This painting process art activity is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. It is great for exploring shapes, particularly the square!
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Inspired by Stanley Whitney, this square heavy process art project is such a fun way for kids to dive into creating and learning (as well as exploring shapes).
Most of Whitney’s works are made up of squares, so you could really show them any of them as inspiration! We looked at Tango in particular as our inspiration, but go ahead and have fun with it – look at a ton of them. Talk about the colors and what types of mediums he used. Comment below, on our Instagram, or email me (info@learnplayread.com) with any discussion points you used to talk about Stanley’s art.
Let’s get started on how to create our Stanley-inspired shape art:
What you need:
- Square shaped sponges, we cut rectangle ones into squares
- Paint
- Canvas, canvas panel, or thick paper
What to do:
- It’s very simple and pretty self-explanatory: encourage the child to dip the sponges into the paint, making sure to cover the whole bottom of the sponge, and stamp it onto the paper.
- Let dry and then display!
The child may make perfect lines like Stanley’s or he/she may not. Either way that’s okay! It’s about the process of them creating, not making an exact replica of an important artist’s work.
We tried to use the same colors that Stanley used in Tango – teal, yellow, red, white, black, green, etc. You do not have to do that, but sometimes it helps the kids make the connection to our inspired by piece.
Looking for more activities to do with your little one? Check out these:
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