Things to Make - Painting with Spices

Another snow day art project (yesterday was our NINTH snow day of the school year) - I sprinkled some spices into an egg carton (cinnamon, turmeric, red pepper, cayenne, etc.) and let the kids decide how much water to add for painting.

Their paintings turned out somewhat "gritty" with a red/yellow color palette, but the kids loved "mixing" the paint and smelling the spices (by the end of the project, everyone had dipped their fingers in to taste something). Easy peasy.



We spent a lot of time talking about smells.



T dipping his finger in to taste the spices.

Things to Make - 20 (Easy) Painting Projects With Kids

It's been a winter of SNOW here in Northern Virginia, so if you're looking for some easy art projects to keep the kids entertained while indoors - here are 20 suggestions (click on each project's title for more detailed instructions):



I. PROJECTS USING LIQUID WATERCOLORS (OR FOOD COLORING)

1. Tissue Paper Tie-Dye - Fold the tissue paper into triangles and wrap with rubber bands (click here to see how to fold). Dip into different colors of paint then unwrap and watch the designs form.

2. Salty Watercolors - This is one of our favorite super easy projects. Use glue to draw designs on thick watercolor paper. Next, sprinkle salt on the glue. Finally "paint" over the salty glue, the color travels slowly through the designs - both fun to watch and fun to look at.

3. Watercolor Nature Prints - Collect interesting items outside (old leaves, acorns, branches, etc). Pour liquid watercolors onto a stamp pad (or use a regular stamp pad) and stamp the natural materials to make fun quirky designs.

4. Marbleized Paper Using Shaving Cream - Combine liquid watercolor paint and shaving cream in a pan, make designs using popsicle sticks or a fork. Press thick watercolor paper into the shaving cream and then wipe off. Voila, art.

5. Marbleized Paper Using Oil - Mix watercolor paint and vegetable oil (click here for the correct ratios). Fill the bottom of a pan with water and using eyedroppers add the oil/paint to the pan, swirl to create designs. Press thick watercolor paper into the designs, then let dry.

6. Winter Trees - Pour brown liquid watercolor paint into a small container. Use paintbrushes to draw a tree trunk on the page. Then add a few drops of paint at the top of the trunk. Use straws to blow the paint away from the trunk, thus making branches. Fun.



II. PROJECTS USING ITEMS FROM THE PANTRY

7. Secret Agent Messages with Lemon Juice - Paint with lemon juice on paper. The juice dries clear, but if you cook the paper at 350 degrees for a few minutes, your super secret spy message "magically" reappears.

8. Condensed Milk Paintings - Combine condensed milk and liquid watercolors/food coloring. Paint. The colors will look super glossy and thick.

9. Saran Wrap Painting - Paint with watercolor paints on thick paper. Cover with saran wrap and move the saran wrap around to make designs. Let dry, then remove the saran wrap. Lovely.



III. PROJECTS USING SOLID WATERCOLOR PAINTS

10. Toddler Googly-Eyed Monster Art - Ask a toddler to paint. Then have him/her attach two google eyes to their painting. All of a sudden abstract art becomes a monster.

11. Painted Snow Scenes - Use oil pastels or crayons to create a snow scene (my kids drew snowmen). Then paint over the sky with watercolors. You can also add salt to create the illusion of falling snow.

12. Valentine's Day/Heart Banner - Cut out a series of hearts from construction paper. Have the kids decorate the hearts using paints/markers/crayons, etc. Tape the hearts to a string and hang somewhere. Celebrate.



IV. PROJECTS USING TEMPURA (OR BIO-COLOR) PAINTS

13. Q-Tip Printmaking - Use a roller brush to thinly spread paint on a pan. Draw designs using q-tips. Then press a sheet of (thick) paper onto the design. Voila - a print.

14. Potato Stamp Prints - Carve a stamp out of a potato. Dip in paint. Create.

15. Paint Photographs - You can also use Sharpies to draw in details.

16. Paint a Cardboard Box - Create a castle. Or a boat. Or whatever you want.

17. String/Kitchen Painting - Dip the strings in paint, then use the painted strings to create designs of paper. Once your child tires of the strings you can also use: sponges, forks, superhero figurines and whatever else you find around the house.

18. Firework Painting - Twist four pipe cleaners to create a star shape. Dip in paint. Add glitter to make the night really sparkle.



