Salt Texture Watercolor – Chameleons at Anand Vidyalaya

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I have been volunteering with Anand Vidyalaya for over 4 months now.. and going back there after a month’s break made me realise just how much I love my sessions with them.This Saturday, Arthi had arranged a Cute and Crawly Chameleon Book reading session at Anand Vidyalaya. It started with Arthi Reading Colour Colour Kamini , The mixed up Chameleon & A color of His Own.

The kids loved the session. Arthi has a lovely and animated way of engaging each kid throughout the session. From young to “young at heart” kids, the room was mesmerised by the story she read to us. One should see her in action to really appreciate the love she puts into these reading sessions. [ click for a better view]

She had arranged for a Chameleon treasure hunt for the kids. Drawings on transparent sheets explained the concept of camouflage. When placed on a red wall the chameleons appeared red & on a yellow wall they turned yellow, blending cleverly into their surroundings.

The Volunteers from the FaceBook group Volunteer Junkie also brought some yummy snacks for the kids to eat. Another volunteer with the Dhyan Yog society – Rahul got a motichoor laddo for the kids and also did a Dhyan session [ meditation] with the kids.

For the Art activity, I wanted the kids to explore Salt Texture Watercolor technique [  A good step by step  explanation can be found at the link above]  We gave the kids printouts of Chameleons and water colours. A box of colours was shared by 8 kids and each kid got a single brush to paint with. Yet, you could all see them working together , sharing their stuff, enjoying the experience. My daughter would have complained that nobody was sharing the box with her [ aka. she didn’t get the box to herself] . My salt sprinkler that I picked up from the dining table was put to good use. Some kids got over excited and made really runny paintings and the salt did not add to any effect rather than making their paintings .. umm salty.. But a few did understand the technique and made beautiful textures. Here is a collage of some the Work-in-progress paintings. [ Click for a better view] . Isn’t that gorgeous??

The original drawing is from hedgiesdesk.blogspot.com

The trick is to have the water colours wet, but not runny. Sprinkle salt when wet and don’t disturb the salt. When the painting dries, the salt falls off leaving behind a beautiful freckled texture .