Combine Touch and Sight in Colorful Exploration

For young children, art is as much a tactile and sensory exploration as it is a making process. Explore the joy of touch and texture by creating crayon rubbings.  

Begin with thin paper; regular copy paper is a good weight. Pick a few old and broken crayons and peel to expose the full stick. Begin by exploring with your fingers with your child. Look for interesting textures, then get a feel for them by rubbing with your hands. Create a hypothesis about what texture or image the surface might create in a crayon rubbing.

To complete a crayon rubbing, cover the area with paper, anchoring the paper with one hand. With a free hand, rub the side of the crayon over the surface, capturing the texture in the rubbing on the paper.  

The lines shapes, patterns and designs that emerge may be a surprise. Don't be upset if the texture is too rough and the paper tears, it is all part of the discovery process.  

Discuss why the texture poked through the paper. Once you have explored different surfaces, this is also a great way to explore nature.

Create rubbings of leaves, flowers or tree bark. Man-made materials can also be a fun exploration. Try loops of string, pieces of screen or canvas and flat keys or tools.  You might even try cutting out shapes of cardboard or poster board; arrange these and see how the shapes show through when you do a rubbing of the design.

There are many possibilities for this tactile and texture-based simple process of printing by rubbing.

You might create a collection of rubbings and see if your child can guess the sources or encourage your child to create a collection for you to guess. Rubbings also become great raw materials for new art works, cut and collage favorite pieces or paint over the texture with watercolor for an interesting crayon-resist effect.

Most of all, notice how creating rubbings makes you and your child more aware of texture all around you.  The patterns, feels and surfaces of natural materials as well as materials at home.

Have fun with this fun activity that combines the touch and sight in one creative exploration.