Adaptive Art - Rose Printmaking
- Mrs. Trainor
- Feb 5
- 4 min read
I completed this printmaking art project with students in the Medically Fragile program at my school. I have an Adaptive Art class included in my schedule where I have the opportunity to work with the Medically Fragile students and provide them with art enrichment. These students are often wheel chair bound due to their medical conditions and have limited fine motor skills. Most students in the program have neurodevelopmental disorders and are non-verbal. The students come in with two nurses and receive one-on-one support as we help guide them in their art-making, most often needing hand-over-hand guidance.
When I first started working at this school, I must admit, this class was my biggest struggle to adjust to. I had never taught students with a need for such a highly adapted style of art-making. It took me some time to feel more confident in the art projects I produced with them and to feel I was providing them with enriching art lessons. Even still I feel that I could continue to expand on the assignments I provide for them and improve. However, this most recent art project was one that I feel was very successful and such a fun process. They also turned out so cute!
This art project was inspired by a link sent to me from a previous coworker that was found on a Facebook Reel! I will include the link to the video at the end of this post. The video shows a sandwich bag being filled partially with water, then the corner being dipped into red paint then pressed onto a piece of paper to create a perfect rose-like print! Who knew you could do this and be left with such a convincing rose!
Here is the break down I took with the project:
For reference, my classes are 40 minutes long and it took roughly one and a half classes to complete.
Day One:
Students listened and watched a Valentine's Day Read aloud story.
Blue 12x18 inch paper and pink 9x12 inch paper was passed out to each student.
Each student used a sandwich baggie, plate with red tempera paint, and paint daubers (I provided Valentine's day colors such as pink, purple, and red).
After the story was finished, the nurses and I provided hand-over-hand support to dip the corner of the sandwich bags into paint, then pressed the bags into the blue piece of paper on the top half.
Next, students were given the choice between two different colors of paint daubers at a time. If they reached out and touched one of the two choices, hand-over-hand guidance was used to help the student fill their pink paper in with colorful dots in their chosen color.
Working one on one with the students, this filled up a portion of our class time, however, there was still some extra time leftover. I played a Valentine's episode of Curious George where George creates Valentine's Day cards for the man in the yellow hat using the same method my students' just used in class - printmaking!
Day Two:
Students were given their pink and blue papers back.
On the pink piece of paper, a vase shape was traced on with a handmade stencil. The stencil was made with a thick piece of card stock cut into the shape of a vase.
Students were guided hand-over-hand, if needed, to cut out their vase using adaptive scissors.
Once the students' vase was cut out, the vase paper was placed into their hands. Wherever the student dropped their vase onto their blue piece of paper is where me or the nurses glued down the students' vase.
It may not perfectly line up with how we feel a vase should be placed onto the piece of paper, however, this ensures that the student is using their autonomy and their creative touch is being honored in their work of art. In this class, the students may rely on our guidance to help them create their work of art, but by giving these students the opportunity to make their own choices and honoring the parts of the work of art they can achieve on their own, without our guidance, it truly makes the work of art their own.
Once the vase is glued down a green tempera paint stick is used to draw in the lines for the roses stem by using hand-over-hand guidance.
Once this step was complete, the project was finished!
We did complete the art project a bit early before the end of class, so I passed out the paper we would need for the next days assignment and began work on the next assignment with the extra time we had.
Art Supplies Needed:
Sky blue 12x18 paper
Pink 9x12 paper
Red tempera paint
Paint plate
Ziplock sandwich bag (should have a pointed corner to work properly)
Water (to fill the sandwich bag)
Paint daubers (variety of colors)
Vase shaped stencil
Pencil
Adaptive scissors
Glue
Green Kwik Stix (tempera paint stick)
Inspiration For this Project:
Facebook Reel Link
I hope this project was of interest to you!
It would also be a great option to do with Kindergarten!
Of course, it is one that can get a bit messy, therefore, I would recommend it to be done in a center rotation format. Where students have several activities to rotate between and the teacher can work with a small group of students at a time to complete.
I hope to try this out with my Kindergarteners sometime before the end of the school year!
I hope you will tune in for next week's post as I share another art lesson with you!
Thank you!
Mrs. Trainor
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