Middle School

The Essential Questions
How can we make temporary marks with a variety of tools?

Objective
Students will use simple materials to explore temporary and playful mark-making.

Materials
fine salt, black paper, cookie trays, a variety of tools including forks, craft sticks, combs, and paintbrushes

Procedures
1. Offer each student or group a small dish of salt and a tray lined with black paper.
2. Direct students to pour their salt onto the black paper and use their fingers and various tools (see Materials) to create different marks.
3. Offer prompts to challenge students, such as: Can you make marks that repeat? Can you make marks that intersect? Can you make thin lines? Can you represent waves or clouds or faces?
4. Students may wish to photograph their compositions before gently shaking the tray to redistribute the salt. Students could alter their photographs to increase the contrast and present them as a more permanent artwork.
Authorʼs Note: Consider adding another material to this mark-making challenge, such as flour. Students can discover how the new material changes the process and product.

Assessment
Ask students how they felt about the activity, emphasizing the idea that the marks were temporary. Ask them whether they preferred making marks that were nonrepresentational or representational. Why?

Zoey Graf is a visual and media arts educator at Calgary Girls Charter School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.