Art Smart - Mondrian

Activity for ages 4+ with good scissor experience.

We are stepping beyond scribbles, smears and tossed-on collages and adding some product into our process art.  

Wednesdays are our cut and paste days. 

Often preschool teachers cut out the shapes themselves, give the students a review of Mondrian pieces and put some up as "inspiration" and then provide a piece of paper and glue. 

To me, this strips away the skill inherent: cutting, and the process: creativity. It becomes purely product, trying to replicate Mondrian's creativity with pieces skillfully cut by the teacher.

To make this a process piece, I simply give the following directions:

1. Black is to be cut into strips
2. Red and yellow are to be cut into squares

"How big should they be?" 

"However big you want them to be."

I provided 2 sheets of black and 2 half sheets each of yellow and red for 4 children. [The 3yo isn't up to cutting shapes, so he was just cutting.]

Once THEY feel they have cut as much as they desire, then I bring out the paper.
      3. Put your cut pieces on your paper how you want them

Then I bring out the glue.
      4. Glue your pieces where you put them

So this is still a process piece with just a bit of direction. As you can see, there is still plenty of room for creativity and interpretation. One did it portrait and two did it landscape. One didn't use any red. One made a road. It is still black lines and colored squares. 

They worked very diligently and were very proud of these pieces. Not bad at all for 4-year-olds.

Next week, when this activity is not fresh, we will observe and discuss Mondrian. They will be able to relate to the works after doing this activity, but they will have lost any intense emotional attachment to their own art and should not feel any inferiority or desire to change it in light of the new information. 

Tags: child care, daycare, preschool, pre-k, teaching, homeschool, fine motor,

Silhouette Christmas Ornaments

While the children will be making various handprint and crafty items this week before Christmas, I wanted to do something for the parents that would be a lasting memento. 

Silhouettes are back in fashion, and I thought that would be a great idea to start with.

For the process:

I already had a pack of Shrinky Dink film. 

I took profile pics of the kiddos.

Knowing that my film is 8 1/2 X 11 inches, I manipulated the pics in my word processing drawing feature to comfortably fit within a 1/4 page space with enough extra for the hole at the top and the frame at the bottom.

I printed out the pics, placed them under the Shrinky Dink film, and outlined with a black Sharpie marker. [Don't scrimp and use a low-end marker.] I then removed the film from atop the photo on to a piece of plain white paper.

I took an oval piece from one of the children's shape matching games and used it as a template at the bottom to make a frame for their name and the year. I free handed the inside line about 1/4 inch.

I wrote their name and the year into the frame. I liked the satin look for the front of the ornament. If you want the shiny look for the front, I would print out the name and year in mirror and copy onto the ornament. 

I colored in the profile outline and the frame with a broad tip permanent marker going in one direction. If you go back and forth then it will start pulling the ink and make a gummy mess. Make a clean, slightly overlapping line and leave it to dry.

Once the first layer is dry, do a second layer of black permanent marker in the opposite direction. It will give a linen-like look to the finished piece. 

If necessary, let dry and do a third coat. Just because it shrinks down dramatically, doesn't mean that any missed or thin ink spots won't show. Get a good coverage before shrinking.

Use a standard hole punch to punch a string/hanger hole at the top of the film.

Bake at 325 degrees. I won't give a time, just to say it takes a couple of minutes. You need to watch them carefully and once they are FULLY flat, count 30 seconds and remove to cool. I was fearful the entire time watching them as they curl and bubble up and look like a freakish mess and that there is no way possible that they could end up flat and looking decent. They do! Just let them do their thing.

Once thoroughly cooled, I sprayed the inked side with a satin enamel. You could also use Modge Podge or another sealer, but I wanted something I could spray so that it wouldn't possibly mess up the pic with brushing something on.

I had some cording that fit perfectly through the hole. 

They turn out relatively small. The shrinkage rate on my Shrinky Dink paper is suppose to be 50%, but they seem really small for a 1/4 sheet. They went from 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 to 1 5/8 X 2 inches.

