Paper Bead Necklace You will need: paper (magazines, newspaper, tissue paper, construction paper), glue, yarn, pencil or crayon (for wrapping) Cut strips of paper and tightly wrap them around a thin pencil or crayon. Glue the end of the paper down to create the bead. Once dry, string the beads onto yarn for a necklace. Magazine Art Children can cut strips out of magazines and glue them onto a separate piece of paper however they would like. Using a black piece of paper, invite the children to cut a design out and lay it over the magazines. If children have trouble cutting the black paper, fold the paper in half or even quarters, and show them how to cut the paper using that method (similar to making a paper snowflake). Straw Weaving Find instructions to weave a bracelet or bookmark here: http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/lesson9.html Mosaic Art Invite children to rip or cut paper into small pieces. Then encourage them to glue the pieces onto a new piece of paper into the design of their choice. Talk to the children about what interests them and what they could design! 1
Andy Warhol Art Using the square 4-photo option on picstitch, print a photo of your children for them to decorate in the style of Andy Warhol. Click here for more kid-friendly information about Andy Warhol: http://kids1.tate.org.uk/blog/who-is-andy-warhol/ Oil and Water Painting You will need: shallow pan/container, oil, water, water dyed with food coloring, paper, eye droppers Place a small amount of water in the pan. Use an eye dropper to make oil drops in the water. Place paper on top of the water and oil and pull out. Place paper in a new container, and use the eye droppers to drop the colored water onto the paper. The paper will not absorb the color where the oil is! Paper Plate Watercolor Flowers Invite children to cut paper plates into four different sizes of flowers. Curl the petal ends around a marker. Stack the flowers from largest to smallest and staple in the middle. Get out the watercolors and paint! Story Stones Encourage your children to use their creative writing skills to write a story. Be available to assist if they need help, but allow them the freedom to create their own characters and plot. After the stories are finished, collect rocks and have the children paint pictures on the rocks that go along with their story. Then they can use the story stones to tell their story! 2
Glue Resist Art Invite the children to squeeze glue onto the paper in any design that they would like. Once the glue dries, use watercolor paints to paint on and around the dried glue the glue will resist the paint and give the art a unique look! Shiny Foil Art Provide your children with aluminum foil and let them experiment with a different paper material. Ensure that children have a wide variety of materials on the art cart to create with. Use one long piece of aluminum foil and create a supersized collaborative art! Sandpaper and Chalk Paint Have your children help you mix up some chalk paint! Mix equal parts cornstarch and water with a few drops of food coloring. Then, explore painting on both construction paper and sandpaper. Does the paint dry differently on one type of paper? How does the brush feel different on the two papers? Streamer Art Encourage your children to cut or rip streamer paper into pieces. Place the streamer pieces onto paper and use a paintbrush to wet each piece so it sticks to the paper. Once the streamer pieces are dry, peel off and check out the design left by the dye! 3
Crystallizing Watercolors In a container, mix 1/2 T Epsom salt, 1/2 T water, a pinch of table salt, and food coloring. Gently stir the mixture for 2 minutes nearly all of the Epsom salt should be dissolved. Then, paint! As the paint dries, it will crystallize! (The crystals can take up to 24 hours to form completely your children will look forward to seeing their art when they come back the next day!) Cosmic Suncatchers Pour a generous amount of glue into a recycled jar/ Tupperware lid. Swish it around to cover the entire surface. Have your children put a couple drops of food coloring onto the glue. Give your children a toothpick to swirl the colors around in the glue. Let it dry. As the colors settle they will expand and create a tie-dyed effect. When fully dry (which could take 2-3 days depending on the amount of glue used), peel the suncatcher off the lid, punch a hole through the top, add a string, and hang it! Colored Oil Painting Mix some food coloring with cooking oil in a few cups. Add a thin layer of water to a cooking tray. Use an eye dropper to put drops of the colored oil onto the water. Gently place a piece of paper on top of the water. The colored oil will be absorbed onto the paper! Remove the paper and let it dry. Cotton Ball Painting Hang a large piece of bulletin paper on the wall in your classroom (or outside if the weather allows). You could also place one on the floor under the paper to catch any stray cotton balls. Invite your children to dip a cotton ball in the paint, and throw it at the paper! 4
Multi-Day Projects It s Not A Box, It s A Robot! Transform some cardboard boxes into a robot! Invite children to work together to design, decorate, and build their robots. Children can work in small groups and create a robot family! Recycled Bottle Lids Art Invite children to recycle bottle caps and transform them into art! Caps can be painted and decorated to create any design the children desire. Encourage them to work as a group for this project. *Ask parents and teachers in your center to save their bottle caps and lids for you! It s Not A Box, It s A Ball Maze! Encourage children to use their problem solving skills to build a ball maze using a cardboard box and cardboard pieces. Help them sketch a design on paper first, then gather pieces, paint, and build. Popsicle Stick Challenge! What can your little engineers build using popsicle sticks? Encourage your children to be creative! Sketch their designs, plan what supplies they will need, and get to work. 5