THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
Simple Fall Nature Paint
Embracing another day at home, the kids and embarked on a simple fall art project. Fall doesn’t actually start until Friday, but we stuck with fall colors and incorporated dead leaves. Tada! Fall themed art. The best part about our afternoon creative session was that it required very little work on my part. To add to the feeling of slothfulness, the kids completed the project while still in pajamas. It was twelve o’clock.
Here is what we did:
1. Mixed tempera to create 3 autumn(ish) tones.
2. Each child picked out at least 5 natural object from the yard to use instead of paint brushes.
Jack picked branches, a blackberry, leaves and petals
3. Set them free to create.
Liam paints with a rose
Some of the final works:
The artwork dried outside in the sun. I bundled paint splattered newspapers and “brushes” and walked them directly over to the trash. The kids marched directly to the laundry room to throw their clothes in the washing machine. Conveniently, I have had not put any laundry away since Sunday, so they washed up and got dressed. Other then an uncomfortable moment of vulgar nakedness by child #2, it was a success!
Hooray for simple moments at home!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011
Apple Stamping
What do you do with ugly duckling apples that are a little mealy?
Back to school Apple Stamping
just apples, tempera, and a paper plate
Oh, and little hands to stamp with
Ta da! Goodie bags for our teachers
Tomorrow we use the rest of those apples to fill our bags with Apple Spice Coffee Cake
peasandthankyou.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6000734&prev_term=apple
School has been out for the summer for almost two weeks. So, today I tackled a most dreaded task: going through the kids saved school work and art from the past year. I hate this project! I feel guilty throwing away my children's hard work, but I really do not want to keep it all either. I would like to say that this way an easy 5 minute job. It was not. I did, however, manage to create an art project out of it.
Instead of saving pages upon pages of work, I have the children create a commemorative collage. Here's what we did:
Supplies:
3 cardboard rectangles
3 pairs scissors
3 glue sticks
1 old Yoga Journal Magazine
1 mountain of 2010 - 2011 school work
3 enthusiastic artist
The Craft:
Each child made a layered collage. Correction: one child made a layered collage and the the other two, didn't follow this direction. The bottom layer was (supposed to be) a magazine mosaic. The top layer, favorite clips last years work. Today we will give them labels and finish off with Mog Podge.
How this works for all ages:
Older Children
School aged kids do well when set up with a basic idea that lets them create her own vision. Since they didn't need help with the cutting or gluing, I was free to help my youngest. With very little prep work, this project gave them a couple hours (and counting) of creative expression. To date, the 8 year old is still working on an intricate pattern for her base layer.
Preschoolers
Cutting and gluing is always a favorite past time for this age. My preschooler didn't have any school work to repurpose, but he didn't really care. He had scissors and a glue stick. A great activity to work fine motor skills, and talk about colors and shapes.
Too little for scissors and glue
An independent collage may not be a possibility for the littlest children. They can still explore texture, color shape while working fine motor skills and giving Mama a little time to breath. An old magazine can be a great source of delight. This may sound silly, but it can really be a rich exploration for little bodies and brains. Turning, tearing, crumpling, throwing and feeling pages is multi-sensory (notice that I omitted "tasting") . Just, watch out for paper cuts!
No comments:
Post a Comment