V. ETC.

19. Suminagashi Marbleized Paper - Purchase a sumingashi kit (Amazon sells one for $13.50, just click here). The effect is very similar to liquid water colors and cooking oil (#5 above), but with the kit the colors are much more vivid and the designs are more pronounced.

20. Watercolor Pencils & Crayons - For a change of pace, Watercolor Pencils and Watercolor Crayons can be so fun to create with. Draw as you normally would and then paint with water.

Things to Make - Painted Snow Scenes

Lately, we haven't arted much. Actually, scratch that, the kids art all the time. We just haven't been doing many collective projects as of late. On one hand, it's sort of nice, the fact that the kids come up with their own projects now, asking me for supplies more often than ideas. But I sort of miss the old days, when I was more involved. On the other hand, time to myself is pretty sweet as well.

Anyways, during one of the several snow days we've had this winter, the kids asked for a new "project." So we made watercolor resist snow paintings (idea courtesy of the Artful Parent). Well, and T sort of did his own thing (which turned out fantastic as well).

Here's the scoop:

1. Use crayons or oil pastels to color a snowman or snow scene on thick watercolor paper.

2. Then paint over the snow scene using watercolor paints, for a watercolor resist effect.

3. Sprinkle the paintings with salt.

4. Once dry, remove the salt. And the painting will look like snow fell. (Or, in our case, the salt stayed stuck to the picture - giving it a sparkly look).

Fun.



Notice the Ipad in between them? Strategically placed so they can fight over whether One Direction or Taylor Swift plays next.

Things to Make - Three Creative Uses for Old Photographs

PROJECT 1 - LUNCH BOX NOTES

Last week F asked me to start leaving notes in her lunch box. I thought lunch notes would be the height of uncool, but apparently I was wrong on this one. (By the way, have you seen this HYSTERICAL post on Pottery Barn lunches? ). So after preschool last week, T and I decided to make some lunch notes. Then I remembered - I am not an artist. How many googly hearts and exclamation marks cane one draw before feeling like a bore? (Not many, for those of you who thought this was a serious question).

But I do like to take A LOT of snapshots. Thus, we have several boxes of 4x6 photos scattered throughout the house. I decided to start writing lunch notes on the back of photos (using Sharpies). Then I ran out of things to say. Luckily, I found this site and this site. I copied several of the jokes and facts and printed them on the back of the photos.

Then the real magic occurred. T HATES to write any letters (including his name) and (sadly) his handwriting is, well, awful (how is it possible that F could read at the age of 4 and T can't even write? Something about a third child . . .). Anyways, T started signing the cards too, saying "wow, mom this is so fun, like we're playing post office." And the early afternoon moved itself along.

As you can tell by the snarkiness, I'm a little embarrassed about the cheesiness of this "things to make", but at least I didn't pay pottery barn to write notes for me, right? And F did actually ask for the notes . . .



PROJECT 2 - PUPPETS

Unlike F, P wasn't a huge fan of lunch notes (apparently 1st graders and 2nd graders do not agree on what is cool). But P did like looking at all the old photos. So one weekend, P and her best friend asked for popsicle sticks, scissors, and glue to start work on a puppet show. I was a little nervous that some cruel jokes would occur once we all became reduced to minature figures controlled by young kids, but the show was nice and tasteful (though I'm not sure it really had a plot). The girls also used photos of plants and animals to make odd "creatures", like the talking tree monster (?).



PROJECT 3 - PAINT & SHARPIES

Since the whole photo theme seemed to be working out well, on a rainy day a few weeks ago I decided to cover the kitchen table with newspaper and give the kids sharpies and paint to create with (we used biocolor paints, so the colors wouldn't all blend to grey). Some of their designs turned out really awesome (F made rainbows in skies, smiley faces on bridges, etc.). But then the paint became messier and messier until it was one huge finger painting operation, which was all fine and good, but a little "much".
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Any other good projects for old photographs? I thought it would be fun to make collages, but the kids still seem to prefer using magazines.

Things to Make - Suminagashi Marbleized Paper (which sounds fancier than it is)

This summer, my mother-in-law bought a suminagashi marbling kit (similar to this one, which only costs $13.50) and all the grandkids couldn't stop using it.

This activity is so simple that even T didn't need much help (though be careful, the dyes stain). All you have to do is add a few drops of the suminagashi (what a word) paint to a pan of water, then swirl the paint with a chopstick or barbeque skewer. Dip a sheet of watercolor paper into the water and the results are absolutely gorgeous. When you want to make a new design you don't even need to change the water in the pan, instead just use a strip of newspaper to soak up the old colors. Easy peasy.

