Doing Art Together: Family Hand Portrait

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This was a homework assignment for Lu. She had to count everyone in the families hands then trace their fingers on a page and number them.  I thought it would be fun to take it a step further.  I had Lu use watercolor paper. She traced every ones hands, overlapping each hand as she went along. I traced them with a Sharpie and Lu numbered them. Then I gave her some watercolors and let her paint them any way she wanted. I think it came out beautiful! What a great family "portrait." I am definitely framing this one!

This would make a great gift for a Mom, Dad or Grandparent!

Tip: I highly recommend you use water color paper. Water color paper won't buckle as much and will hold up better. Also outlining the hands using a permanent marker will make sure the hands don't get lost under all the paint.  You don't need to have your little one number each finger unless you want to reinforce counting.

Really, I am trying to get organized...

I found these sad, half used tubes of paint and glitter, from a craft kit long since crafted, while I was attempting to organize one of my many craft cabinets.  I was going to toss them but my daughter caught me before I could dispose of the goods and asked if she could squeeze them out onto a piece of paper. Why not?

This gave me an idea. I suggested she fold the paper in half and smoosh.

"Cool!" gushed Lulu.

We let it dry. Now what to do with it? The girls never get tired of turning anything into a butterfly.

So I traced Lu's hand onto the paper...



Lu added some more sequins and glitter for good measure.

She is planning on gluing it to another piece of paper to make a card for her friend's birthday.

As for cleaning out the cabinet...it could take all summer at this rate :-)

Experimenting with Water Color

Lu got her first "real" lesson in using water colors. Usually I just let the girls have at it with minimal intrusion. This time I showed her a little bit of technique. How to load the brush (letting the paint suck up in the bristles versus scrubbing it all around to pick up the paint.) I showed her how to hold the brush gently. We experimented with working on wet paper and on dry. I showed her how to use scrunched up paper towel to make clouds and what happens when you sprinkle salt onto a wet painting.

A little technique goes a long way and definitely helps a child like Lu. She is someone who knows what she wants to achieve and if she can't do it she gets a bit frustrated. Afterwards she had fun experimenting on her own. This is what she created. 

Some of you may wonder why Lu's crafts are featured a lot and not Em's. Usually, Lu and I like to do crafts while Em is napping. It is a quiet time during our day perfect for some one on one attention, conversation and of course crafting (or baking.) Don't worry, Em gets craft time too. She just happens to like to do the same thing over and over...gluing down pictures of dogs. Every time I get a magazine, catalog, circular in the mail she says, "Doggie. Find doggies."

Painting Shamrocks... BORING!

Making dinosaur tracks. FUN!!

Followed by dinosaur bath time! MORE FUN!!

Flexibility is key when crafting with kids. Sometimes you've just got to go with the flow!

Kids Craft: Handmade Wrapping Paper

This project was inspired by the wonderful mess made over at Adventures of Mommydom's Blog recently. She and her kids had a blast creating their own wrapping paper. We just had to get in on the fun and make our own mess...I mean masterpiece!

While Lu was at school, Em and I had at it. Boy did she have fun! We used a paper grocery bag that I cut open. This special paper will be used to wrap her Daddy's Christmas gift.

For those of you who are mess phobic try these tips:

Have a vinyl table cloth designated for craft projects.
Have a damp sponge and or dish towel on hand to wipe up spills and or messy hands as you go.
Have child wear a smock. We use Daddy's old t shirts.
You control the paint. Distribute a small amount onto a paper plate or old yogurt container.
Even better use DOT style paints. The paint is contained in the bottle and your child dabs on the paint as they go.
Help smaller children by rotating the paper if they are over working one area.
Keep telling yourself it is all washable!
Have your camera ready to take the requisite messy painted child picture!

Have fun crafting with your kids!

Kids Craft: Easy Printmaking

Flower Print: Tempera Paint on Paper

Create easy prints using cookie cutters and styrofoam trays (meats or vegetables are often packed in them.) I believe you can even ask your butcher for a couple of clean ones - just be extra sweet! They are also available at some craft stores. If you are using trays that held meat or poultry use common sense and thoroughly clean them.

Press cookie cutter into styrofoam firmly. If working with young children you may need to do this or help them. Don't push so hard you cut through styrofoam! You only need an indent. Roll on or brush on paint evenly and not too thickly. Place a piece of paper on top and rub gently with your hands. Smoothing from center outward. Lift corner take a peak, if it looks good pull off paper to reveal your print.

