Watercolor in Kindergarten

I'll never forget my first year teaching kindergarten.  I decided to do a fall watercolor painting activity to help students learn the rules about painting, using watercolors, and clean up.  Any time you get the paints out, in kindergarten, the classroom automatically softens to a whisper.  (I think it must be the magic we put in the paints!)  Well, during this first painting experience one of my sweet little girls whispered to her friend, "I've never done this before!" 

From that day on, I vowed to do as much painting as I could possibly fit in.  Today was our first painting experience of the year.  There's something special about brand new watercolors.

We started with a lesson on how to use watercolor paints.  Then we looked at fall pictures.  We noticed the colors we saw in the fall leaves and the trees.  The kids were given three squares of watercolor paper.

Their goal was to use fall colors to fill the square.  For their first painting experience in kindergarten, I wanted to make sure everyone was successful.  We didn't focus on painting a picture, just color.

The squares always turn out to be beautiful!  There is no such thing as a mistake in this project.

The kids had the chance to learn how to use paints, observe fall colors, and experience the way watercolor paints mix together.

I can't wait to show you what we turn these into!

Happy painting!