Process Art Craft Stick Rainbow Collaborative Art Project & Mondrian

Totally serious here: this art project is the coolest thing we have done in weeks. It combines the great artist Mondrian, process art, rainbows, and individual creations into a collaborative art masterpiece!! We talked about famous paintings, science, and so much more while we worked, and when we finished we had a fantastic group project to display.

We began by talking about Piet Mondrian and looking at some of his "squares" paintings. I told the kids that we would be each painting our own "lines" in any way we wanted. They would be free to experiment with any painting method they wanted on their own craft sticks. Then we would combine them into blocks inspired by Mondrian's squares.

Everyone was very excited and got right to work. I **love** how they were each able to create and experiment on their own level. Everyone, from my 4th grader to my toddler, decorated the craft sticks in brilliant and creative ways.

While we painted we talked about ways to make different colors, ranging from basic secondary colors to a huge variety of browns. We also talked about wavelengths, light, and how a red color absorbs all the colors except red (which bounces back to your eye). We also talked about how the color spectrum, how the colors in the rainbow appear in order of wavelength length, and how reds are the longest wavelengths and purples are the shortest. This all came about as my son asked questions while he worked on his "rainbow stick:"

He was also very pleased with this shade of green he made:

There were simple patterns, abstract designs, complicated patterns, detailed scenes, and so much more. Some of my favorites included a universe, a family, the nature sticks, and some awesome designs. Here are a few close-ups I took:

A nature stick (tree):

Cool designs:

Supplies for Your Own Mondrian-Inspired Process Art Craft Stick Rainbow Collaborative Project:

* craft sticks (we used rainbow craft sticks provided by Craft Project Ideas)

* paint (we used acrylic paints in red, yellow, blue, white, & black colors)

* large cardboard

* hot glue gun & glue

I took a package of 75 craft sticks and cut 9 of them in half. I also cut 1/4 off of four of the whole sticks at the end because I liked how it fit better. Besides those, we left the rest of them whole.

I let the kids (and myself) experiment with any methods or processes they wanted to while they painted. Having lots of little "canvasses" to work with was liberating and stress relieving: if we made a mistake, we just started over! There were more than 90 little sticks, so I told everyone they could paint as many or as few as they wanted. Most of us did about 10. There were a few that were not painted, and that was okay...we worked them into the "squares" just fine!

The kids used paintbrushes, fingerpainting, scratching, toothpicks, and even a plastic fork! The effects were varied and wonderful!

When everyone was done, we assembled our Mondrian-inspired "squares." I used hot glue to secure them to a piece of cardboard we cut to be the right size.

We put most of the "cool" colors in the top left and most of the "warm" colors in the bottom right. There was a pretty good mixture/combination throughout the middle. I am SO in love with this!! The rainbow effect is fantastic, and I really, really love how you can see a "big" quilt-like picture from a distance AND individual, unique, amazing "miniature" artworks on each craft stick when you get up close. The kids worked really hard to make interesting designs and pictures and I think they totally succeeded!

It is definitely the coolest thing we have done in weeks. AND, I love displaying a cool looking project that everyone contributed to. The collaborative aspect of it gives them each ownership and identity individually and as part of a group. I want to help them develop a group identity that will encourage them to make good choices and feel loved.

If you're interested in other collaborative group- or team-building projects, you should check out our Sparkly Button Rainbow, Blanket Service Project, and Kindness Tree!

And if you're interested in more process art projects, you should take a peek at our rainstorm yarn painting, crayon process art (on a wall!), and sparkly eggs!

AND, if you love process art projects and craft sticks, check out this month's process art party!

The cohosts are all sharing a way you can use craft sticks and do process art with your kiddos! Here are all the links:

Process Art Craft Stick Rainbow Collaborative Art Project & Mondrian - YOU ARE HERE!!
Homemade Craft Stick Paintbrushes - Views from a Step Stool
Craft Stick Canvass Art - Arty Crafty Kids
Craft Stick Process Art - Mum in the Madhouse

Happy Educating,

Carla

Disclosure: The craft sticks in this post were provided by Craft Project Ideas for any purpose deemed appropriate by Preschool Powol Packets. No additional compensation was provided.