As we prepare to launch the new Art Pantry website, we decided to hold a focus group for a few local mamas to get some feedback. With Valentines day coming up, we had the perfect excuse to get everyone’s creative juices flowing.
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Karuna recently discovered these cute mini paint sets in the toy store. I didn’t know if they would paint very well, but I thought they were the perfect size to give as gifts with a secret message Valentine (one of my many “Pinspirations“). We first cut out a heart from watercolor paper, then used a white crayon to draw a hidden Valentine message. The white crayon on white paper keeps it invisible until you paint over it with watercolor. The crayon will then resist the watercolor and you will see your message!
Karuna was so excited to find out what her secret message was, but sadly this little paint set was not up for the challenge. The small brush created scratches in the paper and the paint trays couldn’t hold enough water to lose their opacity.
So we started over and tried a real watercolor brush and some better quality paint and… voila! The secret message was revealed!
This holiday season, I wanted to come up with a gift for teachers, party hosts, friends, etc. that I could make in multiples without breaking the bank. Inspired by Karen Kimmel’s Crafting Community, I decided that mason jar succulent terrariums would be perfect!
As I began creating my first jar, Karuna (my 4 yr old), asked if she could make one too. Of course, why didn’t I think of that! These little layered terrariums are super easy for kids to make on their own. They always come out beautiful, which make them the perfect kids’ crafting gift for family, friends, and especially teachers.
Supplies:
Small succulent (garden store)
Mason jar (pack of 12 from General store, hardware store or Bed Bath & Beyond)
Decorative rocks (from garden store and/or pet store. The blue rocks are for fish tanks!)
Moss (from garden store)
Colored sand (from craft store)
Dirt (from yard or garden store)
Steps:
1)Layer the rocks, moss, sand and dirt into the jar any way you want!
2)Put some dirt at the top and make a little hole to pop in the succulent roots.
3)Scatter decorative items on top if you want and drizzle a bit of water over the top.
Done!
For a gift tag, wrap some twine around the top and tie on a tag. Easy Peasy!
For some creative Halloween decorations, we decided to try out these styrofoam spiderweb prints, seen over at Tinkerlab. We started off by cutting out two circles of foam from our Scratch Foam Boards
Karuna and I weren’t sure exactly how to draw a spiderweb, so we looked up a photo of one online and talked about the lines and shapes in the web. Then we each took a stab at it, and drew our version of a spiderweb and spider onto our plates.
Next we used a ball point pen over our drawings to make deep grooves in the foam. Here are our finished printing plates:
To make a print, we used a brayer
After rolling out the paint, we pressed a piece of paper onto the plate, rubbed it carefully, then peeled it up to reveal our print. For an added pop of color, we used a small paint brush to paint in the spider with the opposite color.
And here are some final prints, taped to our doorway for Halloween! I haven’t yet seen whether the glow in the dark one actually works, but the yellow looks pretty cool anyway.
Happy Halloween!
We started off our watercolor week with a bleeding tissue experiment in the 1s/2s classes. The children placed pieces of “bleeding” tissue paper (the colors bleed when wet) onto their watercolor paper and used a variety of tools to moisten the tissue with water. When the watercolor dry, the children will use them as a base for making valentines.
Aside from the basic sponges, the children used droppers, sponge rollers, sponge stamps, and spray bottles to get their tissues to transfer color to their paper. All of these tools provide the kids with different opportunities to develop their fine motor skills.
Spray bottles and brushes were used at the easels with liquid watercolor to explore the dripping effect.
After some super wet exploration, the kids were introduced to foam paint (a non-toxic paint with a shaving creme texture). I like to provide white foam paint so the kids can add paint themselves and create their own colors. Adding glitter is fun too!
Spraying foam paint on the acrylic wall panel offered a different kind of messy sensory experience!
After drawing, the children were given liquid watercolor and watercolor brushes to add more dimension to their work.
A finished still life from the 4s/5s class:
With our sporadic weather, we occasionally hit a warm day and get to have some fun outside in the garden after art class. It looks like a dance party going on on top of the hay stacks!
For our last class of the session, we explored a circular theme to represent the end of one year and the beginning of a new year. The 1s and 2s classes began with different types of ball painting. We used golf balls for children who aren’t accustomed to marbles yet, and introduced marble painting to kids whose parents felt comfortable with such small objects.
The kids used spoons to roll the balls in paint and scoop them into their trays. Next, they began to shake and tip the trays to make tracks on their paper.
Stirring the balls around and shaking glitter onto them was also a major part of the experience.
As the children began to collect new tools off of the shelf, the teachers brought out large paper to continue their exploration.
We even tried the ball painting on a large scale, where the kids collaborated to get the balls rolling.
