Art through a straw!

This project is fun for kidlets 3 1/2 and up. If your kidlet can master the distinction between blowing through the straw and not drinking then younger kidlets can do this also. It's fun, slightly messy and the end result is pretty nifty!

What you need:

*drinking straws

*2 or 3 colors of paint. Acrylic, tempera, food color or liquid watercolor will work

*water

*containers (i used ice cream dishes from our local scoop shop)

*paintbrushes

*paper

scrumdilly-do it!

Set out your supplies in a mess free zone. Two or three colors of paint are best, otherwise you will end up with brown once all the colors mix. Put some paint into your containers. You can use paper cups, silicone cupcake liners, or tupperware. My nifty trick of paper liners won't work because of the water you will be adding to your paint.

Add a tablespoon or so of water to your paint, food color, etc. and mix.

Drop a dollop of paint onto the painting surface.

Position straw over, about and around the blob of paint and blow!

Have your kidlets experiment. What happens when they blow directly over the paint? What happens when they blow to the side? Softer? Harder? The more watery your paint, the more movement you will get.

Finish up and let dry. Your kidlets can add more to their painting once it dries. Adding other colors once it dries will create a layering effect and can look quite neato-cool! You can also add glitter and/or salt for more pizazz.

Brush your teeth; Paint a picture

Paint with toothbrushes!

What you need:
*paper
*acrylic or tempera paint (watercolor works also if you like)
*a pack of toothbrushes from the dollar store

scrumdilly-do it:

Gather your supplies. I used dark paper and light paint to mix it up a little.

Squirt a couple of paint colors onto a paper plate, lid or tray.

Let your wee ones dip their toothbrushes into the paint and…well…paint!


They can use the brushes as paintbrushes and smoosh away to their hearts’ content or, if they are a little bit older and more reserved you can teach them to goop up their toothbrushes so they are super saturated, and then flick the paint onto the paper. This may be best done outside with the paper placed in a paint and mess friendly place. This would be a fun activity for a small group of kidlets and a long, long ream of butcher paper, craft paper or a solid roll of gift-wrap. I picked up a six pack of toothbrushes at the dollar store! Have fun!

diy paint splattered bowls

 

We made these super cool bowls for our Mother's Day gifts. Thy turned out so ridiculously happy and cool that I think I am going to do them again next year. It may be our classroom thing.

First we had to shape our bowls. Our bowls are made of sculpey clay. Each kiddo used half of a small sculpey block to create their bowl. To begin, they were given the clay and encouraged to play with it to soften it up. Then they placed their piece of clay between two layers of wax paper and used a rolling pin to squish it as flat as they could get it. Some of the children asked for help when it came to flattening their clay. The sculpey is a bit hard compared to play dough. After they flattened their clay they then used their hands and fingers to shape it into a bowl. The idea was to create a small catch-all for mama's keys, coins, or jewelry. The bowls were places on a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper underneath. I wrote their names below their bowls and attached a small piece of masking tape with their names as well. The tape would come off before baking and was placed just in case the bowls got mixed up in transit. I took the bowls home to bake according to the instructions on the package and they came out gorgeous! Sculpey, while the not the most price-friendly option made for a really pretty and modern looking bowl. The clay bakes to a matte finish. It's really cool!

We painted the bowls and our gift wrap two days later. This was done two weeks before Mother's Day as one never knows what they day may bring in preschool. To paint our bowls I set up a splatter paint station in our room, using a large vinyl tablecloth as a backdrop. As a group we discussed what colors were were going to use (keeping it to three) and decided on gold, pink, and black. The kiddo in my class love the gold paint! As the children played about the room, I would ask them if they were ready to paint their bowls. We would place their bowl onto our large sheet of white paper and they would get to splattering away. This was a first for all of my kiddos and they had a blast. Before each would have a turn we would look at our paper and decide what section needed paint and the kiddo would place their bowl in that section. Doing this one at a time created a special activity for each child, yet knowing that the happy paint splattered paper was a result of all of their efforts created a feeling of group effort and community. The next day the children flipped their bowls over and got to more splattering.

