Banner Making  For Children

Everybody first learns the basics of the relief printmaking process, and then goes on to discover how to design a print block, cut it out, prepare it with ink, and finally how to use the press to make multi-coloured pictures onto paper which  can be taken  home at the end of the session.

Once all of the participants  in the group has achieved this level of skill, we use the same print blocks (or new ones, depending on the length of the session) to print everyone’s image onto cloth.

We usually work to a set theme in these workshops, so it’s important that all the children understand the subject matter and learn how to work together to discover the best way to get all of the pictures onto one large banner. In the absence of the venue providing a theme, Jonathan has loads of visual ideas which make very successful and interesting wall hangings. Letters and numerals are also sometimes incorporated into the designs, so that banner making becomes more than just a normal art lesson: design work, literacy, and group dynamics all play an important part in this exciting programme. Normally, 15 children do a 2 ½ hour morning session, and then the other half of the same class do an afternoon session of similar length. Schools, however, often like to organise numbers to best suit class sizes and schedules, so flexibility is built into this programme, too. 

The printmaking inks are safe and washable with soap and water, but they can sometimes stain clothing. So note that everyone should wear workclothes on the day, as well as having aprons available for all of the participants.

 

 

 

 

These children named this banner “ Africa “