Type

Activity Descriptions

supplies

Badge

At Home

• Try painting without paint brushes. You could use yarn, feathers, straws, nature and much more.
• Paint a mural as a family of a favorite vacation or memory. 
• Share your favorite artwork and artists with your Brownie.
• Spend time together using your imaginations to create new paintings together. 
• Spend time with your Girl Scout painting a still life using objects found around your house. Or, simply turn up some music and make an abstract painting that depicts how the music makes you feel.  

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys 

Painting

Game (15 min)

Pick your favorite pictures

Step 1: Get inspired

I brought in a collection of art books and I  asked the girls to bring a picture book with pictures they like.

1) Have the girls look through the book and place sticky notes on their 5 favorites.

2) When they have picked 5, they should pick a partner, and share which is their favorite and why.

Optional: Discuss with the girls the different styles of art such as pointillism, pop art, cubism, impressionism, realism, etc. Ask girls to share their thoughts about the paintings and how the different pictures make them feel.

Altered from: Girl Scouts River Valleys 

Library books with different style paintings. Many books can be found at the library by searching for

impressionism, pointillism, cubism, pop art and realism.

sticknotes

Painting 1

Craft (20 min)

Still Life

Step 2—Paint the real world

1. Have girls help you arrange various fruits on a small table (or other similar item) in the center of the room. If you brought a small lamp, direct the light onto the fruit, creating some shadows.

2. Ask if any girls know what a still life is. A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, flowers, plants, rocks or

shells) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, etc.).

3. Tell the girls that they are going to practice painting the still life they have just created. To create their paintings, they should paint things exactly as they see them on the table. The shapes, colors, sizes

and arrangement should all be realistic and aim to accurately portray what’s in front of them.

4. Note: Girls’ painting abilities will vary. The goal of this exercise is not to end up with the perfect still life, but to get girls thinking about how they see things and how they can try to depict reality through art.

5. If time allows, have girls share their paintings with the large group once they are complete.

6. Enjoy a snack of the fruit used in the still life (wash it first).

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Assorted fruit for still life painting and snack (at least one fruit per girl)

Paper plates and napkins

Washable paints and bowls for paint

Paintbrushes

Paper

Paper towels

Optional: small lamp to provide light and dimension to the fruit still life

Painting 2

Craft (25 min)

Inspirational Walk

Take a walk around your meeting place. When you return, have girls paint something they saw.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Painting 2

Craft (25 min)

Paper Bag Imagination

1. Set up the paper bags upside down and near each other. They should stand at various heights and positions depending on how they were crumpled.

2. Have girls use their imaginations to paint landscapes using the paper bags as inspiration for their landscapes. Are the bags mountains? Trees? Clouds? Animals?

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Grocery paper bags, crumpled to various degrees (two–three bags)

Paint and bowls or cups to hold the paint

Paintbrushes

Large pieces of paper (one per girl)

Painting 2

Paint what you are feeling

Step 3: Paint a mood

1. Have the girls write their name on their paper.

2. Have girls think about their current mood and write it on their paper. Are they happy, or sad or excited?

3. Ask girls to think of that feeling and choose a color to represent it. Girls should paint with that color on their pages and use that feeling as inspiration for the design of their paintings. For example, if a girl is feeling angry, she might choose red or black and paint in heavy strokes.

Plastic tablecloth

Paint

paintbrushes

Egg cartons to put the paint in

cups for water to wash out brushes

Papertowels for drying brushes

paper

Craft (15 min)

Music and Emotions

Step 3—Paint a Mood

1. Have girls think about their current mood and write it on their paper. Are they happy, or sad or excited?

2. Now ask girls to think of that feeling and choose a color to represent it. Girls should paint with that color on their pages and use that feeling as inspiration for the design of their paintings. For example, if a girl is feeling angry, she might choose red or black and paint in heavy strokes. Give girls about five minutes to work on this, then switch to a new piece of paper.

3. Now tell girls that they are going to listen to a song. Each girl should choose a color or colors that she associates with the song. She should also use the song as inspiration for the design of her painting. For example, a classical song might inspire a painting with flowing brush strokes in pastel tones, while arock ‘n’ roll song might inspire one with quick, staggered brush strokes in bright colors.

4. Note: There is not right or wrong way for girls to do this activity. It is simply a way to encourage creative thought and expression.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Gather materials and supplies.

Materials Needed:

Washable paint and paper bowls to hold the paint

Paintbrushes

Paper

Paper towels

Radio or some other music device capable of playing different music

Painting 3

Craft (20 min)

Organic Stamping

For stamping, cut patterns into some of the fruit and veggies. Cut various shapes, such as squares, triangles, etc. Leave some without patterns for girls to see what designs are made just from the food item.

1. Sit down with girls and have them enjoy a snack of fruit and veggies.

2. As the girls finish snack, ask them to think of a time when they haven’t used paintbrushes to paint pictures.

What have you used besides brushes? Your fingers and hands? Other objects?

Have you ever used fruits and vegetables to paint?

3. Using the fruit and veggie stamps, have girls each make their own painting. Demonstrate how the girls should lightly dip the stamp into the bowl and then stamp their paper.

4. Encourage girls to try the different stamps.

5. Ask them which stamps they like best and if they think there are other things they can use to paint with at home, such as leaves or small branches.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Assorted, washed and cut fresh fruits and vegetables

Paper plates and napkins

Washable paints

Paper

Paper towels

Painting 4

Paint with natural things

Step 4: Paint without brushes

Maureen will bring a bunch of natural things and the girls can experiment using them to paint with.

