Teachers can guide children through painting activities, using non-toxic, washable paint and easel-mounted paper, that teach them directions and lines. Brush lines from top to bottom, and teach them that this is a vertical line. Paint more lines from side to side, and teach them that these are horizontal lines. Teachers can also show the kindergarteners how to make spirals and zigzags. These various lines will create a kind of matrix, within which the children can pick paint colors to fill in the white spaces between the lines for completed and unique abstract paintings.
Give each child has an easel with paper, a brush and 10 plastic glasses. Fill four glasses with water. Set one glass of water aside to clean brushes. Add a teaspoon of red food dye to one glass, blue food dye to another glass and yellow food dye to a third glass. Then have each student pour one third of the red into each of two empty glasses, one third of the yellow into two other empty glasses, and one third of the blue into two more empty glasses. You now have three glasses each of primary colors, one-third full. Set one of each primary color aside. Then mix one blue and yellow to make green. Mix one blue and red to make purple. Mix one red and yellow to make orange. Now you have made the secondary colors. Then the students can use the colors they made to paint anything they want.
Collect pictures of animals that are endangered. Have each child take a picture of one animal. Explain to them about each animal and why it is endangered. Have the children attach the animal picture to the easel so they can see it to copy the picture, and let them draw the animal using wax crayons. Show each one how to write the animal’s name above the picture. Then let them color the picture with watercolors, which will be repelled by the wax crayon lines, giving the picture a multimedia effect.
Gown the children in work aprons. Give each a pan or pallet. Squeeze a little finger paint on the pallet or pan, then let them wipe the palms of their hands into the paint until their whole palm is covered. The children can then carefully press their painted palms onto the easel paper. Repeat until the easel paper is covered in palm prints. Two colors for two hands will make an even more interesting design. Another variation of this print technique is to use apples that have been cut in half as a stamp, dipping the cut face of the apple in the paint, then pressing it onto the easel paper.