We wrapped our bowls the last day of class before Mother's Day. Before we cut the paper, the children had to measure to see if they could fit their bodies on it. We used photos to document their scientific discovery and they may have had more fun lying on the paper than painting it. For wrapping their bowls, we used tissue paper (they chose their tissue color) to wrap the bowl first. I explained to the children that their bowls were very precious and delicate like glass. They took me very seriously and wrapped them up oh-so-carefully. I added pre-torn pieces of hot pink scotch tape to the table edges for the children to tape up their packages. The tape did not have a dispenser and the children have a trying time getting the tape off themselves. Those that can and wish to do their own tape tearing and/or cutting.

 

 

 

So there you have it! Our paint splattered bowls that we made back in May for Mother's Day. Happy splatters, pretty bowls, lovely wrapping, and joyful kiddos. This can totally be an anytime project!

the lion and the mouse: spin art lions!

Back in the fall we spent a week with The Lion and the Mouse. One of our art projects was to make a spin art lion. The kiddos as school LOVE painting with our salad spinner.

 

This was a bit unplanned but I knew we could do it. I pulled out some coffee filters and dis some quick scissors work to create shapes to use for lion faces. After rifling through the yarn box, I found some funky fiber and had one of the children snip a few strips for whiskers. The paint colors were decided by the children as well after a discussion on what a lion looks like (I think tigers may have influenced their choices as well).

 We used three filters per lion. One filter ends up folding into itself as it spins around the basket. The paint usually seeps through the filters so that they stick together. Three filters are stable enough to spin and hold all the paint. Each child took a turn placing his or her filters into the basket and adding paint before replacing the lid and giving it a spin or two or three or seen or twelve.

 

 

Once they were ready, they removed their now paint splattered filters and selected shapes for their features. We dialogued as they went. The paint is wet and sticky enough to hold the shapes down without needing any glue.

 

Here are two sample lions. The one on the top got three whiskers on each side "like a kitty-cat". The artist also selected orange circle ears but then wanted to turn them into eyes by adding paint. The second lion was all about the gold paint, and the whiskers across the forehead.

Can you tell this one is teacher-made? The children wanted to take theirs home after they were dry so I made one for the curriculum folder. I love how our thrifted little salad spinner can make most anything.

make a spin art raccoon!

During the first two weeks of school our theme was The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. We talked a lot about school and feeling and raccoons...

One of the projects we did was to make our own spin art raccoons. First up was a discussion about the different colors a raccoon's fur might be and pulled out some paint to match. We then selected some scrap pieces of construction paper from our scrap box and gathered up our salad spinner and coffee filters. I had also cut out an assortment of triangles and circles to complete our project.

The children placed three coffee filters into the basket of the spinner, we use three because of the viscosity of the paint. It's weight and thickness tend to smoosh the filter into a corner and then all you have is a mess of coffee filter. Using a short stack anchors the filter down and allows the paint to spin about. We used a washable tempera for or paint.

Once the filter was in the basket, the children selected the colors they wished to use and gave great big squirts of paint into the basket (with a little help from me a the bottles were new and not easily squeezable).

 

Next up was placing the lid onto the spinner which is not as easy for a three year old as it is for an adult, and then turning the handle that spins the basket. This part was really fun and interesting to see how each child would approach it. Our spinner has a crank handle and so the children needed to figure out how to hold the basket with one hand and turn the crank with the other. Some children grew frustrated and asked for help.

 

 

After a few checks and maybe more squirts of paint, the children removed their raccoons-to-be and added features.  The thickness of the paint took place of any glue we would need and so eyes and stripes and noses were added by simply selecting their preferred shapes (we used a variety of raccoon images from various flashcards as inspiration) and pressing them down onto the paint with their fingers.

 

 

They were quite proud of their raccoons and really into the spinner and so we made another spin art bit just for fun.

glitter glam

I recently glittered up some happy stars to decorate our walls at home. These were super simple, if not slightly messy (that pesky glitter likes to linger) to create. So simple your kiddos could enjoy making! them.

Materials:

*empty cereal box or other thin cardboard

*colored paint (acrylic or tempera)

*foam brush

*pencil

*scissors

*hole punch or staples

*glitter

To begin, have your kiddo think of a happy shape (hint hint...Valentine's Day is fast approaching). If they are eager to do so, allow them to draw their shape themselves otherwise follow their direction and draw away on the back of a recycled cereal box or other cardboard you may have on hand. You can also use cardstock or posterboard. 

