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1. Sunflower Strokes
Learning Objective
Emerging
Pupils are aware of starting or stopping a process.
Additional Skills
Gross motor: using core to support self on the floor.
Fine motor: using a grip on the pastels to make marks.
Auditory: stopping and starting an activity following an auditory cue.
Resources
Large sheets of paper
Masking tape
Pastels in yellows, oranges and greens
Large copies of Van Gogh’s painting Sunflowers
Music to paint to, such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
MAIN
• To set up this activity, tape the large paper to the floor and place the pastels around the paper.
• Support the children to come and sit on the floor by the paper in a space next to the pastels.
• Show the children Van Gogh’s pictures and identify the colours and features.
• Place a vase of real sunflowers in the middle of the large paper and explain that today we are going to make our own sunflower pictures.
• We will start when the music starts and stop when the music stops.
• Play the music and support children to make marks using the pastels, briefly looking at the sunflowers for inspiration.
• Periodically stop the music and everyone stops drawing. Encourage children to look at drawing and look at sunflower to review drawing.
• Start the music again and everyone starts drawing again.
• Continue for as long as children can maintain attention.
PLENARY
Stop the music for a final time and count down ‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1, painting has finished.’ Support the children to stand up and look at their drawings; do they look like Van Gogh’s?
CONSOLIDATION ACTIVITIES
Use music as an auditory cue to start and stop other activities across the day, e.g. play music to prompt the children to come and sit in the circle, play music at the end of playtime to signal the end of the play.
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2. Firework Fingers
Learning Objective
Emerging
Pupils make marks intentionally on a surface with fingers or tools.
Additional Skills
Fine motor: using one finger to make marks.
Auditory: making marks in response to music.
Tactile: experiencing and tolerating sensory media such as paint.
Resources
Large white paper
Tape
Different coloured paints in different pots
Access to firework images and music (e.g. a clip of the London New Year’s Eve fireworks on the interactive whiteboard)
MAIN
• To set up this activity, tape the large paper to a table top and place the pots of different coloured paint along the paper.
• Support the children to come and sit in a semicircle ready to learn.
• Show the children the images and music of fireworks and identify the colours, supporting the children to track the movement of the fireworks.
• Support the children to come to the table and model placing a finger in a pot of paint, naming the colour and then making a ‘whoosh’ sound while making a swishing mark on the paper in imitation of a firework.
• Support the children to choose a colour, place their finger in the paint and make swishing movements to make marks that imitate fireworks.
• Play the firework music and images in the background whilst the children are painting.
PLENARY
Support the children to use their finger, paintbrush or pen to ‘sign’ their work alongside the marks they have made.
CONSOLIDATION ACTIVITIES
Repeat this activity using different sensory media and tools, e.g. using paintbrushes, dipping dishcloths in paint and throwing them at the paper.
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3. Brilliant Butterflies
Learning Objective
Emerging
Pupils repeat an activity to make the same or similar effect.
Additional Skills
V...
