| inspiration for our budding artists |
These ideas are all tried and true activities. Hours of human testing has resulted in our famous bathtub painting, sung to: don't be blue. |
| October ideas |
Ghost feet: Trace your little ones feet with a pencil onto white paper (card stock if this is going into the scrapbook). Cut the footprints out and glue them - preferably with a glue stick onto black construction paper. Glue wiggly eyes onto the feet. (What no wiggly eyes in your house?Then make black dots with a pen). The top of the ghost is actually the heal of the foot and the traced toes look like the sheet billowing in the wind! Make sure to write on the back the child's name, date and age. Cow mask: On more card stock, draw the outline of a cow head. Have your little one color it in. Now cut out the eyes (poke a hole where the center of the eye will be, then cut out and around in a circle) Instead of tying this mask onto their heads which all kids refuse to do - just tape a profile stick to the back so they can have a cow on a stick. Show them how clever you look holding it up to your face - remember to moo! Really!
Handprint bats: Since it is way too hard to hand print a bat, use your little one instead. You could use black paint and do a stamping technique (most of the stamping would be your foot when you are disgusted with yourself for letting a small child play with black paint), I prefer black construction paper. Trace the hand print quickly. You experienced tracers understand- if your little one runs away before you're done just use the one hand print you were able to get and put it on the paper, jelly side down and trace a mirror image. Once everything is cut out, glue it to a blue piece of construction paper with the heels of the hands together. Cut out a bat head which looks suspiciously like a cat head and glue it to the middle of your hand prints. Once again, glue some wiggly eyes on- if you still don't have a hidden stash of wiggly eyes somewhere - you can use the round circles from your hole punch or painstakingly cut out little circles of white and draw a black dot in the middle.
Paper pumpkins: This is always fun for the kids even the littlest ones. Have them cut out a big circle on orange construction paper, cut out lots of black construction triangles, and a few mouths to choose from and a couple of green stems. Let them glue their own parts on and see what kind of picasso you have. The compulsive side of you can make your own pumpkin. You can tape your creations to your window for all to see or glue them to dark blue construction paper, cut a couple of stars, a moon, and maybe a bat or two so it will have company. If you have access to a laminator, this makes a great place mat or you can use clear contact paper, cover the front and back, and whallaa- home made laminator!
Pumpkins prints: With washable orange paint, paint the palm of your child. Have them print however many pumpkins they want on paper. Then with green paint have them dip their index finger or thumb and print the leaves to finish the pumpkin. Really young children love to make one giant orange picture so have extra paper for them to have fun after you make your mementoes. This would make a very sweet fall holiday card. This could also be other fruit like an apple or berries.
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| November ideas |
Turkey hand & foot prints: Trace both your child's feet on brown construction paper- if you can't catch them, use their shoe and trace that. You will want to trace their hands also, but before you get their attention, prepare the paper pile. You will need fall colors of construction paper- red, orange and yellow. Stack them in a pile and staple around the edges every few inches- this will hold it together while you cut out the hand prints. Now that your pile is together then round up the little one and trace both hands and cut out- you will have six hand prints when done. Cut out legs with feet and beak from orange paper and a tear shaped wattle- you know that flabby thing hanging from your neck. Now your, I mean your child's masterpiece, is almost ready. Start with gluing the feet together heels up with the toes of the feet spread just a bit, then glue on legs with feet. Glue hand prints on back of turkey with a peacock look to it. Now add the finishing touches- eyes, nose, and wattle. Don't forget to write name, date, and age on back. Black Bird : This is a simple play on shapes. All you need is 3 different heart shapes: small, medium and large cut out of black construction paper, folded in half. Just glue them with a glue stick to make the bird shape. Color the eye in with chalk and hole punch the top to hang from the ceiling or they will stand on a table by themselves. Try different colors such as blue for other seasons, or yellow for chicks. Pinecone turkey: Have your pinecone set on the table, Let your kids dip feathers in glue and stick them into the end of the turkey. (You can use a semi damp wash cloth to place under the pinecone to keep the pinecone from rolling all over the place). Now cut out a little turkey head with the beak and that lovely wattle and glue on.