Use scissors to cut out the shape your kiddo drew or directed. Try to get a handful or so drawn and cut. Shapes and things always look happier when grouped together. Set up on ap aint friendly surface.

  Distribute paint however you prefer. We like to blob it directly onto our cardboard. Hand out a foam bursh or other fat paintbrush and allow your kiddo(s) to go to town painting their cardboard shapes. If you used a recycled box, you may need to to more than one coat of paint to cover up the print if you are going to paint both sides (the pink paint was quite thin so we switched to blue for our second coat).

On the final coat, while paint is still wet, hand your kiddo their glitter shakers and shake, shake, shake! Set aside to dry. If you ae going to tack up to a wall or other surface, you will only need to paint one side. If you wish to hang like a mobile, make sure to paint both sides so that all surfaces are ready for their close-ups. Easy, peasy! 

To hang you can thread a length of yarn or string through a punched hole (punch hole before painting) or use a stapler to staple yarn to the shape. Find a happy place for display and go for it! 

art up a paper plate or two

 I did this project for my April Bed but with a little planning, you can totally have your kiddos whip up a pretty installation as well!

Materials

*sturdy paper plates in two sizes

*acrylic paint in three colors plus white

*paintbrushes and water

*metallic marker 

*double-sided foam tape

Have your kiddo pick out two colors of paint plus one additional shade that matches one of the colors. I used two shades of pink and one of yellow. Set out three plates and have your kiddo paint the center of each one in each color.

Next, grab another plate and add a squirt of color and a squirt of white and have your kiddo mix the paint up. Do one up for each color. If yer up for another round of painting, repeat the second step but add a bit more white. Take a moment to teach you kiddo about tints. Set aside to dry.

Once dry, have your kiddo paint a picture or pattern to each plate using the white paint. Give them a skinny brush and limit the amount of paint they use. Set aside to dry.

 

Now it is time to have your kiddo doodle a bit on top of the white paint. Once they are finished, it is time for the installation.

Depending on how long you want your installation to hang, you have a few choices for implementation. You can glue paper clips to the back of some of the plates and hang them using small nails, or you can use a mounting putty or double-stick foam tape (it takes a while to press all the plates into place. You can see one of my plates falling in the photo below). I went the route of putty for the base layer and double-stick tape for the second layer. Arrange the larger plates in a scatter across your wall surface making sure to keep a few close to each other so that you may later the smaller plates on top.

Enjoy!

ten hats in ten days: the classic newspaper hat

Today's hat is one that is glue free. The classic newspaper hat a la dilly-do! The only difference is, I invite you to paint up your swath of newspaper before you get to folding. The paint will dry and give your newspaper a slightly shiny look while giving it a little boost in the sturdy department as well.

Materials

*large sheet of newspaper

*acrylic or liquid tempera paint

*white school glue

*paintbrush

*tape or stapler  (optional)

Set up your paint by squirting a trio of colors onto your kiddo's palette. Add a squirt or two of white glue and a smidge of water (no more than a tablespoon) to each color and have your kiddo use a clean paintbrush to blend each color. The water will thin the paint allowing it to cover the newspaper a wee bit more quickly and the glue will give your newspaper a little more shelf-life.

Have your kiddo paint up a storm. The larger the brush the quicker the coverage. Sticking to three harmonious colors will keep the hat from being a muddy mob. Though, there is nothing wrong with muddy and kiddos relish the process of mixing their paint colors. If you want to keep their hat from becoming muddy, choose two shades of their favorite color and then add a dollop of white. They can mix to their heart's content and you can have a happy photo. Or, stick to two primary colors and white then they can mix up their own secondary color. Paint as a color theory tool is an awesome thing! Set aside to dry.

Once dry get to folding...

  First fold your squarish sheet in half, painted side out.

 

Next up, fold in half to get a crease to mark your middle then pull the corners down to make a bit of a triangle. Do not pull them all the way down to the bottom and make sure your fold is at the top so that the bottom will ope to create your hat.

Fold up a brim from the bottom.

Add a helpful piece of tape or two to keep the hat from unfolding and pop that bit of happy on your kiddos head and go exploring!