Art Project #1; Painting with Hexbugs

To kick off our 100 Days of Art Challenge we started with a fun exploration activity.

Using some new Hexbugs (bought special for this art project!) we were going to play with paint and robots.

We used a large bin, put out papers inside and sprinkled liquid watercolors in drops around the paper.  

We turned on our Hexbugs and had a great time watching them vibrate and jump all around walking through and around all the paint splatters.  The Hexbugs occasionally had to be redirected or turned around but they made such wonderful patterns on the paper and the boys had fun watching then battle, walk around in circles, and bouncing off the walls.

Alec's Turn 

Evan loved watching them 

We experimented with different colors, different papers, different sized papers, and even different paint materials:

• We discovered that tempera paint was too thick for them to move through or move around
• We discovered that computer paper was too thin and would leak colors through the container
• We discovered that less paint spread out worked better than gobs of watercolors that all mixed together and made one giant puddle
• We discovered that the paper would buckle or get weak in areas where a lot of paint landed and that the Hexbugs would get stuck there.
• We re-learned  how colors combine and make new colors and the different properties of light and dark colors.  

We had a great time and the boys were so excited to each have a brand new Hexbug when our morning was over.  Day 1 was a huge success.  

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