Stamping

Stamping is a great activity even for the very young artist as Life as a Mommy shows in this picture. We love the concentration and how the mess is contained by putting the child in their high chair for art time. See how to make the homemade stamps used in the photo.

Fingerpaint Recipe

Finger paint recipe

Why We Love Finger Painting

Cornstarch clay recipe

How to make cornstarch clay which can be made into creations you can keep as it sets hard.

Make trees from leaves

Learn how to create these autumn trees

made from leaves at Housing a Forest

Collage: decorating egg shapes

How to set up this collage activity
suitable for 1 year old children and older
at TODAY AT PLAY

Easter matching rocks craft

Visit An Idea on Tuesday to find out more about these lovely Easter rocks that are decorated with acrylic paint by Niccola. They are great for matching and sorting and just beautiful to look at and hold.
Ideas include: 

• Make some matching pairs of Easter pebbles. 
• Draw or paint pairs of ‘eggs’
• Hide them in your garden and have fun hunting from them.
• Set up a little play Easter shop.
• Count them, match them, put them on display in your house.

Bubblewrap Roller Painting

How to do this fun, messy, sensory painting activity.

 

Finger Paint Printing

How to make finger paint prints
including a recipe for finger paint
at TODAY AT PLAY

Nature art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy

As a teacher or parent you need to know about Andy Goldsworthy, the British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist, to better appreciate your children's artistic creations.

Shaving foam play

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• shaving foam
• large container or tray
• aprons
• food colouring (optional)
• wash up area e.g.bucket of water

ACTIVITY:

• Squirt a can of shaving foam into the tray - this is part of the fun, so let the kid's do it if they are capable of squeezing.
• Put your hands in the shaving foam and start having fun.
• After initial exploration you may like to add a drop of food colouring.
• I love to do this activity outdoors, on a sunny day with kid's in their cossies so you can hose them off after they are finished with this sensory play.

Cellophane paper collage

I think the picture says it all but...

1. It's coloured cellophane paper that you can see through when you hold it up.

2. It has been cut into random shapes and glued onto plastic mesh. The plastic mesh has been glued onto paper.

3. Some children did not want to use the mesh and glued their shapes onto paper.

Why we love finger painting

See the full article and full photograph

at Play - Based classroom.

Spray painting extended

More ideas for spray bottle painting:

1.  Use masking tape and paper shapes to mask the blank paper. When the spraying is finished remove the   
     masked area to reveal a blank shape.
2.  Use leaves to mask the paper in autumn, bell shape at christmas, eggs at easter etc
3.  Tape the paper on a table or on the floor
4.  Use 1 giant piece of paper for a group painting
5.  Fill the bottles with plain water on a sunny day to spray the outside walls and fences and blackboards etc.

Spray painting

Spray painting can be a fine spray or a thick splatter depending on the nozzle on the bottle and the type of paint you use.

The trigger kind of bottle works best for small hands.

Starting with one colour works best so that children can focus on getting the hand action right

Using water colour paper with texture absorbs the ink and looks great with a fine spray.

Placing the painting on a cardboard mat, or 2, turns it into a great artwork, very suitable for a gift.

See more spray painting ideas.

Outdoor Painting

In Sydney, right now, it is great weather for painting outside. Remember painting does not have to be just on paper; you can paint wood, fences, walls, windows, cardboard boxes and if you have no paint don't despair as children love to paint with a bucket of water and a paint brush.

This is about individual creativity and experimentation:

Do not interfere in the artwork

Do not direct the outcome

Respect individuality

If you need to get them going just demonstrate the materials and not your artistic talent e.g. do a simple stroke or scribble rather than a sun or smiley face.

Why every home should have a blackboard.

So writing on a blackboard is fun, yeah? And it allows creativity in a different, freer way 'cause we can just wipe it off when we are finished or if we don't like it or want to try again. But as far as development is concerned there is so much happening:

• fine motor skills
• learning correct finger grip
• getting ready for writing
• handedness - or learning which will be my preferred hand
•  control of back and arm muscles develops in an upright, standing  position
• colour recognition - that each chalk is different is the beginning of this discrimination
• visual memory and imagination

HANDY HINTS FOR GROWN UPS
Scribbling develops the mind so don't rush ahead and show them 'how' to draw.
They may not look like things to you but from about 2 years of age they are to the child.

Of course the bigger the blackboard the better but if you only have space for a free standing one make sure it is sturdy and won't wobble or tip over. If you have space consider painting a wall with blackboard paint

Don't forget, when the children aren't using it, you can use the chalkboard for family messages, happy sayings or a shopping list.

You can get chalkboard paint here
There is a great array of easels to choose from

Clay play

Not only creative but helps develops muscle strength in fingers in preparation for writing. We love to play outside on the old table under the trees and just hose it down later. If we get the inkling to play with clay on a wet day we put down the heavy clear plastic. You can usually source clay through an art shop or potter's studio.

More sensory play ideas:
Shaving foam
Finger painting

Bring back the nature table

When I was growing up we always had a nature table in the classroom. We did not have show and tell, as such, but if we brought in a butterfly or a colourful rock or the prized bird's nest we were allowed to show the class and then place it on the nature table.
They seem to have gone out of fashion except in Waldorf education where they celebrate the seasons and the natural world.
Nature tables teach us a love of nature and also design. They teach us to think about how things grow and the cycle of life. They indirectly encourage children and families to go outdoors and look for offerings from their local area. (A US study found that young people could identify 1000 corporate logos but less than 10 plants or animals native to their backyard.)
Why not have a nature table where the items can be used in art works or in categorizing or counting or just playing with natural objects as was done in ancient times?



Butterfly painting

Fold paper in half and open.
Blob paint on.
Fold back and press down on paper.
Open and view your creation.
Add another colour if you like.
You are  not trying to make a butterfly, we just call it that!