Printing: Patterns from Leaves and Bottle Tops
Primary 1 · Creative Arts
Printing: Patterns from Leaves and Bottle Tops
Lesson 2 of 5
12 min
Let's begin
Uwase finds a wide green leaf by the path.
She dips it in paint and rubs it hard on her paper.
She lifts it up. There is only a green smudge.
Today you will learn the four steps that fix that.
Printing has only four steps. Learn them in order.
Step 1 Find an object. A leaf is the best one to start with.
Step 2 Dip it in the paint. A thin coat, not a thick one.
Step 3 Press it down on the paper and hold still.
Step 4 Lift it straight up.
Thick paint fills up the veins of the leaf.
Then your paper gets one fat blob instead of a leaf.
Careful! A blurry print means you used too much paint.
Wipe some off on the edge of the tin and try again.
The leaf must come straight up off the paper.
If it slides sideways, the paint drags and smears.
Press down. Never push across. Lift straight up.
Wet red soil works well. Mix a little soil with water.
Crushed green leaves give you a green juice.
Use the back of a used exercise-book page as your paper.
Hold it up. Can you see the thin veins?
Say one thing you like: I like how the edge came out.
Say one thing you will change: Next time I will use less paint.
A leaf is dipped, pressed, held still, then lifted straight up.
Tip
Dip, press, hold, lift
Say the four words out loud while your hands do them.
A smudge means you slid it sideways. Go straight up next time.
Do each one, then tap Show answer to check.
How many steps does press and print have? Name them.
Answer: four. Dip, press, hold still, lift.
Your print came out as one fat blob. What went wrong?
Answer: too much paint. It filled the veins. Use a thin coat.
Keza slides the leaf off sideways. What will her print look like?
Answer: smeared. The paint drags across the paper as the leaf moves.
There is no paint in the house. What can you use?
Answer: wet soil mixed with water, or the juice of crushed green leaves.
Print one leaf on paper right now.
Answer: look for the veins. If you can see the thin lines, your coat of paint was right.
What you learned today
Quick check
Put the four steps in order.
Tap the cards in the right order.
