Beautiful Batik

Batik Designs by Elizabeth S., Dylan and Avery from Ms. Downing's Class

Danielle, Kindergarten

Dylan and Jack Adding Paint to their Cloths

The Kindergarten classes are learning about African textiles as they read stories about Anansi the Spider.  They talked about fabric and how color can be added to make fabrics beautiful.  They saw pictures of African textiles, and distinguished between woven kente cloths, stamped adinkra prints and batik.  In Ms. Downing's classroom, they practiced adinkra prints with traditional stamp designs.  In the art room, we experimented with the wax resist process of batik.  Batik is popular in many cultures, but is common in the African countries of Senegal, Nigeria and Egypt.  Students sketched the outline of a house, and they made it unique with line patterns and shapes.  They then traced their drawings onto fabric using white glue.  When the glue dried, they painted the fabrics.  Once they dried, the glue was washed out, and they are now hanging on the clothesline drying.  As you can see, they look great for a first attempt at a tricky project.