I really like them. I hope the parents do, too.

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Valentine Art Piece Bag

Sometimes our art is organic. Such as our Valentine's bags.

Miss H brought her small heart punch from home. Miss A wore a heart grid top. So of course we had to combine these into an art piece.

We've been working on multiplication with the bigs, so I took advantage of that aspect of this activity as well.

Since I knew this activity would be time consuming - we only had the one punch and each child had to punch 12 hearts - so I did the folding of the paper to provide the 3X4 grid for the children to glue their hearts into.

Two big aspects of this project were taking turns, and preparing for your turn.

If the punch got to you and you didn't have your paper picked out, then it went on by. It's not often that the children are rushed to make decisions, so it was very interesting for me to observe that aspect of their behavior and capabilities and to see how their thinking and planning changed/developed as the activity went on. I think it was a very beneficial experience.

It was also good experience in fine motor control, and placement of the paper within the punch, which was not clear for easy viewing, so some critical thinking was having to take place.

One of the things I observed, was that the wiser ones would pick out several pieces of paper, have them ready, and then punch out multiple hearts when their turn came. Thinking they were doing something potentially wrong, they were a little sneaky, and very fast at it. 

Impressive. I didn't catch on quickly, since I was helping the younger ones. Since I had never said that you could only punch out one heart at a time, I felt it was just efficient and sound judgement.

As the punch moved on, the children used glue sticks to paste their hearts into individual squares on their grids. Good hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Once done, I realized that the size of paper I had used would fit on our white lunch bags and make cute Valentine bags for our Valentine exchange. The children thought it was a wonderful idea, so we did that.

It worked out great!

We had a wonderful Valentine's party with some special treats for the children from the parents, and some special gifts for me!

I have AMAZING clients and kiddos!

Follow Connie -'s board Valentines Theme on Pinterest. Tags: Valentine, craft, cut, paste, math, learning, bags, box, Valentine's, homeschooling, art, process, preschool, pre-k, daycare, child, care

Collaborative Collage

It is the last cold, wet, dreary day before the spring-like weather will arrive for good. [fingers crossed!] They were going insane, bouncing off the walls, so I got this project started.

I had a picture that I didn't like, and haven't been able to sell, because evidently no one else likes it either. It's just been sitting around taking up space before heading to the thrift store donation bin. 

Then I had an orange gumball moment, inside joke, it's kinda like, EUREKA! 

We had played with sticky walls before, 

so this isn't really NEW, but this time they could really go to town and have a finished, displayable art piece at the end.

I used spray adhesive to adhere contact paper to the glass then let it set for a couple minutes before peeling the backer off.

It left us with a stick surface to do collage work upon.

They had free use of anything in the cutting bin, like tissue paper, straws, yarn, foil, fabric, wallpaper, scrapbooking paper, magazine sheets, etc. 

I cut a few strips of construction paper and curled and folded them, then just left them out on the table for them to use as they saw fit. 

We had a small container of lids I gave them, and then I raided the supply drawers and pulled out a few pom poms, packing peanuts, cotton balls, etc. that I just tossed on the table.

They spent over an hour working on this, and there was never any contention.

I think it came out looking really amazing. I placed it above their coat racks in the entry area.

This way, they and their parents and any visitors can get a taste of their awesomeness. 
Tags: art, preschool, child, care, daycare, kindergarten, craft, cutting, paste, collage, picture, fine motor, collaborative, glue, sticky, contact paper

Thanksgiving Paper Bag Puppet or Sitting Turkey

Surprisingly, I didn't have anything like this on my Thanksgiving Pinterest board! [I do now!] So, I just Googled "paper bag turkey puppet" to get an idea of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to offer them a choice of puppet or sitting turkey, and ended up using the same craft for both, which I didn't intend. 

Since there were so many ideas, I really can't say that any particular one is what we followed, probably this one from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman is the closest. 

