesting. I liked that many different learning aspects to this activity, such as bringing

in numeracy, literacy and geography.

Additional information: (images, books, articles, video links, websites etc.)

A few more ideas for this activity I found on Pinterest.com.

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=oil%20pastel%20and%20water%20paint&term_meta%5

B%5D=oil+pastel+and+water+paint%7Ctyped

Summary of your personal learning in points (at least 4) from doing the activity;

. I learnt how to make a piece of art using oil pastels and water paints.

. I learnt how versatile an activity can be and that there are many different material that can be

used in the same way.

. I learnt to think outside the box more with regards to the talking points with a child while

doing activity. I realised how different subjects such as numeracy and literacy can be brought

into an art activity.

. I have also learnt how to connect the Aistear aims to each activity and that each is as

important as the last.