Watch this space

This art-making game is an old favourite of mine. I've used it very successfully with adults, teenagers, and nine-to-eleven year olds, and soon I'm going to use it with younger children in a museum setting. Before unleashing it on classes of thirty five-and-six year olds later this term, I thought I'd dust it down, and test it out on my little ones first. All you need for this version of the game is:

• Paint-pens or chunky felt-tips or chalks - in a variety of colours
• A long piece of paper; I used a roll of brown paper as I had it to hand
• A die, each face covered with a sticker showing a particular shape or pattern - like circles, loops, triangles, stripes and zigzags (at the museum we have large foam dice with transparent pockets on each face to hold the pattern/shape descriptions)

1. All players choose a pen or paint colour, and sit wherever they like near the edge of the paper. 
2. The die is rolled, and whichever pattern/shape lands face up is drawn on the area of paper in front of each player. They can draw as many as they like, and just as they like.
3. Players move round one place to their left (keeping their colour), and the die is rolled again.
4. With the new pattern or shape in mind, players now add to the existing marks on the section of paper where they've just moved. They can draw the new shape or pattern in, around and/or next to these marks - just as they like, to add to the art.
5. The game continues like this, until the paper is full.

The more people you have, the better it works - but with just four of us playing, we made a rather lovely piece of communal art, which we've since used as wrapping paper. They all agreed it was lots of fun - and said they really enjoyed seeing the art grow.

My daughter has already suggested we play a Christmas version of the game to make festive wrapping paper - with a die showing fir-tree shapes, baubles and stars and so on, using metallic colours. This reminded that once I used black paper and neon-colours for a fireworks version. It really is an adaptable game - and one we'll be playing again, in some shape or form, in the not so distant future. Watch this space!