Math Monday: Paint-by-Number Painted Turtles

As often as possible, I attempt to steer clear of cookie-cutter crafts (read: art with expected outcomes) that run the risk of excluding the kids creative input. However, these paint-by-number proved to create a forum for imagination after all as well as a strong boost of confidence and concentration.

Since our theme of the week is Painted Turtles (of which there are four varieties and one of those varieties lives in our pond!), I copied a close-up photograph. If you feel intimidated to create your own Paint-by-Number, fear not. You can simply trace the image from your screen!
https://petterritory.com/pet-turtles-that-stay-small/
I then transferred by tracing the image onto canvas, before filling in the spaces with numbers corresponding to their colours. I love that the original image has lime greens and bright blues as highlight colours.

If you want to amp up creativity, have the kids create their own Paint-by-Number.

For older children, focus on fine-tipped brushes that allow them to paint in narrow spaces.
If you have a younger set, or kids lacking concentration, make sure your image has large spaces to cover with very little tiny details.

I also encouraged lots of blending together warm colours (reds, yellows and oranges) and cool colours (greens and blues) to add depth to their work.
Solid colours end up looking more cartoon-like, while blending shades gives a natural, light-soaked appearance.

Since two kids were doing essentially the same painting, I flipped them while tracing so they would face one another for display.

Miss O was keen to add her creative flare to the background, by including pond, bull rushes, sun, tree and even a small barn in the distance.
A solid background, like Miss C's, allows the image to take precedent and pop out.