Space Rocket Prints
Zachary, 5 years old, Year One,
Rachel’s class have just begun their term-long inquiry into the solar system. Studying space is always fascinating for little learners so linking the art room lesson to the class inquiry was an obvious choice.
First the students studied images of space rockets and drew sketches. They then drew their favourite sketch onto the polystyrene printing block with a felt pen. They went gently over the top with a blunt pencil to create a raised surface for printing.
Next, it was time to start printing. The students made sure that their brayers had an even amount of ink of them by rolling them back and forward in the inking wells. They loaded up their printing blocks and placed a blank piece of paper on top. The students rolled a clean brayer over the paper to transfer their image from the printing plate.
The students created multiple prints and were very excited at the results. We created a mini-gallery by hanging our prints up to dry. It was lovely to see the prints hanging up side by side.
While the prints were drying the students created a galaxy background using white crayon, purple dye and ultramarine dye. They also created the Earth by blending pastels on a circle of paper that they made with the giant hole punch.
The students gathered all of their pieces of art together to create their final composition. We talked about different ways to put the pieces together to create balance and movement within the artwork. The students learnt a lot today and had a great time making their prints. I love how each finished artwork demonstrates the individuality of each wee artist.
