Elementary

The Essential Question
How can students combine color values to paint a twelve-block quilt?

Objective
Students will paint a quilt by mixing tints and shades of various colors to create tones and values.

Materials
12 x 18" (30 x 46 cm) white paper, pencils, rulers, tempera paints (various colors, including black and white), paintbrushes, paper towels

Procedures
1. Show students various images of block quilts.
2. Next, discuss or demonstrate how to create tints and shades (adding white to a color for a tint, and black to a color for a shade).
3. Using pencils and rulers, students divide their 12 x 18" white paper into twelve rectangles. (You could do this step for students before the activity.)
4. Students choose a color and paint one of their rectangles. Next, they paint another rectangle in their quilt with that color mixed with white for a tint and another rectangle with the color mixed with black for a shade. Students repeat this process with additional colors to complete their quilts.
5. Students add lines or shapes with black paint to create a balanced quilt design.

Assessment
Did students create tones and values of different colors? Are the lines or shapes placed throughout the quilt to create a balanced design?

Wendy Libby is an art teacher at Fruit Street School in Bangor, Maine.