Nursery Equipment: Art - Paint work

One of the first things that I think of as being essential for a paint area is natural light. Fluorescent light only smothers colours, while daylight shows them at their brightest and best.

There has to be a balance, though. A window looking on to a busy road will only distract, just as brilliant light streaming into the room will dazzle. What will inspire is lots of daylight and a view of nature and sky.

Other priorities for planning and resourcing this area become apparent when practitioners consider its true purpose, when they see it not simply as a 'messy' area but as a truly creative one, in which older children within the EYFS can explore and express their emotions and experiences.

A paint area should be:

- quiet and free from people walking through it

- stress-free - flooring that is easy to clean will eliminate a lot of the staff tensions

- easy to use - ready access to a low-level tap is a must.

It should have:

- uncluttered space and plenty of it - young children will often choose to work on the floor on big sheets of paper and need the space to reach all points of their painting

- choice - store resources so that children can access them independently. We sometimes provide the resources in a trolley and a basket for each child, leaving them free to take what they want back to their place

- a large supply of materials, and

- high-quality, open-ended resources.

VARIETY AND QUALITY

Only an ample supple of high-quality resources will provide the scope for children to:

- develop their ideas - a child may want to use a large sheet of blue, rather than white paper for the sky

- experiment - painting on thick and thin paper produces different effects, for example, as does painting with long- and short-handled brushes

- present their ideas to the best of their ability - cheap paper only tears, while cheap brushes shed bristles all over the paper.

One really versatile product that allows for lots of experimentation is powdered paints. They can be used thick or thin, dry or wet. Children can mix their own colours, and there's a lot of scientific learning that comes from using them. They produce brilliant colours and they're economical.

Ready-mix paints are fine if you are in a rush but there's no real involvement with the child, and the real creative purpose of the area is largely lost for the sake of convenience.

ADULT ROLE

Supporting such an area should be practitioners who as well as giving children plenty time to explore:

- leave the child in control - know when to step in and when not to

- provide inspiration - through, for example, conversation, books and prints of world art

- respect the child's ideas and choices - how many times have we heard, 'Oh, you've missed a bit,' when the paper isn't smothered in paint? Maybe that is the way the child wanted it

- never make assumptions - rushing in with 'Oh, is that a dog?' or 'Oh, what a lovely cat,' might only cause disappointment; it could be something quite different

- explain to parents that the 'creative process' is more important than a painting at the end of the day.

Linda Keats is manager of Laindon Neighbourhood Nursery, Basildon, Essex. She spoke to Ruth Thomson

CHECKLIST: Basic RESOURCES

Within the art area, older EYFS children should have access to:

- table and self-coloured, plain, washable table cover if required - washable aprons

- paper and card in assorted shapes, colours, sizes, textures and weights

- paint: powder paints, ready-mixed paints and block paints

- range of high-quality brushes - long- and short-handled; chunky and thin and horse-hair and foam headed brushes (wooden-handled brushes feel best)

- water pots (wide base)

- containers for powder paint

- small, shallow mixing trays

- palettes

- spatulas

- drying rack

- easel with attached storage tray - preferable but not absolutely essential. Make sure it is the right height for children to use

- rollers (foam, fabric, textured)

- found objects for mark-making and printing, for example, forks, combs, nail brushes and bobbins

- objects for printing - balls, batik blocks, construction equipment, sponges, wheels and other natural and familiar everyday objects

- writing materials - pencils, thick felt-tip pens, pastels, charcoal, chalks and crayons

- collage materials - fabric, sequins, beads, ribbon, wool, shells, stick, leaves, cones and other natural materials

- scissors, a hole punch and a stapler

- Sellotape, masking tape, good-quality safe glue