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Entries in art (3)

Tuesday
Jul022013

Mystery Characters

This is another great activity for mostly open-ended creativity!

 

Glue pairs of googly eyes randomly on paper (we used card stock & gave the glue time to dry)

 

 

 

Hand the kids drawing supplies (you could even give them collage materials!) & instruct them to draw characters (animals, monsters, people// whatever they want!) around the eyes.

 

 

Younger kids can tell you a story about their drawings, older kids can write a story & read it to you, or even act it out!

Tuesday
Jul022013

A Box of Craft Sticks

We recently picked up a box of 1,000 craft sticks (or popsicle sticks, to some) at a major craft store chain. They were priced at $5.99 & we had a 40% off coupon to burn.... so I tossed them into the cart with the thought that open-ended play/creativity is my favorite kind of things for the kids to do and they rarely use things for it's intended purpose anyhow!

 

Let me tell you,  I gave the Herdlings this box of sticks, tacky glue, collage materials & washable tempera paints & it has kept them busy for hours!

 

 

We made hanging picture frames & garden stakes

 The learning aspect: Planning, measuring, symmetry, sequence

 

 

 

We made treasure keepers (boxes with lids)

 

The learning aspect: Planning, measuring, symmetry, height, volume, following directions/sequence

 

 

 

And we have made plenty of abstract sculptures.

 The learning aspect: vocabulary, art, following their own creative thoughts.

 

 

This has proven to be one of the most favored activities among all of my kids!

Who would have thought?!

Thursday
Jun272013

Lettuce Rose Prints

 

 This is a really fun activity to do with any age!

 

We buy bulk bags of Romaine Hearts at the members club warehouse and a dinner with side salad easily leaves us with three lettuce stumps. When you look at the freshly cut end of the stump, you will likely notice that it resembles a rose!

 

This got my creative gears turning! What a great way to use the scraps from our salad! It's virtually no fail and the best part is that you simply cut off the painted surface for a fresh start with a new color!!

 

You will need a lettuce stump, paint of your choice (we have used acrylic, tempera and finger paints. I bet it would work with stamp pads too), paint brushes, a cutting board & sharp knife.

 

 

 

 

Brush paint on or pour a little paint onto wax paper or foil & let the little ones "stamp" with the lettuce stump

 

 

Let them choose the placement for their "rose" on the paper & press their painted stump onto the paper

 

 

TA-DA!

 

Give it a try after your next salad! You can expand on this idea by using different fruits and veggies and exploring the effects they create!