Holding atypical painting tools, the pint-sized Picassos splattered red, blue, green and yellow spots onto a white canvas.
Their tools of choice were feather dusters, mops and plungers. Wearing their paint-spotted smocks, they were ready to play.
Children’s School ended their Big Art Week with a “Big Art Fest” — Friday on the playground, which supported creativity and the children working together.
Children’s School art specialist Heidi Zarou coordinated the outdoor activities for Big Art Fest. She usually meets with the classrooms once a week individually, but this week they decided to have activities for everyone, she said.
“We are having art activities that stress the importance of gross motor skills, because it’s really a full-body experience,” she said.
Along with visual arts, the performing arts were included in Big Art Week. Throughout the week, classrooms visited the dance studio and did activities with other groups, such as Chautauqua Opera (see Page 13).
“I planned all of the activities, but we have done a lot of things with individual classes throughout the past years,” Zarou said.
Art stations covered the playground. Children used chalk to draw on the sidewalks with the assistance of their teachers. At each paint station, the colors collided and created a rainbow of magenta, purple and yellow-green.
On the porch, children built wood sculptures they would later paint after the glue dried. Kids made drawings with crayons as they came down the slide, and others stood in a circle holding the perimeter of a sheet with about 10 paint-covered tennis balls sitting in the middle. Flapping the sheet back and forth, the ball slowly covered the sheet in red and orange paint. This, Zarou said, is marble painting.
“The kids are yarn bombing the spider equipment on the playground, and there are big, messy paint projects everywhere,” she said. “We are doing 2-D and 3-D activities. The weaving project, yarn bombing and marble painting are new.”
It was important to have different activities for everyone, Zarou said.
“There are messy projects and not so messy project for children who do not like that,” she said. “Everybody has a chance to have fun.”
The Chautauquan Daily 
