Activities With Children » Art

Paint Brushes Recalled

admin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:46:03 +0000

TheNanny612 article, brought to you using rss feeds. It’s got some great activity ideas.
Here’s a brief portion of the article
I know when I was responsible for buying for my centers or family child care, Discount School Supply often saved the day with their low prices. And I loved the BioColor line of art supplies. Some of you out there are probably like me, and if so be aware that some of their […]

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Three Men in a Tub Art

admin — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:31:02 +0000

mamarati article, brought to you using rss feeds. It’s got some great activity ideas.
Here’s a brief portion of the article
For nursery rhyme week, one of the art projects that you can complete goes with the nursery rhyme “Three Men in a Tub.”
First you’re going to want either white construction paper or light blue construction paper. If you choose white then you can use other pieces of construction paper to represent the ocean and […]

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Spider Webs

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:56:09 +0000

TheNanny612 article, brought to you using rss feeds. It’s got some great activity ideas.
Here’s a brief portion of the article
These spider webs look great when hung in random corners around the room. What I like to do is let them dry and then attach a white string with a construction paper spider cut-out that has the child’s face mounted on. I’ll wait until all the children are gone to hang these in various places and they love going and looking for their own the next day when they arrive.
You’ll need:

A round cake pan
Black construction paper
White paint
Marbles

Use the cake pan as a template and trace around the outside. Cut enough off the edges so that the paper fits inside the pan. You’ll need one paper for each child.
When it’s time for the activity, place the paper inside the pan, then add a small spoonful of white paint right in the middle of the paper. Put the marble in the pan and allow the child to [...]

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Sponge Painting a Jack-o-Lantern

admin — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:32:53 +0000

mamarati article, brought to you using rss feeds. It’s got some great activity ideas.
Here’s a brief portion of the article
You can sponge paint a Jack-o-Lantern by using the sponge painting tips here.
You’ll need:

Orange Paint
Black Paint
Paper Plates
Sponges
Clothespins

Have the children first sponge paint a paper plate orange. This serves as the pumpkin base. Then use the black paint to sponge paint eyes, nose and mouth. Hang to dry.
For younger children, if you want to offer some guidance about where eyes and mouths go, you can draw a face with a Sharpie before painting begins or you can hang pictures of real Jack-o-Lanterns in the area where art is being done that day. Some children will never have seen one before, so an example can be nice, but you don’t want to provide so much guidance that it’s not a free activity or that it drains all the creativity out of their art.

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Easy, Almost Mess-Free Sponge Painting

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:25:13 +0000

mamarati article, brought to you using rss feeds. It’s got some great activity ideas.
Here’s a brief portion of the article
If you like the look of sponge painting, but not always the mess, try this tip: Cut the sponges into small squares, about 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches. Then place the sponge pieces in the jaws of a clothespin. The clothespin acts sort of like a paintbrush handle.
This is a great way to use multiple colors. Just make several clothespins and then use small cups or bowls with a little paint in them. It’s also a way to conserve sponges and use up the random bits of a sponge that you’ve cut for another activity.

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Making Colored Sand or Salt

admin — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:23:47 +0000

mamarati wrote an interesting post today on
Here’s a quick excerpt
Here’s a movie of my kid and I making some colored salt…

As you can see, these are pretty easy to make. I know the big name guys like Discount School Supply sell this stuff inexpensively, but really, you can make it yourself and use the money you’d save on some colored butcher rolls. (Always seems like there’s never enough of that…)
Home Depot or Lowe’s will have sand in different grades (play sand is fine to use but white sand is way better) in giant bags… and generic salt is pretty cheap. If your center has a Sam’s account, go ahead and invest in the ginormous bag of salt for a project like this. Better yet, just have parents pick up a 30 cent tub of salt on their next grocery run and bring it in… that way each child has their own.
Salt
So, the [...]

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