Tot Time: Spring Fun with Texture

Eric Carle wrote and illustrated (made pictures for) The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He cut, painted, and glued pieces of paper together to create collages to help tell his stories. For this two-part activity, we’re going to use objects we find around the house as tools to make texture on painted papers. Once the papers dry, we can use them to create flowers, birds, butterflies— anything we can think of!

Watch and listen to the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle:

Part 1: Painting with Different Textures

If you don’t have paint, you can use markers to color on white paper. Or, skip this step and go to Part 2 using colored papers.

Materials:

• Washable paints
• White paper or colored paper that is strong enough to hold paint
• Objects to create texture: What can you find? Some examples are bubble wrap, corks, Legos, fork, fly swatter, sponge, or an old toothbrush,
• Parents could also cut a wavy or zig-zag line along one edge of a piece of cardboard to use as a scraping tool.

Activity:

• Once you’ve gathered your materials, prepare a place to work. This part can be messy, so you could work outside on the driveway or sidewalk.
• Paint each piece of paper one color, or mix two colors to make a new color. Make sure the paper is covered from edge to edge.
• While the paint’s still wet, use objects you found to create texture in the paint. Try different techniques like dabbing, dragging, swirling etc. Allow your child to be creative!
• (If you don’t have paint, you can use markers to color on white paper, or skip this painting step and go to Part 2 using colored papers.)

Part 2: Cutting and Collaging with Painted or Colored Papers

Materials:

• Painted or colored papers for shapes
• Large sheet of paper to use for background
• Scissors
• Glue stick

Activity:

• Decide what do you want to create. A flower? Butterfly? Caterpillar? What shapes do you need to make them?
• Draw shapes on the back of your painted paper, then cut them out. (Younger children will need help cutting. Alternately, parents can cut a variety of shapes and let children put them together to create a spring picture.)
• Glue shapes to a background piece of paper.

Questions for Engagement

What season is it? What do you see that makes you say that?

What do you notice that’s different in the spring versus winter? Have you seen any birds? Flowers? Insects? What colors do you see? Do you know what texture is?

Texture is the way something feels. Artists sometimes create texture on their work with paint.