I provided a triangle template for the preschoolers to trace and cut out the beak first. Then I provided two different sized lids for them to do the white and black for the eyes. 

They traced their hands, and I cut them out through the five sheets of construction paper for the tail feathers, and again for the feet. Probably a 5-6 year old could do that themself, but these preschoolers are just now working circles and not able to do the intricate cuts necessary for the hands. 

They chose whether they wanted a puppet or a sitting turkey. The little ones just did the puppet, because I knew they were going to tear them up pretty quickly anyway. 

For the sitting ones, I folded up the bottom of the sack to create a fold line and made a box at the bottom. The children wadded up two sheets of newspaper and stuffed their turkeys, then I stapled the sides for stability and taped the seam. 

At the end, the preschoolers used the scraps from the red to free form their wattles. 

When doing the black on the eyes, I told them that they could place them center, left, right, up or down, but they had to do both eyes the same. I didn't want to make this TOO much a product versus process piece, so I didn't instruct them further than that on placements.

I found it interesting that the toddlers were more concerned with symmetry and placement than the preschoolers.

It's a good opportunity to practice skip counting by 5's, which we will be doing. Crafting with toddlers in the mix doesn't lend itself well to extended teaching in the moment.
Tags: handprint, craft, preschool, pre-k, turkey, Thanksgiving, activity, art, hand, print, shapes, shape, paper, bag, brown, cutting, scissors, tracing, math, skip counting, counting by 5's, 

Yarn Art - Painting and Texture

This is another one of those seemingly simple activities that I end up finding complex skills emerging during the process. This is definitely PROCESS art, although the product is pretty wonderful.

 

I LOVE this paper. 

• First, because it is FREE. In this economy, whether you are a teacher or parent, FREE is ALWAYS good. I'm constantly surprised by the things people throw out for which we find some amazing uses. Look around you, and hit up everyone you know for anything they think you could possibly use. You can always pitch it if you can't use it. These are a shipping topper to Doug's game tickets, so he collects many each week. 

• Second, they are a heavy card stock with one side slick and the other side matte, giving us many options and holding up well to any project.

•  Third, they are a great size, 8 X 16 inches. The children can easily reach to the top of the paper and to the supplies in the center of the table without standing up or leaning so far forward they drag their paint shirts or body parts into their projects.  

• Fourth, they are still wide enough that the children can get a good-sized project accomplished but not so large that they don't easily fit as many as we need upon the table or become unmanageable for the children to carry about.

HOW TO

The first step was using a piece of yarn about 3 inches long, clipped into a clothes pin, as a painting tool.

 

Their inclination was to open the clothespin, which dropped the yarn, which left them with the dilemma of getting paint on their hands to place it back into the clothes pin or to just attempt to grab the yarn with the clothes pin. All got it back on through independent decision making, experimentation, and observation of their cohorts.

 

It also took some logic/reasoning skills for them to figure out that to load their yarn with paint, just dragging the it through the didn't get the job done. Using the tip of the clothes pin to smoosh the yarn all around in the paint and get it good and sopping, was MUCH better.

They started out dragging the yarn back and forth on their papers, and eventually started doing circles, curves, up and down, zig zags, and transferring the smooshing technique to color in areas.

The next day, we added our 3 dimensional component, yarn pieces, to the dried art work.

Working those scissor skills, the children began by cutting some pieces, dragging them through our glue sponge, and placing them on their art work randomly.

Soon into it, though, they decided the glue sponge was too icky and not getting enough glue on for them, and they wanted the bottles. With the bottles, they decided that putting the glue down FIRST, then placing the pieces or cutting the yarn TO LENGTH, was a better choice.

Even the youngest did a great job in assessing the length of the glue and cutting pieces appropriate in size. Excellent spatial and observation skill work.

They became more precise and intentional in their placement. This led to some more interesting textures and formations.

Miss H - "A Playground and Lips"

The finished pieces are pretty awesome!

I love the movement and texture.