Styrofoam sheets after print has been pulled.

You can rinse off and add different colors and make as many prints as you'd like. Cut out dried prints and glue to front of a card or frame. You can also have child paint on top of dried print - adding in details.

Butterfly Print: Gold & Red Tempera Paint on Paper

Water Color Resist (Using Contact Paper)

Saw this great project on Plum Pudding and just had to share. Plum Pudding used the child's initial to make beautiful watercolor pictures. She saw the project originally on Blissful Kids. I immediately thought of the contact paper butterflies I had been saving from my Mod Podge Butterfly project. Instead of a letter (which we are still going to try) we used cut out shapes from contact paper. I let Lu stick down the contact paper shapes. I did not rub the edges down well enough so we had a lot of bleeding. Edit: Sorry not clear. Trace shape onto the paper side of contact paper. Cut out. Peal off backing and stick on paper. Rub edges down. Paint with water color. When dry - peel off contact paper to reveal white paper.

Lu also made an underwater one for her teacher because she once told her she loved sea shells.

She really liked sprinkling the coarse salt on and checking to see what it would do.

I think these really came out interesting and so vibrant (we used tube watercolors not the cake ones.) This one we will definitely be trying again.

Mono Prints

Mono prints are great for kids because you get immediate and often time surprising results.

Supplies:
Paint
Paper
Palette (a plastic lid works)
A piece of Plexiglas is ideal but when all else fails be creative...we used a tempered glass cutting board (we never use because the sound of cutting anything on it is disturbing to me.)
Brushes or fingers
Smock
Sponges & rags for clean up

Level: Easy but messy!

Have child paint onto Plexiglas or similar surface. When done painting, place piece of paper over painted area, rub back of paper with hands and peel off print. Rinse off board, dry and repeat. If you find your prints are coming out too dry add a smidgen of water to paint or if too wet make sure surface and brush has been wiped dry before you start painting. Also mono prints are meant to be quick. If you take too long creating your painting the paint may begin to dry on the surface. This shouldn't be a problem if you have small kids. It is fun for small children to smear and mix paint directly onto surface and then of course the anticipation of pulling the print is fun too! This was an excellent way to talk about color mixing. Lay out newspaper to place prints on to dry. We ran out of counter space today! Lulu had a lot of fun with this one. So you may get another installment of "what to do with your child's artwork" real soon!

Painting with Toddlers

When introducing a new medium or technique to a child let them experiment with it first. In this example I introduced Cray Pas (Oil Pastels) and Water Color Crayons. I folded a piece of paper in half and had her color using the water color crayons on one side and the cray pas on the other side. I had her feel the surface of paper and asked her what she noticed (the cray pas are very waxy feeling.) We then added water to each picture (just plain water at first.) The water color crayon side began to act like water colors whereas the cray pas side did nothing. I then had her add water color paint to the cray pas side and we noticed how the paint filled in the spaces. Then I let her just experiment on her own with all the materials. I reminded her of a few painting basics as she played (if you paint in one spot too long while the paint is so wet it will make a hole in the paper, don't give the brush a "bad hair day" or don't scrub the brush so hard the bristols get all bent... At this stage introducing them to materials and techniques is the first step. They are learning by experimenting.

For younger children, help them experiment too. Basic things like dipping the brush in water and using the brush require a lot more guidance. This is one of Emme's (18 mos.) paintings. I turned the paper for her as she painted so she didn't paint in one spot. Also change out the paper when you notice it getting too wet. Emme didn't even miss a beat as I changed out her paper for a new one. Most children (18+) are very prolific. You may ask yourself what to do with all their paintings. Here are a few things we like to do: cut out the best sections and glue on to the front of a blank card, cut them up into pieces (after drying) and have child make a collage using their old paintings, cut into tags for presents, cut into letter shape and glue onto piece of construction paper...





Variations on a theme: You probably notice your child will draw the same picture over and over again. This is Lulu's Sun, Ocean, Sea Glass series. Notice the last picture she included a fairy. Although the pictures look alike, your child is refining them in the process. If you don't know what to do with all the artwork from your little Picasso's Blue period -- have older children act as the curator and choose the one they would like to hang up. This is a great way to get them talking about their art work. Why did they choose this one? What do they like about it? Other children who have difficulty choosing one may enjoy a revolving art show. Get a big magnetic bull clip and clip the series to it and hang on the fridge. When you or your child thinks about it place a different picture in front.