Chalk on Black Paper

Activity Overview

Giving early learners the opportunity to explore a variety of media is important, as over time, those early marks on paper become representational and help establish early writing skills. In this activity, students will experiment with opposites. Much of early art making is done with colorful markers, crayons, and paints on a blank white canvas. However during this activity, the students will use chalk on a dark surface. This experimentation with opposites helps students see art-making through another light.

What You Need

• Sidewalk chalk or regular blackboard chalk (you can also use chalk pastel or oil pastel as an extension if you have the materials)

• Black construction paper (we also encourage a large black roll of paper or black poster board to allow the student to work on a bigger canvas)

Steps

1. Lay out the black paper and one or two colors of chalk to work with.

2. Allow students to explore the medium for a few minutes independently.

3. Use guiding questions to help facilitate your instructional conversation.

Guiding Questions

• What are you making?

• What happens if we touch our chalk line with our hand? Or our finger?

• Can you shade with your finger? How would you do that?

• How does the chalk feel?

• What color is the brightest on this color paper?

• What is similar to drawing on white paper? What is different?

Extensions

• Experiment with black paper further. Paint with white or many colors and see which colors show up. Try using pencils, markers, or crayons in a trial and see which medium shows up the best. Why is that?