Tags: art, craft, yarn, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, Pollack, paint, glue, scissor, fine motor, color, rainbow, homeschool, child, children, children's, cut & paste,

Tape Resist Letter Canvases

I totally dropped the ball on Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts this year, since we were spending all of our time outside this spring, so I've been wanting to do an art project that was more a keepsake than our normal process masterpieces.

I think we nailed it! While this is still basically our normal process piece, on canvas, with the first letter of their name resist, makes it a frameable and displayable art work.

I bought the 11 inch x 14 inch canvases at Walmart for $4.97 for a 3 pack. They also had 8 x 10, 12 x 12 and 12 x 16 sizes.

I've been wanting to try the new Frogtape, which is coated with a gel that supposedly won't let the paint seep underneath like the blue painter's tape often will. It caught my curiosity. Since my dad had a commercial painting company I worked at when I was right out of highschool, I knew the limitations of the blue tape and was not a fan.

Most of our activities are process-oriented, and I really didn't hold out much hope that this one would turn out well. However, the Frogtape did an excellent job, even with the children running trucks over it and mushing paint all over.

I used a 2 inch top and bottom margin and 1 1/2 inch side margins to space out the letters and used a craft knife to cut the tape cleanly with a metal straight edge. 

Since I didn't want these to be a mass of gray and brown, we did color mixing in batches. They first painted red, then blue, mixing into purple. I cleaned all the tools, and even took a blowdrier to the paintings to "set" the colors.

Then we moved on to yellow/blue/green after which I cleaned the tools and dried them once again. Then on to red/yellow/orange.

Even the littlest ones participated, but their attention spans only made it through the first set of colors. We will be going back to add the rest of the colors and finish theirs through the week.

The children were asked to choose a different texture tool for each color, but of course kept coming back to their favorites. They did well at sharing between them.

 They were encouraged to work in the white spaces and to cover the canvas, only not all at once with the same color.

The next day, we came back and the children removed the tape. It was a wonderful surprise for them, as we had not done this before. The first question, of course, was if they got to paint inside the letter now. That would be a "no!"

To ensure the white stays white, I sprayed each canvas with clear lacquer 

and added a sawtooth hanger, centered and about an inch down, to the back with super glue.

This was a great activity with a great result.

Tags: painting, art, canvas, preschool, pre-k, daycare, child, care, homeschool, tape, resist, letter, alphabet, process, product, name, mother's day, father's day, grandparent's day, christmas, present 

Our Preschool Art Studio

After years of having art and craft supplies strung throughout the house, this year I took the ground floor spare bedroom and made it into our art studio. It not only serves my students, it serves my own creative endeavors as well.

I can't describe how wonderful it is to have a child suddenly ask, "Can I add glitter to this?" and be able to simply ask, "What color do you want?," reach behind me, and present them with the necessary supply to enhance their creative vision. Every time it happens, I smile and sigh.

This is a LONG posts, so skim it as you will as I have gone over EVERYTHING! If an item is in a different color, it is linked to a project on this blog. 

Most of our projects do not get on here, though.

Let's take a tour...

When you first walk in, the children's art smocks [children's size small/6-8 t-shirts] are hanging on an accordion cup rack. They know to grab one and find a seat, putting on their smocks first thing. Even the littlest ones grab one on their own.

Above that is our sign. The letters are easily removable if I ever decide to change them.

And above that is our dedication space. A lot of people have donated products, materials, and money that have gone into this space, and I wanted to acknowledge their contributions. These are printed out, laminated, and adhered to the wall with spray adhesive.

Our activity table is the top from a dining room set I purchased 20 years ago. It was scratched and well loved, so I sanded, primed and painted it. The chairs were donated by my friend Ledonna Woolsey who went to home care from running a center. 

The two barstools were donated by my clients Heather and Steven Hunt. If the activity is process oriented, then I simply sit back and let them at it. If it is really messy or very involved, then I have my son Jacob sit in with me to assist with keeping an eye on, and helping, the littler ones.

To the left side of the door, I have two of my craft carts that I got at Sam's Club for $30 each. It was a deal, as they usually go for twice that anywhere else.

