It is NAIDOC Week. A time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements.
Dot painting is a fun and creative craft to do with your kids. It is quite repetitive and the beauty is in its simplicity. We all found it very relaxing and really got into the rhythm of it.
What is dot painting?
Dot painting is one type of Aboriginal art. Bright colours are becoming more common now with the use of acrylic paint but traditionally dot painters would use the natural pigments from ochre giving the paintings very earthy tones. Many stories and legends have been passed down from generation to generation through the beautiful and powerful story telling elements of Aboriginal paintings.
You will need:
a paper plate
paint
cotton tips
scissors
a pencil
2 google eyes
a small piece of red paper or red ribbon
a hole punch
a piece of string
Step One
Begin by dot painting your paper plate. Dip the cotton tip in the paint and put dots all over the plate in different colours and patterns. We started by tracing around the rim of a cup with a pencil to form a circle on the paper plate and then followed this outline.
Step Two
Once your the paint on your plate is dry, start cutting a spiral shape into the plate. Leave a rounded “head” at the end of the spiral.
Step Three
Glue on two google eyes and then cut the red piece of paper or ribbon like this to form the snake’s tongue. Glue this on.
Step Four
Using the hole punch, make a hole in the snake’s tail and tie the string on to here.
Step Five
Hang it up and enjoy watching it twirl in the breeze.
