Picture, Picture

This is an activity that is inexpensive, easy to facilitate, and provides an afternoon of fun. It grew out of my search for an inexpensive surface to paint on. Voila! Right there in my collection of "what should we do with this stuff" was the answer - wallpaper sample books. The plainer, less adorned pieces are perfect for original creations and take acrylic paint beautifully. The goal of this activity was to create pleasing designs.

To make things more interesting we passed out the wallpaper sample sheets, got out various colors of paint, and then set out some rather interesting "painting" implements. Yes, there was only one restriction. The residents were told that they could paint with anything except a paint brush. We provided corks, plastic spoons, forks and knives, sponges, rubber stamps, crushed paper, and enthusiasm. Sitting with the residents and demonstrating what could happen helped give them the courage to give this activity a try.

When the demonstration piece was covered with random shapes and colors I simply folded it in half from left to right, opened the piece, and folded it a second time from top to bottom, opening it to reveal a lovely, symmetrical design. Everyone jumped in and created a few of their own pieces.

After allowing the paint to dry we discussed covering them with clear contact paper so they could be used as place mats or mats in the center of a table under a vase. The following week we repeated the activity but with paint brushes allowed.

I hope you have a chance to give this activity a try as a way to explore color and as an opportunity to marvel at the creativity of your residents.

Enjoy!