I plan to get a cabinet or shelving to go above it. On top it holds a container that has tubes - toilet paper, paper towel, etc. and another with our Frisbees that we use as holders for craft items that may roll off the table and for salt writing.  Another gets everything thrown into it that I don't have time to put away properly when I get it. Parents drop off items and I put them in here until I can properly put them away.

• Bling: glitter, jewels, sequins
• Cotton Balls: large and small
• Lids: moved to larger bin
• Paper Die Cuts
• Pipe Cleaners
• Pom Poms
• Silk Flowers & leaves
• Stickers
• Straws
• Holiday Items [new]

• Cards: fronts of holiday and occasion cards
• Clothes Pins: various sizes & types
• Corks: moved to larger bin
• Doilies: various sizes of Valentine hearts and white ones
• Packing Peanuts
• Pinecones: big
• Pinecones: small
• Plastic: salvaged from misc. food and product packaging
• Styrofoam: pieces and foam packaging
• Styrofoam: chunk pieces

Next to these are a china hutch I received from my friend/quasi-SIL Tracy Simons. It holds:

My collection of foamies on the top left shelf:

Misc. Storage containers not in use at the moment on the second shelf, and the yarn bin, and some scrapbooking shape templates on the lower one.

Below those are my bin of tissue paper salvaged from every holiday and birthday party, especially by Miss A's grandma, Mrs. Truta, and a bin of scrapbooking paper, some of which has been donated by my cousin Julie Stokes.

The top middle has doors with handles that can hold a strap lock, so within here I store my adhesives, craft knives, spice/rice grinder, and concoction ingredients such as corn starch, Borax, flour, cream of tartar, food coloring, Koolaid packets, spices, salt, Epsom salt... and my own PERSONAL box of 64 crayons that I DO NOT SHARE.

Below is an open space where I have put up tension rods to hold up rolls of foil, wax paper, cling wrap, parchment paper and freezer paper. The last two I am currently out of. I have a metal strip from a foil container attached inside the doors above, so that I can pull the roll items up and cut them cleanly, without having to have anything sharp out around the children. I have my crepe paper just stacked in here, which needs a large bin. I also have CD cases and a couple of drawing instruction books.

In the doors below, I have my book binder and rice storage. I buy 50 pound bags of it at Sam's Club for crafts, bean bags [non choking hazard if they get ripped!] and heating pads.

The right side on the top shelf contains plastic cups of various sizes, foam bowls, large and small paper plates, paper condiment cups, white scratcher pads, envelopes, white and brown sandwich bags, cupcake liners and coffee liners.

Below that are some of my stamps and stamp pads. Some of those are still in the basement. The bottom shelf holds a materials tray, the book 1001 Paintings to See Before You Die, and a bin with a collection of previous craft activities that either need displayed or deconstructed and the items stored.

Next to this I have my bulletin board edges and some cardboard crowns stored on the wall by using binder clips and thumb tacks. On the floor in the corner are larger tubes from wrapping paper, etc. and rolls of wallpaper.

On the bottom is a bin of shredded filler of every color and type imaginable, various bubble wrap, and our cutting practice bin. Many of the fillers and yarns were bought at the Salvation Army and garage sales.

On top of this cabinet, I store pop bottles, bins of items such as corks, and our sensory bin fillers such as blue gravel, oats, hay, beans, birdseed, etc.

On the back wall,

I have two more craft carts and two paper sorters. I got the paper sorters a long time ago at Sam's Club for $20 each. On the top of the left craft cart is a bin of glue, glue sticks and Scotch tape and our bin of scissors, including teacher-assist, safety, and scrapbooking edgers.

The middle bins are FULL of crayons and markers. The paper sorters hold our construction and colored paper by color, along with tag board, corrugated cardboard, cardstock, specialty papers, and some specialty binding covers donated by my first client, Deidre Laughlin.

On top of the right side is a bin of ribbon reels and pieces and a bin of string & twine rolls, which are currently outside for projects there.

