If you've been following my preschool art series, you probably know by now that I have a thing for tape resist methods. Kids love the whole peel-and-reveal situation, and tape resist allows for creativity without much restraint, while still producing semi-controlled and/or geometric works. So, for our final class this year, we revisited our beloved… Continue reading Mondrian for Kids
Category: Crafting
Fun (usually sensory and quite easy) crafts to do with preschoolers
Pointillism with Preschoolers: Fall Trees
When teaching Pointillism within the canon of Art History, it's common practice to focus on this painting: When I taught Post-Impressionism to college students, indeed, the Seurat painting above was discussed in depth -- as was color theory and the science behind it. But for my active preschoolers, who value doing more than looking, Pointillism… Continue reading Pointillism with Preschoolers: Fall Trees
Geometric Painting for Kids
Miss R, my loyal tester for all projects that reach my preschool art class, experimented with a wonderful painting project yesterday. We made a large-scale geometric painting comprised of many squares in various colors. First, we composed a tape grid on poster board (making squares out of lots of horizontal and vertical lines of painter's… Continue reading Geometric Painting for Kids
Spray Painting for Kids: Stunning Process Art & Sensory Fun
This week's preschool art class provided another joyful and enriching sensory experience. Our "brushes" were spray bottles of liquid watercolors, and we continued to experiment with resist painting -- the concept of which my tiny artists are beginning to grasp after lots of exposure (see this project and this project). Before explaining our process, I'd like… Continue reading Spray Painting for Kids: Stunning Process Art & Sensory Fun
Preschool Fine Art Series: Paper Marbling & Scrape Painting
This week's preschool art lesson was dominated by a delightfully sensory Process Art project: creating incredibly gorgeous marbled paper via the tried and true shaving cream + food coloring printing technique. See this post and this post for a complete tutorial, but here's the gist: add food coloring to shaving cream, swirl it around to… Continue reading Preschool Fine Art Series: Paper Marbling & Scrape Painting
Preschool Art Class: Making “Ish” Art
This week's installment of my preschool fine art class was based upon the teachings found in Peter Reynolds’ Ish. Ish is a continuation of The Dot -- the book that started it all for my little class of budding artistes. Ish is about a young artist who adores drawing — anytime, anywhere, anything — until his big brother… Continue reading Preschool Art Class: Making “Ish” Art
Resist Painting inspired by Peter Reynolds’ “The Dot”
My first lesson for the Preschool Fine Art enrichment course was a success! The class introduces young artists to art historical movements, techniques and concepts, while demonstrating art's expressive capacity. The students and I had so much fun creating together, and I wanted to share their work and process here. For our first session, I… Continue reading Resist Painting inspired by Peter Reynolds’ “The Dot”
PAPER PLATE AQUARIUM: Come Swim Under the Sea with Me!
Miss R’s kinder class is learning all about oceans this month, so I volunteered to come in and lead an ocean-themed art project. This one fit the bill perfectly, and the kids loved it! It worked well for a group project, though I was grateful that the teacher was there to help since the activity involves several different steps. Check out our updated pics, and scroll on down for the original tutorial.
Baby K enjoyed being a kindergartener and was mostly cooperative! 
ORIGINAL POST AND TUTORIAL:
Before R ventured out to the aquarium with her Mimi and Papa Deedee this am, she wanted to swim under the sea — so to speak. I had woken up feeling capable of orchestrating artyness, with my half-opened eye on a specific project (I intended for us to createthe festive and pinky-pretty heart wreath byblogger extraordinaire The Fancy Elephant Life). But R decided…
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Watercolor Painting with Color Wonder Markers — WOW!
Yesterday I mentioned that we're on a liquid watercolor kick over here at chez R. I'll be sharing a few of my favorite projects in the next few days, and here's one you may not have seen before (I'd never heard of or thought of it until we tried it): Watercolor Resist Painting using Color Wonder… Continue reading Watercolor Painting with Color Wonder Markers — WOW!
Exploring Texture: Stained “Glass” for Kids with Wax Paper, Crayons and Watercolors
I'm a bit shocked that my five years of art-centered parenthood have been largely devoid of liquid watercolors -- an art-making, creative staple. We have a bountiful and ever-growing art supply stash, and welcoming liquid watercolors into the mix was long overdue. They're so vibrant! And washable! And easy to paint with! And versatile! I'm… Continue reading Exploring Texture: Stained “Glass” for Kids with Wax Paper, Crayons and Watercolors
Magically Colored Milk — and Art, of course
Milk is pretty magical, right? I mean, what else can provide enough nourishment to sustain a life? I'm sure both of my girls will attest to milk's awesomeness -- after all, miss R indulged in my liquid gold for 2+ years and baby K is still holding strong. But little did my girls know how… Continue reading Magically Colored Milk — and Art, of course
