Badminton
If you have children, and paving, a sunny summer’s day can become an art experience in the garden.
What you need
First thing in the morning, wash down the paving so it isn’t slimy or stained – it will dry within an hour, ready for creative pursuits
Provide coloured chalks, simple stencils, pots of water, brushes, coloured string and scissors.
How to start
Produce the first design yourself - showing the children how they can not only draw with chalks, but spread the colour and blend it with a scrubbing brush and remove it or make ‘windows’ in it with water.
Show them how to coil string to make stems for flowers or strings for kites, and let them pick some garden flowers and leaves, under supervision, so that they can draw a vase with chalks, make the stems with string and set real flowers on the stems to make a 3D painting.
Get them working fast, using Rolf Harris ‘can you see what it is yet’ techniques so while one draws the others guess
Think about themes they can use, if they’re studying volcanoes or dinosaurs at school, or if they play guitar or dance, get them to create pictures that reflect their interests.
Prompts and tools
You can use cartoon strips or family photos to provide ideas
Show them how to add textures by using sand or pebbles
When the paving is full, just wash off the stones and start again, but take quick photographs first, so you have an enduring memory of your chalk art.
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