Traveling Chair Art Activity

A couple week ago, the kids and I tried out an art lesson from the Getti Museum called "Chairs, Rooms, and Time Travel".  It turned out to be much more than an art lesson as the kids discussed history and geography, used descriptive words, and employed creativity.  Here's what we did...

Creative Writing Activity {Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant}

The kids and I enjoy Jack Prelutsky's humorous poems. A couple weeks ago, we read (and listened to) his poems from Carnival of the Animals while dancing and making animal masks. This week ,we read Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems, which inspired a creative writing activity...

Watercolor Textures with Salt and Plastic Wrap

Here are two simple watercolor 'texture' painting techniques I've seen all over the web, which I've wanted to try for some time.  So when the kids wanted to watercolor paint their coloring pages today, I thought I'd give it a try.

First wet your paper (learned that it's best to get it really wet by running water on both sides of the paper until it is almost translucent, but doesn't fall apart).  Then do some watercolor painting, covering the sheet:

We worked on the one above together.  I was originally planning on trying the plastic-wrap technique on this one, but the paper was too try when we were done, so we tried sprinkling salt on it instead (both E and L loved this part).  When the painting was (mostly) dry, the girls and I took a look at it in the sunlight:

I love the 'snow' effect the salt creates.  This would be wonderful for children's artwork with a winter/snow theme.

Then L helped me paint another piece of paper (this time making sure it was really wet before we started painting).  When we were done covering the paper, we put wrinkled plastic wrap on top:

You're supposed to wait until the paint is completely dry before removing the plastic wrap, but the kids (or Mommy), couldn't wait..  Here is the result:

What a neat texture!  These would be so beautiful for making greeting cards or backgrounds for unique art.  We'll be experimenting with these techniques again, for sure.

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Foiled Again!

We've been playing around with aluminum foil as a medium lately.  I still haven't quite pinpointed that perfect kids' project with foil yet, but I'd like to share three of our experiments nonetheless.

We tried some coin-rubbings (with foil) last weekend (tape coins on paper, tape foil on top, use rolling pin and fingers to create circular impressions) :

The girls enjoyed seeing the circles appear in the foil.

There's a Montessori activity which involves poking holes in a paper with a pin.  I'm not quite comfortable letting the girls play with sharp thumbtacks yet, so I tried creating a similar experience with foil and cocktail forks / plastic toothpicks.  I taped the foil to one of those mats that you use to line kitchen or bathroom shelves, which allowed the girls to 'draw' on the foil and poke holes in it without ripping it to shreds:

We basically just played around using different 'tools' to make patterns in the foil.  Then we used markers to draw lines and shapes that we traced with tiny holes.  The effect was pretty neat and the girls enjoyed looking at the light peek through the holes in the foil.

Finally, who doesn't like a little 'bling' in their wardrobe?  We tore up our foil masterpiece (above) and wrapped the pieces around pipecleaners to make shiny bracelets:

I'll have to scan Pinterest for more ideas for playing with aluminum foil.



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Impressionist Fingerprint Art

Today we made some impressionist-inspired art using our fingers.  The supplies we used included contact paper, ink pads, painter's tape, coloring sheets, and white paper.  It's a simple concept, but the results were wonderful (especially if you have kids who like coloring in the lines).

First I put the coloring pages on the girls' table, and then placed the contact paper on top - sticky side UP.  L helped me put blue painter's tape all around (basically taping the contact paper to the table, with the coloring page underneath).  After that, I gave the girls one color of ink at a time and told them to color the picture using the tips of their fingers:

L was very good about coloring in the lines.  I did help her by asking her which section she wanted to do next and what color it should be, as well as lend the use of my fingerprints to help her finish.  Meanwhile E decided to be a little more creative:

 Her baby chick (toy) wanted to use his feet on her artwork as well.  Once the girls were done, we removed the painter's tape and stuck the contact paper on top of a sheet of white paper so we could see the final masterpieces:

The masterpiece above was made by E and Baby Chick.

This was L's artwork (with a little help from Mommy).

I made the artwork above when I was trying out this technique to see if it would work 

before presenting the activity to the girls (Mommies like to play too!)

I've seen coloring books of famous artwork, which would probably turn out gorgeous using this 'impressionist fingerprint' technique for older kids or even adults.  Mandalas could be beautiful this way too.  This is absolutely an activity we'll be repeating in the future.

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Linky Love

I want to thank all the wonderful blogs that have been linking to Learners In Bloom.  Starting a new blog is always a bit daunting, and although I would be perfectly content if the only people who read my blog were my parents, I'm glad that I can inspire others as well.

The hands on: as we grow blog featured my indoor obstacle course activity. Check out their blog for more fun ideas for playing with your kids.

My post on fine motor skill ideas with a $1 basket was  featured on the Messy Kids blog.  They're also a great source of inspiration that I follow.

Did you figure out the number?  It's 47.  The Math Teachers At Play Blog Carnival 47 at Math Hombre mentioned two projects from Learners in Bloom:  Sorting/Grouping Hearts Math Manipulative and the Blocks in Socks Early Math Game.

Also a big thank you to everyone who has been linking up to Learners in Bloom on Pinterest.

Thank you!

Art project: Colored Rice Mosaic

 

I wanted to try sand-art with the girls (30 months old), but after a salt-painting adventure that left our floor crunchy for a week, I decided it would just be too hard to clean up (maybe we'll do it on the deck in the Summer).  So we tried making mosaics with colored rice instead.  The results were fabulous, and we still have enough colored rice left for many other projects.  

This was my first time coloring rice and I was genuinely surprised by how easy it was.  We used food coloring, vinegar, and white rice from our rice sensory box.

First the girls poured the rice into plastic bags, and then I added a cap-full of vinegar and a squirt of food coloring.  Then, making sure the bags were tightly closed we shook and squeezed the bags until the food coloring we evenly distributed.

I put the colored rice into tupperware to dry.  I love how vibrant these colors are!

I made the mosaic with E while L was napping.  It was definitely easier to manage the mess with only one girl, and E loved getting some special time with Mommy without her twin.  I took a very thick piece of paper and used Elmer's white glue to draw a design, one part at a time (I just did this freehand but you could print out a coloring page too).  Then I gave E one color at a time to sprinkle on the paper.  After each iteration, we shook the paper over the try and collected the rice that fell off.

Here is our finished masterpiece:

E was very proud of her artwork and her whole face glowed when she showed it to her sister.  When the girls are older we'll try this again and let them make their own designs with the glue.

$1 Plastic Mesh Baskets = Hours of Fun

Last weekend, I picked up two plastic baskets for the girls (30 months old) in the Target $1 section.  I couldn't have imagined how much fun we've had with these baskets.  They've been beds for stuffed animals.  They've been hats.  They've been props for an apple-picking adventure in our living room (with real apples!). 

We also came up with some great fine-motor activities with the baskets that I wanted to share.  You could also do these activities with Easter baskets, laundry baskets, or even plastic berry containers.

First we weaved ribbon through the holes of the basket:

Older kids could probably weave the ribbon going in-and-out on a single row at a time and make a really gorgeous basket.  We took a more free-form approach.

Next we put straws through the basket.  It took a lot of control to put the straw in one side and then get it to go through a hole on the other side without pushing so far that it would fall:

Finally, we hung some monkeys around the baskets:

L really loved these activities and did them over and over.  E wasn't as excited and preferred to use the baskets as beds for her 'babies'.  I'm sure we'll be coming up with a bunch more creative ways to use these baskets.  I love it when $1 finds end up being picked over expensive toys.



Click on the link party below to see the activities other kids are doing this week.