momstown monet

Snowflake Art for toddlers

snowflake art for toddlers

 

Sometimes there is magic in art. Using a resist method is a pretty cool way to involve a young child in art and still get a really awesome look. This Snowflake was made using masking tape as a resist material – essentially; it blocks the paint to create its own pattern. This was my 2 year old's Saturday morning Masterpiece and her older siblings were jealous that they missed on the fun since it's now proudly displayed now on our mantel.


To create a masterpiece with your toddler like this snowflake, you need a few simple items:

  • Masking Tape & Scissors
  • Canvas board (you can pick them up for $1 or less at the dollar store)
  • Paint I various shades and colours (I’d skip tempera and use acrylic for this project, just wear a smock to keep clean!)
  • Paintbrushes


Decide on a design first and lay the tape down in that pattern. Since we were doing a Snowflake we created that pattern but this method would be super fun for many themes, a birthday number, name, other shapes… but we created a Snowflake with masking tape.


Then give your child free reign to paint until their heart’s content. I provided my toddler with various shades of winter blues and whites. All were mixed into a big artistic mess by the end and man, did she have FUN! Cover the entire canvas, especially where the tape is. Encourage your child to also paint the edges for a more complete look.


Once the paint is dry (or almost dry if you’re impatient like me) you can remove the tape. It was not completely dry when I removed it, hence some of the edges as are little blurry. If I been more patient, I think the lines would have been straighter.
Voila! Instant artwork to hang courtesy of your child.

 

Check our our Valentine Sticker Resist Artwork, it follows a similar method except with stickers instead of tape.

Posted by momstown mama on 01/10/2013 - 16:10
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

DIY Personalized Christmas Cookie Plate

cookie plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was inspired!! Amazing works of art by momstown Milton’s Cookie Plates for Santa which sent me to the dollar store searching for white ceramic plates and mugs to create unique, homemade gifts for friends and family.



This turned into one of the easiest crafts ever! AND the best homemade gift. The kids and I created Personalized Cookie Plates for our friends and neighbours. You need a plate to share your Christmas baking on, right? Why not decorate a $1 one from the dollar store to display your baked goods?

All you need is:

  • Ceramic plate (or mug would be fun too)
  • An array of colourful permanent Sharpie markers
  • Oven – set at 350 degrees

 

Wash and dry the plate, remove any stickers or labels from it.  Then, go to town decorating and designing the plate.

My two year old had fun scribbling all over the back of it. On the front, we traced her hand and wrote “Waving to Santa Claus”.

My daughter created detailed pictures and names for her friends and some of our neighbours. You can do a lot with a Sharpie!

momstown Milton has a great poem they included on theirs.

 

momstown milton plate

 

Once dry and complete, pop into the oven for 20-30 minutes to ‘set’ the ink so they can be washed. One note, the oven zaps some of the vibrancy out of the colour so make sure you really colour in your plate beforehand.


Once cool, your plate is done. We loaded with homemade goodies and delivered as gifts! What a perfect DIY Homemade Christmas Gift!

 

cookie plate for christmas

Posted by momstown mama on 12/20/2012 - 00:56
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

Pointilism For Preschoolers: Seurat Inspired Fall Trees

It's officially fall: the perfect time to create a simple fingerprint or q-tip fall tree art project with your toddler, preschooler, or child! We love kids crafts, but we also love learning about famous artists. Our home is filled with kid friendly art books, we take regular trips to the art gallery, and we love learning about art history and techniques as we watch "Pirates: Adventures in Art" on Kids' CBC.  Every month we also try to learn about one artist in particular.  We look at pictures of the artist's work, read stories about his or her life, and use what we have learned to create art of our own.

 

This month, we have been learning about Georges Seurat.  Georges Seurat was a famous French painter who lived from 1859-1891.  He is most well known for developing a new art technique known as pointillism.  Pointillism involves using small, distinct dots of colour applied in patterns to form an image. A good way for kids to understand it is to have them think of a reallly pixelated image on a computer screen.  That is essentially the digital version of pointillism.  We practised using the pointillism technique to make two fall tree pictures: one with finger prints, and one with smaller dots made with the end of a Q-tip.

 

To make the simpler, fingerprint tree, you will need:

  • thick white or cream paper
  • brown construction paper
  • red, yellow, orange and brown paint
  • scissors and glue

1. Cut a tree trunk shape out of brown construction paper, and glue onto your background paper:

 

 

2. Squirt red, brown, yellow and orange paint onto a palette (yogurt lids work great):

 

 

3. Dip your fingers into the various colours of paint, and then make finger prints where you think leaves on the tree should be:

 

 

4.  Allow picture to dry, and you're done! This would be a great project to keep the kids busy before Thanksgiving dinner.