Pine branch painting: If you don't live in an area with pine abundant, use whatever trees that are prevalent in your area. You can have your kids paint a small branch with green paint and when it is coated well, press it onto white paper. Do this several times. You can change the look of your picture by using white paint and a darker colored green or blue paper. Optional: Mix 1/2 white glue with 1/2 paint and mix well. Have kids paint as usual then sprinkle with green glitter. This comes out beautiful and could be made into cards for parents & grandparents.
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| December ideas |
| Fluffy snowman: With that wonderful clear contact paper- cut out a snowman shape. If you are circle-drawing-challenged, you can use tupperware lids or your canister lids to draw three graduating circles. Remove the backing and place your snowman shape sticky side up. (Use tape if needed to tape down your shape so it doesn't slip around). Have your kids put cotton balls on the contact paper. You can buy really cheap cotton balls if you don't want to use your good ones. You can buy some big ones so this doesn't need to take years to make. Once your little one has fluffed together their snowman, add those wiggly eyes you should have bought by now and glue on. Add a hat, a nose, and a scarf to spice it up!
Pinecone ornaments: Mix 1/2 white glue with 1/2 white paint, mix well. Have kids paint pinecone tips. Roll in white flake glitter. Tie a string on end of pinecone. This really comes out looking like snow frosted pinecones. Handprint - Footprint reindeer: This is the same theory of the turkey project. Trace your child's foot on brown construction paper and cut out. Trace their handprint's on lighter brown paper and cut out. The upside down foot is the reindeers head, the handprint's are the antlers. Add a red pom pom for the nose and wiggly eyes, and you have a cute reindeer. Sugar cone tree: This requires green frosting, sugar waffle cones and m&m's. As you have probably already figured out, have the kids cover the upside down sugar cones with frosting, then add m&m's for ornaments. This would be great decor for a gingerbread house. After your kids are done, tie pillows on them and watch them bounce off the wall from the sugar high that will be impossible to avoid with this project!
Paper Christmas trees: Out of green construction paper cut out Christmas tree shape. Let kids dip the jumbo sequence and stars in glue and put on tree for decorations. This would also be nice scaled down and glued on folded card stock for handmade cards. If you really want to make this difficult cut out three green trees perfectly fold them in half length wise. glue them together to make a 3-d tree. Then glue on stars and sequence. Cookie Cutter Glitter Christmas trees: Out of green construction paper preferably the 12x18 size, cut out your tree shape. Have a plate of white school glue on table for kids. With cookie cutters the kids can dip the edges in glue and "print" onto paper then sprinkle with glitter. When done shake excess glitter into plate and back into glitter jar. The cookie cutter shapes make great glitter ornaments on their tree. Handprint angels: Cut out circles and triangles in colors of your choice. On blue construction paper have the child press their hands in white paint and press down heels together on to blue paper. This will be their wings, then have them glue a circle for the head and triangle for the clothes. You could also trace their hands on white construction paper for the wings. Halos could be "drawn" in with glue and sprinkled with silver glitter. Wiggly eyes optional. |
Chalk snowman: For your snowman template use gradating tupperware lids and I just hand drew a top hat. Cut out snowman shape out of sandpaper. Place construction paper on top, tape down so it wont slip when kids work. Have children rub with sidewalk chalk length side down. If the children hold the chalk in a pencil hold this project does not work. In other words if the chalk is just lying on the paper, that is the position the chalk stays in. When the children rub the chalk the image will appear. You can cut out one snowman or a family of snow people!
Doily snowman: You need three gradating paper doilies. With glue sticks have the children glue them together. Use just the two smallest doilies for snowman children. These doilies can be found at most arts & craft stores. We made these without a paper background and hang them in the window and look very nice.
Mitten decorating: Cut out mitten shapes out of card stock or heavy weight paper. Use glitter glue, markers, sequence, confetti, yarn or tissue to decorate your mittens. Hole punch the top and lace with yarn. Leave enough length that they can hand them on their door knobs at home.
