gmhTODAY 25 gmhTODAY April May 2019 | Page 110

KIDS CORNER With Carol Peters CAROL PETERS is an award-winning art instructor who is highly skilled at bringing innovative, creative art alive for both young and old. Art, Science and FUN! Sharpie and Alcohol Tiles and Vases Featured Artists from left to right: Giovanni “Gio” LaCorte, age 8, Francesca “Frankie” LaCorte, age 3, Fiona Courneen, age 5, Sloane Courneen, age 3. Questions to ask your child while you work. Always praise their answer. You can offer the correct answer but let them think and learn as they work. What new color did you get when orange and red mixed? Or the Blue and Yellow…etc. What happened when you dropped a little drop on the dry marker pattern? What happened when you squirted out a lot of alcohol? Was it better to use heavy marker, covering all the white areas? Why? What does the pattern remind you of in nature? Did your marker pattern stay the same after you dropped on the alcohol? It chemically changed when mixed with the alcohol. Describe how it changed visually…what did your tile or vase look like before and after? Praise their individuality and their beautiful results! Praise works wonders to motivate your child to be excited about learning. 110 GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN april/may 2019 gmhtoday.com After teaching Art for 30 years, I went back to school and became STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) certified. Art is integrated with all subjects and this project is a science project as well as an art project. It is easy and the results are beautiful for any age! There is no right or wrong way to do this. Each person has their own way of creating. This is a wonderful way to teach your child color mixing, solubility and the movement of molecules. Permanent marker is not soluble in water. However, the molecules are soluble in another solvent called rubbing alcohol. Get 91% alcohol, as the lesser strength doesn’t work as well. The solvent carries the different colors in the marker with it when dripped on and it looks like it is melting the marker pattern. The children are fascinated watching the colors bleed and mix in beautiful patterns. It changes the marker to look like a vibrant abstract painting. This project encourages understanding of the process and thinking beyond just a “Fun Craft.” It develops critical thinking: deciding where and how much alcohol to drip, what colors to use side by side, how dense to put down the color. It addresses problem solving in that you need to treat the three-dimensional vases differently than the flat tiles. It teaches the child hand and eye coordination: how to use an eye dropper (a paint brush or a straw can also be used but the eye dropper is easier) and how to control amounts.