A neat way for kids to make art

If you know a young child who likes to paint, I have a tip on teaching a child to create art like that shown.

Fiona, my four-year-old granddaughter, loves the Children's Museum in London, Ontario. One of the activities that brings her back time and time again is the art instruction. Each time we have gone they have had a class demonstrating a new art technique designed with little children in mind.

The piece shown is actually circular and not rectangular. I cropped the subject in the camera. It is circular shape is a result of the fact that the art is on a round, white paper, pie plate that had been jammed into a salad spinner. The plate's diameter was a little larger than that of the plastic spinner insert. This large size is important as the tight fit keeps the paper plate firmly anchored.

After pushing the plate into the spinner, the instructor had Fiona place dabs and gobs of colourful paint in the centre of the plate. When the mix of colours was just right, she put the top on the spinner and turned the crank as fast as she could. Inside centrifugal force thrust the paint out to the sides.

I'm going to try this at home with both Fiona, 4, and Eloise, 3, my oldest granddaughters. I'll use Crayola non-staining, washable water colours. These will wash out of the spinner with a little warm water and dish soap, plus Crayola paints are clean and bright with good density.