Car track painting: You need a tray of paint and easy to clean cars. Hot wheels are too small to get good tracks. I have a group of cheep cars & trucks that have nice tire tread. Have the kids drive in the paint and then on the paper. This is fun as a mural activity. All the children's pictures come out different even though the tools and paint are all the same!
Folding snowman: Out of construction paper tri-fold it if possible. If you have 12x18 paper you can make them bigger. For your snowman template use gradating tupperware lids and I just hand drew a top hat. Trace a snowman shape on your paper and cut it out with the paper folded. Make sure not to cut the edges where the snowman are joined when unfolded. This will be an according type of style. Have the children decorate the snowmen with strips of material for the scarf, buttons for eyes and mouth, cotton balls, etc.
Valentines handprint card: You need a good sentimental poem, print on card stock. With either pigment ink, or washable ink, print your children and send to a loved one. Card shops usually have excess envelopes you can have for free if you need them.
Folding hearts: Out of red, pink & purple construction paper tri-fold it if possible. If you have 12x18 paper you can make them bigger. Print out a heart shape from clip art or hand draw. Trace the heart shape on your paper and cut it out with the paper folded. Make sure not to cut the edges where the hearts are joined when unfolded. This will be an accordion type of style. Have the children decorate the hearts with glitter, glue, sequence, faceted plastic jewels, anything flashy. These are nice to send in a card to a grandparent or family member with your card.
Doily snowflakes: These doilies can be found at most arts & craft stores. If you have left over doilies from your snowmen this makes it perfect. They also make heart shaped doilies if you want to continue with the heart theme. Have children place the doilies on the paper, with finger paint smear it all over, then lift the doily.
Shamrock card decorating: Fold your green paper in thirds. This will tell you the size of the shamrock template you need. Either draw a shamrock or find one on the web and enlarge it to the size you need in a drawing program on your computer. Once your template is ready, position the template so the edges of the shamrock touch the edges of the side, trace shape onto folded paper, cut out shape while it is still folded. Let kids decorate! You can draw, use glitter glue or during the holiday you can find shamrock confetti at the larger hobby stores to use.
Shamrock sand paper rubbing: Cut out a shamrock shape out of a coarse grade of sandpaper. Place sandpaper shamrock on table, place green construction paper over it, tape down edges, let kids slide sidewalk chalk back and forth to reveal shamrock image.
Smelling Jars: You need baby food jars and cotton balls and extracts and a little imagination. Be creative and think of as much as you can. I use vanilla, orange, almond and lemon extract. So I immerse the cotton balls with the extract. I also use vinegar, liquid soap, liquid smoke, anything like that. Then have the kids smell the jars and try to identify the smell. This seems to be just as much fun for the parents also!
Cookie cutter printing: This is simple and fun! Every holiday the holiday manufactures come out with cookie cutter shapes you can buy at your grocery store. Start collecting! On your paper plate pour some nice washable paint for your kids. Let them dip their cookie cutters in the paint and print onto paper. You can make cards or wrapping paper for any holiday.
Easter egg painting: For groups this is cleaner than normal techniques. Boil your eggs like normal and cool. Use watercolor paints to decorate your eggs. You could use vinegar instead of water to make the colors more vibrant on the eggs if you would like. Use a slightly damp paper towel pushed around the edges of the egg to keep in from rolling around on the table. You could use tempera paints but I haven't experimented with that yet.
Rainbow fish sun catcher: Cut out a fish template. Cut a variety of different tissue colors into small squares. Cut out contact paper into rectangles big enough for the template to fit with in the shape. Remove backing of contact paper, place sticky side up and let kids place tissue squares onto the contact paper. Once they are done place another piece of contact paper on top to finish your tissue sandwich. Trace fish shape on outside and cut out. Use the hole punch to make a hole to tie a piece of yarn so you can hang your fish in front of a window. You can make any type of shape you can think of. For easter you could make egg shapes and little chicks.
Fuzzy yellow chicks: Find a good baby chick picture, copy onto yellow construction paper. Have your kids dip yellow feathers into glue and place on the chick print out. I try to get two chicks per page and then cut in half.