 

To create the slightly more complicated Q-tip version, you will need:

  • Thick cream or white paper
  • brown, red, yellow, and orange paint
  • Q-tips
  • A paintbrush

1. Paint a brown tree trunk onto your background paper.  Allow to dry:

 

 

2. Squirt yellow, red, brown, and orange paint onto a palette.  Dip your Q-tip into one colour, and begin to make dots on your paper where you think leaves should be:

 

 

3. Continue adding dots in various colours until you are satisfied with the look of your fall tree:

 

 

This version is not really any more difficult than the fingerprint painting, but it is a bit more time consuming, due to both the size of the Q-tips and the need to allow the tree trunk to dry first.  We enjoyed doing both and comparing the results, but whichever one you do, have a happy fall!

Posted by momstown Teach on 09/23/2012 - 18:34
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

Art for Preschoolers: Discovering Matisse

I am always looking for ways to introduce young children to the works of great artists. Art projects help kids develop fine motor skills, recognize shapes and colours, express their emotions, and develop their creativity. Teaching preschoolers and young children about the works of famous artists exposes them to different styles of art, expanding their ideas of what is possible and allowing them to see the world through different eyes. It inspires creativity, and gives kids new ways to communicate their ideas and feelings.

 

Exploring great artists with preschoolers does not need to be difficult or expensive, or even require trips to art galleries (although those are wonderful). There are many excellent story books for kids about great artists (we particularly enjoy the "Katie" series by James Mayhew, and Laurence Anholt's Anholt's "Artists Books for Children Series"), the internet is a wonderful resource, and television shows such as Pirates: Adventures in Art on Kids' CBC mix lessons about art concepts with infectious music and fun storylines that even the squirmiest kids cannot seem to resist.

 

Recently, we explored Henri Matisse (1867 - 1954). Initially a more traditional painter, in his later years Matisse became sick and lost the ability to paint. Instead, he developed a new technique that he called "drawing with scissors". He had an assistant mix colours for him, and paint pieces of white paper with those colours. He then used scissors to cut out shapes from the painted paper, and arranged those cut outs onto canvasses to create new works of art. 

 

Keys to Matisse's "drawing with scissors" style are the use of only a few colours on each painting, the use of both both positve (the cut out) and negative shapes (the paper left behind) and cutting directly with scissors without drawing the image onto the paper first.

 

(the negative image is on the left, and the positive image is on the right)

 

To make your own Matisse inspired art you will need:

  • a few colours of paint and pieces of white paper (alternately, choose a few scraps of coloured construction paper)
  • a solid coloured sheet of construction paper
  • scissors
  • glue
  • pictures of Matisse's collage paintings

 

1.  Look at pictures of Matisse's collages (either online, or in a book from the library etc.)

2. Choose a few colours of paint, and paint each of sheets of white paper a different colour (skip this step if you are using extra sheets of construction paper instead of painting your own paper):

 

 

3. Cut out shapes from your coloured paper.  Try out different designs such as spirals and zig zags.  Scissor skills are a key to preschool and kindergarten readiness, and this project is a great way to develop them.

 

4. Arrange shapes onto a sheet of coloured paper.  Try to use both the shapes you have cut out, as well as some of the paper that surrounded them: both the positive and negative shapes.  Once you are satisfied with your arrangement, glue the pieces in place. 

 

Posted by momstown Teach on 08/06/2012 - 18:47
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

Canvas painting by preschoolers - an adventure in art

It's great to see preschoolers get inspired by famous artists the way the Pirates: Adventures in Art do on Kids' CBC. momstown monets tried out painting on canvas with these beautiful sunset pictures. A bit reminiscient of some of the famous oil painters like Van Gogh or Monet.

 

sunset canvas art

 

What you need:

  • Canvas (dollar store is a great source)
  • Tempera paints
  • Brushes
  • Black construction paper
  • Scissors

 

Kids can start by painting a background across the entire canvas. Kids can imagine a sunset, a sunrise, or just get creative with paint combinations of any colour!

 

sunset canvas art

Then, apply a black cutout image over the canvas for a mixed media touch. We cut out sailboats and skylines - but any design will look great!

 

Pirates: Adventures in Art is a great way for preschoolers to learn about different styles and types of art - from cubism to impressionism, to watercolours and oil paintings - all done through engaging and fun adventures with the Pirates!

 

 

Posted by Teacher Mom on 07/20/2012 - 13:50
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

Make your own chicken puppet

momstown Central Alberta made some adorable chicken puppets, inspired by the story of Charlie the Chicken. Here's how you can make one too!

 

chicken puppet

 

What you need:

  • Wooden spooon
  • Felt - yellow, orange, and red
  • Googly eyes
  • White glue or glue gun
  • Scissors

 

charley the chicken puppetCut out the felt pieces into the shapes of chicken wings, head, beak, and feathers. Start by gluing the head to the wooden spoon, and then attach the wings at the back.

 

You can use orange felt circles with googly eyes on top for the eyes, and then complete the face with beak and feather on top.

 

charlie the chickenNow that you've got a Charlie the Chicken puppet, you can act out the story! momstown loves to tie early literacy in with imaginative crafts - it's a great way to engage young readers and crafters alike.

Posted by Teacher Mom on 05/03/2012 - 10:59
Labels:
ShareThis share this post
12next ›last »