Ink Blots Lesson Plan

Look at the picture in Absolutely Not of the face with cloud eyes and a tree nose. Ask students if they have looked at things like clouds or stars and seen objects or creatures. Show pictures of constellations.

Have students create ink blots and describe what they see in them. Place a few small dabs of tempera paint (just black or any combination of red, blue and yellow) near the center of a creased piece of paper. Put the paint in a squeeze bottle, such as a mustard bottle, for easy application. Have the students refold the paper and push the paint around by smoothing it from the fold out to the edges. Open the papers and let dry. Hold up the papers and have students write down what they see in each shape. You can compare the results to see if several children saw the same thing in a shape. For younger kids, hold up the shapes and have them raise their hand to say what they see in them. For an additional project, have the students use paint and art materials to turn their ink blots into objects, animals, or people.

1. Put small separate dabs on
a creased piece of paper.

2. Fold the paper in half and
push the paint around.

3. Open the paper. What do you see?