Easter egg fingerprint cards: Find a clip art of a basket or draw an empty basket on the right lower forth of the paper. Fold in half then in half again so it makes a small card. Use paint or if you have different colors of ink print your kids fingers on and around the basket. It looks like little eggs!
Sunshine handprint's: Trace a circle in the middle of white paper so the kids know where to put handprint's.Have kids rub hands in yellow paint and press them around the circle. When dry, glue on a yellow circle and it looks like a sun. These are fun mementoes for us moms.
Flower masks: Cut out the center of a paper plate leaving the outside ridges. Cut colored tissue into 2" X 2" squares. Glue colored tissue paper onto the edges. Tape a craft stick to the bottom and you have a flower mask.
Bead or noodle necklaces: Use black nylon cording you can buy on a spool. If you are doing a lot of necklaces figure out the length you want then go to the kitchen and find a rectangle tupperware or large book that the cord length fits around. Wrap the spool cord around the tupperware or book however many times you need for the right quantity of necklaces. Then cut only one side and you will have multiple necklaces the same size without having to measure each piece. I like to singe the ends with a lighter so they don't fray when the kids are trying to bead. I also buy jewelry safety clasps from economy handycrafts so the kids will be safe from any strangulation accidents. The clasps are a bead that snaps together and when used to join the necklace it can come apart if it gets caught on something so your child will be safe. So put one half of the jewelry clasps on for the kids and tie a knot to keep it on . It is also helpful to the kids so the beads don't fall off why they make their necklaces. You can buy foam beads at Wal-Mart or a big hobby store or dye your own noodle beads with alcohol and food coloring. Dip the macaronis in your coloring solution to the desired color then dry on paper towels. After they are done tie on the other half of the safety clasp.
Wind sock: Out of card stock cut your paper length wise so you will have 2 pieces of 4 1/4 x 11 strips. You will need only one strip per sock. The kids can draw with marker or crayons to decorate their socks. I like to have them tape the precut pieces of crepe paper with masking tape onto the bottom edge, and then if they can, have them staple through all the layers to secure the streamers better. Then roll your paper until it over laps about 1/2 an inch and then staple top, middle and bottom. I then let them decorate with 3-d stickers or if they are older you could decoupage with colored tissue. My group of kids love the 3-d stickers you can get at Wal-mart or Hobby Lobby. If you are using thicker decorations like we do it does not fold into a cylinder very well, that's why we roll and staple first. The last step is to tape and staple a nylon hanging strip. The nylon holds up better in the wind than most material. For measuring the crepe paper I like to use a shortcut because I have to cut so many. I wrap the crepe paper around a square Tupperware how ever many times I need strips. Then cut on just one side. Then I have however many I needed at exactly the length I needed without much time involved. I use the same technique for the handle.
Handprint art magnet: Out of light weight poster board cut out squares big enough for the largest child's handprint to fit. Then with black permanent ink have them print their handprint on the poster board. Have baby wipes handy to wipe off the ink quickly. Then after the handprint is dry, write a phrase like Beth's art work or Masterpiece on the front, then cut around and place the stickable magnets on back. This handprint will be used to hold artwork on the fridge. It is a great way for the artist to show their work! I use permanent ink because it does not fade like the washable pigment dyes.
Fathers Day Print: You can use this idea for Father's Day or Mother's or Grandmother/Grandfather's Day. Find a poem that means a lot to you. Print it on card stock with a photo or a child's drawing. Print their handprint's on the side. If you have two kids you can print one on each side. Use permanent ink so it will not fade. Then frame. I used the poem "Walk a Little Slower Daddy"/ Author Unknown.
Fourth of July fireworks: This is a favorite because it is messy! On black construction paper have the kids dribble glue in streamers or like a firing firework shape. Then have them sprinkle glitter on, shake off the excess. No matter what shape this takes on it looks great and they love it! Little ones like to make globs and that's ok, just make sure they have a small 4 oz bottle because they will use the whole thing. Use an old spice container to divide your glitter into smaller portions that they can grip and shake.
