Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Simple, Beautiful & Captivating - An Easy Art Project for All Ages

I admit it, I love children's art! I love the whole process: from watching the kids develop their ideas all the way through to the very end. Rarely, does a project start and end as I expect. And more often then not, it leads to other projects.



This project was simple with easy supplies, perfect for all ages and captivated their attention for a long time. It came from this project found on Pinterest: http://www.chrissiegrace.com/summer-series-2013-week-3-2/. A direct link to my Pinterest account is in the column to the right. I have 2 boards related to children's art. The "Homeschool Art" Board tends to be more"educational" types of projects that would teach a principle of art, art history or artist. The "Kids' Projects" Board is more fun, arts & crafts type of projects.



The kids got involved in color mixing, discussing how to control the watercolor paint on the paper and get their brushes into tight spaces. It was very fun for them and me to watch. One tip I would suggest is to use true watercolor paper. We do plenty of art on construction and even printer paper but not watercolors. This year, I purchased the true watercolor paper and the results have been great.

 


The supplies were: watercolor paper, watercolor paints (just the inexpensive trays are fine), toilet paper tube or paper cup, silver/gray paint or color of your choosing.

I put a folded piece of paper towel on a dish, wet it a little and poured some paint on top. It almost made it into a stamp pad. Then I explained to the girls that they were trying to get a pattern with overlaps to create interesting shapes. They immediately understood, started and started their own modifications. One used tiny polymer clay shape cutters and a few shapes another stamped like crazy with just the paper tube.

Here is what they looked like unpainted:


 


And the finished products:


The bottom one is my 5 year old's. She still has a long way to go but is loving every minute of it. And what a great pre-writing fine muscle movement exercise.



This is a fantastic rainy day project! Give it a try.

- Becky

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