As the kids began to move around the studio, we had some more exciting circular activities to investigate.
We tried out our new “spinner art” machine that spins the paper around really fast while the children added drops of paint to the moving paper. The machine came with squeeze bottles, but we first tried using our eye droppers with watered down tempera paint to help develop fine motor skills.
Here is an example of a finished spin art design!
While some of the children focused on the spin art, others were drawn to the pendulum painting, set up over the floor. We hung a string and plastic cup (with a small hole at the bottom) from the ceiling to act as a pendulum. The kids squirted watered down tempera paint into the cup and swung the cup around in circles to create circular and oval drip designs. The floor was covered with a painting that had been previously sprayed with watercolors, so the design overlapped the blotchy watercolor effect. One group of kids began to pass the cup back and forth, creating a cooperative painting game!
Before getting messy with the ball painting, the 3s/4s classes worked on a more crafty project for the new year… a “wish catcher.” They began by drawing a design onto a pre-cut poster board with holes punched into it. While they were drawing, the teachers asked them about what types of wishes they had for the new year and helped them write down their wishes. Some kids wished for snow, or to play with friends, and one even wished for a chainsaw (which it turns out he actually got for Christmas!)
After drawing on the poster board, the kids practiced their fine motor skills by “sewing” yarn in and out of the holes.
After sewing, the teachers helped the kids apply clear contact paper to the middle of the hoops so they could create a “stained glass” collage (they also made sure to stick their wishes into their collages).
Here is one of the finished “wish catchers” hanging in the window. Maybe they will help to manifest all of the children’s hopes and dreams for the new year. Happy New Year!!!
For the first class of our summer session, we worked on mono-type printmaking and stamping. We started off rolling out paint onto acrylic boxes and then using a cotton swab to draw a design. The mixed-age open studio class used large acrylic boxes as a base, while the 1s/2s class used small boxes to print fathers day cards.
We continued the theme of printmaking by using a variety of stamps. Some children used cookie cutters to stamp out shapes, while others used the letters DAD to add to their fathers day cards.
We also experimented with bubble wrap printmaking. The children painted the bubble wrap (which was taped to the acrylic easel) then pressed paper against it to make a print.
The 1s/2s class moved on to painting with fun tools and gathering new supplies from the shelf.
For the mixed-age class we had a large group of 11 kids, so while some children worked on printmaking inside the studio, others were busy at the five outside stations. These stations included a floor mural with gross-motor tools for painting…
ball painting…
easel painting…
a bleeding tissue mural collage with water spray bottles…
and a mixing table with sand and powered tempera paint.
And of course the studio eventually turned from a print-making station into a messy, fun, free-for-all!
While I focused on finger painting with the new classes, the returning students began the session with Valentine printmaking. The 3s/4s class used heart shaped doilies and foam rollers to make stencil-like prints. After covering their rollers in paint, they carefully held the doilies down onto paper and rolled over them. 
After rolling out the paint, the children peeled up the doilies to find their print! This one was done on a folded piece of paper to create a Valentines card.
The 1s class tried out monoprinting for the first time. They first rolled out paint onto an acrylic box, then used a Q-tip to draw a design into the paint.
Once the design was drawn I showed the children how to press a piece of paper (folded in half to make a card) down onto the design.
When they peeled it up, they found a print!
After experimenting with the printmaking the 3s/4s group began to embellish their valentines with glitter, markers, glue and collage items.
We also explored cutting out hearts by folding paper in half and drawing a half-heart along the edge (I first did this step so they could understand the concept and practice their cutting skills, then I offered them plain paper to try it out themselves).
After working on monoprints, the 1s class worked on bubble wrap printmaking and painting at the easels.
After a while this group was eager to get outside, so I moved an easel to the yard for painting, water, and sand play!
Outside, the 3s/4s class tried out jumping prints with bubble wrap, paint rollers, and paper. Jumping on the painted bubble wrap not only makes a print, but it makes a great popping sound as well!
The feeling of paint squishing around toes… soooo worth the clean up!
This week the newer 2s class explored colored glue and collage bits. I offered the children their clay work from last week as well as a large piece of tag board to use as a base. Although the collage materials are intriguing, the act of squeezing glue is always the best part! And when you add color to the glue… even better!
The children remained focused for a while on their collages- sometimes moving to the easels for a break and then returning to the table to continue their work.
Towards the end of class, I brought out trays, paint, and marbles to expand on the ball paintings (golf and large balls) from last week. After doing this project in other classes, I noticed that the children really enjoy the difference of having lots of small balls rather than one or two large balls. Or maybe it’s the clanking noise that the glass marbles make! Scooping and pouring the marbles is also very exciting!
So much orange- just in time for Halloween!