The two craft carts contain:

• Beads
• Beads [more]
• Cording
• Jewelry
• Jingle Bells
• Magnets
• Puzzle Pieces
• Shells
• Tape: painters, masking, printed duct
• Wooden Cut Outs

• Buttons
• Elastic
• Fasteners
• Lace
• Patterns
• Thread
• Netting [new]: fabric and net grocery bags like from avacados
• Trims
• Trims
• Velcro

I was lucky to happen upon a going-out-of-business sale for a pharmacy store, and bought these commercial shelving units for $30. The top holds miscellaneous small items such as containers of google eyes, brass brads, paint chips, colored pencils, dried lavender & chamomile, eye droppers, oil pastels, paint brushes and toothbrushes for crafts. The bottom holds our larger papers, poster boards, craft mats, and acts as a drying rack for our larger projects.

Above it, our art posters are out of their monthly and thematic file folders and out for daily viewing. These are up using sticky tack, so they are easily taken down for observation or instructional purposes. This isn't all of them, as we go through our 3-year rotating curriculum, I come across them and put them up. Not all artists are represented on the wall, as we have our art books to reference as well.

In the back corner is another china hutch that I painted white and covered the back in fabric with spray adhesive. This one was salvaged during our city's large item pick up.

The top shelf is crammed with paint of every kind.

The middle shelf holds:

• Craft Sticks: small and large, colored and plain [donated by Nancy Ringle]
• Colored rice
• Colored tube pasta
• Raffia
• Modeling Clay
• Beans
• Sand and Gravel collection
• Feathers
• Cookie Cutters: misc. and alphabet
• Foam Trays
• Pie Tins
• Plastic Trays

In the drawers and cabinets below are fabrics, including plastic, vinyl, fur, satins, velvet, etc., a drawer of felt,

and the sewing machine, iron and sewing box.

On the side I have hooks that hold our fly swatters and my cutting mats.

Above the side table are our art books, and below are 3 large bins that hold large foam sheets, plastic lids of all sizes [mostly donated by Jen Beutel and Tracy Simons], and fuse beads. At that same commercial sale, I got this small fridge for $25 to hold our homemade play dough. The bin on the left holds our painting tools and the one on the right holds some of our play dough tools/toys.

Our large roll of butcher paper sits atop the mini-fridge, comes over the back of the table, and under a straight edge used for cutting it to length. The table usually holds our sensory bin.

Next to these is a small, moveable sewing table with my Cricut on it. Which I have yet to use. 

Under the craft table in the middle of the room, are two paper sorters. One I salvaged, again, from large-item-pick-up and the other I got at a thrift store for $10.

The first one holds a collection of sandpapers, cardboard scraps, cork flooring, flooring samples we use as textures for rubbings along with a piece of plastic light diffuser, paper grocery bags, and craft paper pieces.

The other side holds a collection of professional paint chip samples donated by Deidre, thin craft paper, misc. notebooks and old letterhead made of great quality paper with high cotton content we cut up and use.

Next to the entry way, I have melamine tray that I got on clearance at Walmart last fall that I use as a dry erase board for our art curriculum. Under that is a chalkboard donated by the Hunts. If the children finish early, they have the option of free drawing or using the chalkboard until the others finish.

And that's it...oh, wait, I forgot the closet...nevermind! [baby food jars, canvases, frames, cork, tiles & grout, salad spinner, heat guns...]  

The absolute BEST thing about this room, though, is that we can CLOSE THE DOOR and just LEAVE projects at any time to come back to later or to finish drying in place. No more shuffling around on table tops and counters when we try to do other things, or HAVING to put supplies away to clear for a meal or other activity.

It's one of the best uses of space I have ever made.

Follow Connie -'s board Art Ideas on Pinterest.
Tags: art, craft, room, preschool, home child care, daycare, home, child care, pre-k, arts & crafts, toddler, children's, kid's, class, classroom

Little Stars Learning