Of course, now I need to figure out what to do with over 50 sheets of marbled paper. Make greeting cards? Wrap very small presents?

I think this would be a great activity with a large group of kids, as you're pretty much guaranteed beautiful results and the set-up isn't very complicated.

If you don't want to invest in the suminagashi dye, we've also marbled with:
* Shaving cream and water colors AND
* Oil and water colors

(both of which are messy, but also very fun).

HAPPY TUESDAY!! What have you been making lately? I'd love to hear.

Things to Make - Firework Painting

The 4th of July seemed to sneak up on us this year. Last week we were still celebrating days without school, when I suddenly realized our nation's birthday was right around the corner. So, in order to generate some holiday spirit, we painted fireworks (idea via my pinterest summer files).

Here's the scoop: (materials - pipe cleaners, paint, dark colored construction paper, glitter (optional), and oil pastels or crayons)

1. Ask the kids to draw a night skyline onto a piece of dark construction paper (we used oil pastels, but crayons would also work).

2. Take four pipe cleaners, fold them in half, twist the bottom portion to create a handle, and then fan the ends to make a star shape (click this awesome blog for more detailed instructions).

3. Add paint (and/or glitter).

4. Create.

(Note - If you don't have any pipe cleaners, you can also use cut toilet paper rolls for a similar effect).

T absolutely LOVED this project, he painted and painted and painted. The girls created a few fireworks and then decided they'd rather avoid the mess and just draw their explosions, which was fine too. I just wanted some seasonal art to decorate the kitchen.

Things to Make - Saran Wrap Watercolor Paintings

I've wanted to try saran wrap painting ever since Not-So-SAHM posted about it. Luckily (or perhaps, unluckily) we've had enough cold rainy days lately that the opportunities for indoor entertainment keep presenting themselves to us. So on one such day, we gave it a try.

Here's the scoop:

Materials: HEAVY watercolor paper (the heavier the better), watercolor paints, saran wrap, and sponge roller (optional)

1. For this to work the paper has to be wet. Since T's obsessed with sponge rollers lately, I let them use these. Though in retrospect they made the paper a little too wet.

2. After wetting the paper, paint designs using the watercolors. All three kids loved this part, as the color really swirls and moves on the paper.

3. Place saran wrap over the wet painted paper and move the saran wrap with your fingers to make patterns on the paper.

4. Once you're satisfied with your pattern, LEAVE THE SARAN WRAP ON, while the paper dries.

5. Once everything dries, peel off the saran wrap and Voila! Beautiful designs.

On the upside, the kids LOVED this project, especially working with all the water. On the downside, the water caused the paint to loose its vividness, so everything came out really pale looking. I'm not sure how to correct this, any suggestions?

Things to Make - Secret Agent Messages Two Different Ways

Lately all three kids are obsessed with spies and secret agents. F especially loves these kits, whereas her younger siblings prefer hiding behind doors and surprising me. Anyways, on one of the many "snow days" we've had lately, we spent a morning creating secret agent messages using two different methods in an effort to "trick" the bad guys.



1. Method 1 - White Crayon.

So so simple. Write with white crayon on white paper. Then paint over the crayon with watercolor paint to reveal hidden messages.



2. Method 2 - Lemon Juice.

I've always heard that you can use lemon juice to create secret messages, but I never knew how to make it work - turns out you that after you paint on the lemon juice, you need to cook the [thick, watercolor] paper at 350 degrees for a few minutes in order to see the magic pictures appear. Thank you Not-So-SAHM for letting us in on the secret! (And by the way, if you're looking for more spy play ideas, check out Not-So-SAHM's post here).

Things to Make - Winter Trees

This project was one of F's ideas, from her copy of Art Treasury , which has become F's lazy day boredom buster.

Anyways, making winter trees proved simple and fun, so we'll probably try it again sometime. Here's the scoop:

1. Use watercolor paint to create a sky and ground on a blank sheet of watercolor (or other thick) paper.

2. Then pour some brown liquid watercolor paint into a small container (we didn't have brown so we mixed orange and black).

3. Drop a larg(ish) glob of the brown paint on the paper and use a brush to create a tree trunk, then use straws to blow the paint over the paper to make branches (this is the fun part).

4. (Optional) Sprinkle the pictures with salt to create a snow/frost effect.