Stringing Flowers : There is so much you can do with this project. It doesn't just have to be flowers, you can teach shapes or letters or colors. I like to use the jumbo punches for this project. Then use a small hole punch for the middle I used regular 24 lb weight color printing paper for this project. You can use yarn or twine, I found a big ball of string in the closet, no idea what it is but it works great! Tape one end onto a kids plastic needle or or toothpick for easy stringing. After they put on their shapes spread them out for them.The string grips the paper shape so you don't have to glue them in place. You can use blu-tak to secure it to the ceiling or thumb tacks.
Speckled Frogs : This project is easier is you have access to a large die cut machine for these frog shapes. If not you can cut them out with green construction paper. Then the kids just use garage sale stickers to speckle their frogs. This is fun in combination with singing the 5 green & speckled frog song that same day.
August ideas
Baa Baa Black Sheep : This is one of my favorites. All you need is to trace your child's hand prints on black construction paper or card stock. Cut out the hand print. Glue cotton balls for the body and glue on wiggly eyes. Write their names, date and age on the back. Every year add more black sheep to the herd. I use blu-tack or plasti-tak to adhere all the artwork so I can move the herd around the room without damaging the paint. You could also use scrap booking paper and make plaid sheep or other creative sheep patterns. It is endless!
Bug Collage : This is a good open ended project to let their creativity flow. Copy a bug or butterfly drawing onto cardstock or construction paper. Have an assortment of collage materials: colored tissue, cloth pieces, buttons, cotton balls, confetti, glitter, etc. Let them glue down their choices!
Bird feeder: This is really simple, and messy and quite yummy also. Find a pinecone. Let your kids slather it up with peanut butter or lard. Roll it in bird seed and hang it up in a tree by using strong string tied around the pinecone or use a pipe cleaner. I should have mentioned that it's really easier to tie it on before you slather it up. Yes I am still talking about a pinecone bird feeder. Bon appetite little birdies!
September ideas
Magic Wand : For supplies you will need a 12 inch dowel,12 inch strips of ribbon, colorful tape and wire stars. I put down a strip of tape sticky-side up for the kids to put ribbons on of their choosing. When they fill up the tape I add the wire stars; these I usually have precut to about 6 inches then roll around a pencil to spiral them. Then I roll the ribbon and wire around the end of the dowel and add another layer of tape if needed to secure. I found metallic tape in assorted colors that I really like for this project. This picture does not do this wand justice. I really comes out beautiful if you find some nice colorful ribbon. An alternative for this project to make this a more small child safe craft is by using only a pencil, ribbon and masking tape.
Butterfly Mobile : This is more complicated and is more for older kids or adults to build for a child's room. Just keep safety in mind and don't hang is so low that they can reach it. You will need fishing line, thin tree branch (I used a fallen aspen branch), pipe cleaners and assorted tissue paper. First I cut the tissue into rectangles approximately 5 inches by 4 inches and then rounded the corners. I liked the effect of using two shaded of the same color. Like teal and green for example. Experiment with colors and the quantity of the tissue till you find a good combination.Then all you do is fold your pipe cleaner in half, place your tissue in the folded pipe cleaner, squish the middle a little and twist the pipe cleaner to hold it. Trim the pipe cleaner leaving half an inch past the twist to make antennas. Tie different lengths of fishing line to the pipe cleaner, no longer than 18 inches. Then tie the other end to the branch. I left a little play in the line on the twig to slide the lines to balance the butterflies. Then tie the last piece to the middle of the twig and use a stick pin to pin it to the ceiling.
Caterpillar Magnet: This is easy and quick. Cut your magnet tape into 4inch strips. If it curls too much you can do this craft on a metal table or cookie sheet and it will hold the magnet in place for the children to build it easier. All they need to do it remove the backing on the tape, put on the pom pom's of their choice and glue on wiggly eyes. I have been using sticky back wiggly eyes on most of my project and it just makes it easier for the kids than using glue.
Fall Necklace : Hole punch a variety of floral leafs and colored noodles to thread for a festive necklace.