1. Have the girls put their name on the paper

2. Have them dip the things in paint and see what kind of shape they make on the paper

3. Have them experiment with how to make different objects

4. Messy!  So leave time to clean up with baby wipes

Plastic tablecloth

Paint

Egg cartons to put the paint in

Mix of natural things

Baby wipes for clean up

cups for water to wash out brushes

Papertowels for drying brushes

paper

Craft (25 min)

Cave-Woman Mural

Step 5—Paint a mural and Step 4—Paint without brushes

Optional: Have the area dimly lit so girls can feel what it would be like to paint in a dark cave with only a small flame/light source.

1. Ask girls to think of what life was like for cavemen and cavewomen a long time ago. Where did they live? How did they communicate? What sorts of things might they have had? How did they get heat?

How did they “power” things?

2. When cavemen and cavewomen wanted to express themselves in creative ways, they had to use the materials and methods available to them at the time. Oftentimes, they would paint pictures on cave

walls with “paint” made from vegetation and animals.

3. Show girls pictures of cave drawings.

4. Discuss with girls what they see in the drawings. It seems that cave people usually painted things they saw, like animals and people, and things they did, like hunting.

5. Ask girls to think about what they see or do on a regular basis and how they might paint it in a simple way, like a cavewomen might have done.

6. Have girls use their ideas to design their own cave drawings.

First, have each girl crumple a paper grocery bag into a ball.

Girls will then pull the bags apart and cut them open so they lay flat. To do so, they should make one cut along the length of the bag and then cut out the bottom rectangle.

Now it’s time to paint. Direct girls to use only their fingers to paint their own “cave drawings” of things they see or do on a regular basis.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Paper grocery bags (one per girl)

Scissors

Washable paint and bowls or cups to hold the paint

Paintbrushes

Paper towels

Painting 5

Paint an imaginary world

Step 5: Paint a mural

Tell the girls that they are going to work together to paint an imaginary world for their troop.  There will be a big piece of butcher paper and they can create their own part of this world.

Plastic tablecloth

Paint

paintbrushes

Egg cartons to put the paint in

cups for water to wash out brushes

Papertowels for drying brushes

paper

Time

Description

Supplies

Who will lead

Snack

(15 min)

Circle

(5 min)

Pledge of Allegiance

GS promise

Talk about the badge we will earn today

Have the girls put on old T shirts to protect their clothes

Old T shirts

Station 1

(15 min)

Pick your favorite pictures

Step 1: Get inspired

I brought a collection of art books and I had asked the girls to bring a picture book with pictures they like.

1. Have the girls look through the book and place sticky notes on their 5 favorites.

2. When they have picked 5, they should pick a partner, and share which is their favorite and why.

Notes: I was a bit surprised how much the girls loved doing this one.  I got a bunch of books from the library and also had them bring their favorite picture book too.

books with paintings

sticknotes

Station 2

(15 min)

Paint what you are feeling

Step 3: Paint a mood

1. Have the girls write their name on their paper.

2. Have girls think about their current mood and write it on their paper. Are they happy, or sad or excited?

3. Ask girls to think of that feeling and choose a color to represent it. Girls should paint with that color on their pages and use that feeling as inspiration for the design of their paintings. For example, if a girl is feeling angry, she might choose red or black and paint in heavy strokes.

For those girls who finish too quickly, they can move on to the at home activity of painting a real thing (optional station below)

Plastic tablecloth

Paint

paintbrushes

Egg cartons to put the paint in

cups for water to wash out brushes

Papertowels for drying brushes

paper

pencils

Station 3

(15 min)

Paint with natural things

Step 4: Paint without brushes

Maureen will bring a bunch of natural things and the girls can experiment using them to paint with.

1. Have the girls put their name on the paper

2. Have them dip the things in paint and see what kind of shape they make on the paper

3. Have them experiment with how to make different objects

4. Messy!  So leave time to clean up with baby wipes

Note: I had one of the Brownie girls plan and lead this one.  Girl really loved helping everyone out with the activity.  It was hugely popular too.  The girl who was in charge brought in flowers and plants and the girls painted with these.  A number of girls also painted with their hands and loved it.  Generated a lot of excitement, but very messy.  Lots of paper towel, wet wipes, and a plastic tablecloth to cover the floor are a must.

Plastic tablecloth

Paint

Egg cartons to put the paint in

Mix of natural things

Baby wipes for clean up

cups for water to wash out brushes

Papertowels for drying brushes

paper

pencils

Station 4

(15 min)

Paint an imaginary world

Step 5: Paint a mural

Tell the girls that they are going to work together to paint an imaginary world for their troop.  There will be a big piece of butcher paper and they can create their own part of this world.

Note: Very fun and girls did a great job creating a wonderful picture.  It was a little challenging to keep the paints and water to wash out the brushes from spilling.  We placed them on a chair, but putting a table nearby with more space would have been better

butcher paper

tape

Plastic tablecloth

Paint

Egg cartons to put the paint in

Station 6

(Optional or finish at home)

Paint yourself or a real life scene

Step 4: Paint from real life

If girls finish quickly with the activities, they can paint a picture of themselves, someone they know, a pet, or a real life scene outside or inside

Plastic tablecloth

Paint

paintbrushes

Egg cartons to put the paint in

cups for water to wash out brushes

Papertowels for drying brushes

paper

pencils

Clean up

(5 min)

Closing

Song

Friendship Squeeze