Things to Make - Kitchen Painting

On Friday I thought T and I could have fun trying string painting (having read about it here - Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages (Lab Series)). Apparently T has already spent a lot of time in preschool string painting, as he had very precise requirements for the length of the string.

In an effort to shake things up a bit (or probably just because I wanted to do something "different" with him), I suggested we try different string lengths, which didn't really work that well (of course it didn't, T's preschool teacher is a grandmother who has taught children for over thirty years, she KNOWS her string), so we tried coating the string with a plastic knife. And this is when "kitchen" painting began . . .



From the knife, we moved to a fork, and then to a spoon (a very very messy spoon).



Since the spoon made big puddles we moved to sponges . . .



And, then, we NEEDED to paint a superhero.



And a whisk.

_________

I could complain about the mess, but we had a great time (plus my kitchen is used to being trashed regularly). We painted with biocolor paints (a great suggestion from Not-So-SAHM), which keep their original color and don't form into grey muck.

T eventually became bored and moved onto other pursuits, which is probably for the best or I would have emptied out the kitchen trying to find even more unique painting materials.

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Things to Make - Toddler Art - Googly-Eyed Monsters

On our last trip to the Playseum (have you been yet? we love it there) the art instructor taught us a cool trick - let your toddler (is a 3 year old still considered a toddler?) paint and paint and paint. Once his/her artwork dries bring out some googly eyes (like these) and let your toddler attach them onto his/her artwork. All of a sudden a big blob looks like a creature worthy of framing. Plus, it's a super easy way to have younger children help decorate for Halloween. Monsters everywhere = scary awesomeness.

And for another fun idea regarding "toddler art" - check out this past post on the toddler art hidden picture game.

HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYONE! I hope all of you in the US had a great three day weekend.

Things to Make - Watercolor Nature Prints

The inspiration for this project came from this post on the Artful Parent. And though we made a big mess, we had a ton of fun working on it.

First we went for a nature walk, looking for things that would "print well" - so we picked up everything from leaves to sticks to stones. T loved this part (as you can tell from the HUGE pile of stuff pictured below).

After we dumped our wares on the table, we poured liquid watercolors into blank stamp pads from Discount School Supplies. If you don't have the stamp pads you could try pouring the watercolors onto felt or even a sponge or you could also just use regular stamp pads. Then the kids started printing. Some objects worked better than others (sticks and rocks didn't do much), but all three kids liked trying out different objects and combinations, especially three-year old T, who could have stamped for hours.



The walk was a blast. So much fun to notice the details of leaves and all of the different plants around our neighborhood.

Things to Make - Q-Tip Printmaking

Lots of printmaking ideas have circulated the blogosphere lately. I read about q-tip printmaking on Under the Pecan Tree and figured this activity would work well with all three kids, even almost-three-year old T. On the upside, the kids loved creating pictures in the paint and getting messy. On the downside, only P's prints turned out. P also kept her paint layer the thinnest, so I think that's the trick. Eventually the whole project turned into finger painting, which was fine with me.

Here's the scoop:

1. Use a roller brush to THINLY spread paint on a long pan (we used Biocolor Paint, after hearing so many wonderful things about it from Not-So-SAHM).
2. Draw a picture in the paint using q-tips
3. Press a sheet of paper (we chose heavy watercolor paper) onto the picture
4. Voila! you have a print.



The great part about this project is that you can keep reusing the same paint and pan - just roll over your last design and start a new one.

Things to Make - Paintings with Watercolor Crayons and Watercolor Pencils

A few weeks ago, while attending a Stories in Art class at the National Gallery, F had the opportunity to work with watercolor crayons. I had never seen these before, so I bought some from Amazon for approximately $15 (Staedtler Karat Aquarell Premium Watercolor Crayons, 223M12) and now we can't stop painting with them. The kids like to combine the watercolor crayons with watercolor pencils, using the pencils for details and the crayons for wide areas. They're really fun to work with - less messy than paint, more creative and colorful than crayons. And I really enjoy that all the kids can work with them, from T at 2.5 years old to F at 6.5 years old. I think I'll bring a set, along with some brushes, on our next vacation, as they seem like an easy art material to travel with.



We made another banner to surprise Dan when he came back from a long worktrip. The banner also helps conceal that I still haven't purchased counter stools. Ugh, major purchases stress me out (am i crazy for thinking of counter stools at a major purchase? I want them to match the table and chairs that I still don't own. Decorating is hard.).