A Tree Grown with Love

I love making any type of craft that uses the boys hand/foot prints. I know that some time in the near future I'm going to look back on them and remember just how little they were!

I bought a cheap canvas from the discount shop and traced Master 3's arm/hand that will represent the tree. 

Make sure you spread out their little fingers to make the branches stretch out.

Master 3 then painted the inside of his arm brown to represent the trunk.

Choose four different colours to paint  the hand before applying it directly to the canvas. Get your little one to stretch out their little fingers as much as possible so they look like branches.

I got each of the boy's to do two hand prints each for the tree. Here is the finished product, a tree grown with lots of love.

Stick Painting

Developing fine motor skills can be done using so many creative ways. All little kids love to paint, so I like using this opportunity to develop these skills. Today Master 3 was very keen to paint so I gave him some paint and these small kebab sticks to paint with. It was really challenging for him to manoeuvre the stick in the paint and then work out how to get it from the stick to the paper. He used a variety of methods which you could encourage with your child; rolling, dabbing, flicking, scraping.

Tissue Flowers

Step 1: Start with 10 sheets of tissue paper in the color of your choice and according fold it across the pile. The folds should be about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide.

Step 2: Fold it in half and secure the middle with craft wire or pipe cleaners. In order to get the craft wire tight, I use my fingers to squish the middle in order to pull the wire tight.

Step 3: Fan out the paper on both sides of the wire.

Step 4: Carefully separate the tissue paper one by one on alternating sides of the wire/pipe cleaner. Continue separating the tissue paper, and when you get to the end you'll need to rearrange the tissue paper until it looks even.

Butterflies

These paper towel butterflies are easy enough for preschoolers to do, but creative enough that school age kids will enjoy making them too, because there’s no cutting, gluing or painting involved!

What You Need to Make Paper Towel Butterflies:
• Wooden clothes pin
• Paper towel
• Markers or Dot Markers
• 4” Chenille Stem (a.k.a. pipe cleaner)

How to Make Paper Towel Butterflies:
1. Colour the base of the clothes pin with markers and add a butterfly face to the top of the clothes pin. Be creative! Butterflies are colorful!
2. Use regular markers or dot markers to decorate the paper towel. This becomes the butterfly's wings, so again be creative!
3. Twist the center of the colourful paper towel and slide the twisted part into the slit of the clothes pin.
4. Spread out the edges of the colourful paper towel so it looks like butterfly wings.
5. Twist the chenille stem around the top of the clothes pin and push the ends upwards to create the butterfly's antennae.

Cracking Easter Cards

I wanted to make some Easter cards with the boys to attach to Easter Eggs that Master 4 will give to his teachers at kinder on Thursday. I use to love receiving homemade cards from the children that I taught, they were always made with such love. I cut out some egg and bunny templates from white card and the boys had a wonderful time making bubble prints on them.

Bubble prints are like fingerprints, except made with bubbles. You can make bubble prints and learn about how bubbles are shaped and how pigments combine to make different colours.

Bubble prints are made by colouring bubble solution, blowing bubbles, and pressing paper onto the bubbles. You need brightly-colored bubbles in order to get a good picture. Tempera paint powder works really well, but you can substitute other water-soluble paints if you like.

Make Coloured Bubble Solution Pour a little bubble solution onto the bottom of a cup. Stir in paint powder until you have a thick paint. You want the thickest paint you can get, yet still be able to make bubbles using it. If you get the three primary colours of tempera paint then you can mix them in order to make other colours. You can add black or white paint, too.

Crushed Egg Shell Art

I remember finding this book last year and just loved sharing it with the children I taught, and now with my own boys. For me, the real appeal of a Jan Brett book is her detailed illustrations. She draws the bunnies realistically, adding warm smiles on their faces. I always enjoy Jan Brett's books, especially her holiday stories. This story is perfect for little one's between 3-6 as it sends a good message - kindness. I love that she puts extra information in the small side pictures or in the scenes at the top of the pages, giving children a chance to see some action going on in the background or giving a preview of what's to come next. It's always fun to see how and where she has inserted her favourite animal (the hedgehog) into each of her books. The brilliant colours make her illustrations almost jump off the page - a nice contrast to her usual gentle story lines. I fell in love with this sweet bunny the first time I read through the book, as did my boys, and I'm sure you will too!

What you need:

12 coloured eggs

PVA glue

card stock

pencil

• Colour dye a dozen eggs, even leaving a few white.



• Let the eggs dry and then peel the shell. Make sure the shell is dry before you put it all into a zip lock bag and crush.



• Draw an image on a piece of card using PVA Glue.



• Sprinkle the crushed egg shell on the glue to create an egg-tastic picture.

Finger Paint Fun

Finger painting is fun for kids of all ages. These recipes are easy to make and require few materials. They will provide lots of art activities for your toddler.These recipes would work well for a play date or a rainy day activity. Finger painting is a wonderful way to enhance fine motor skills. You can also use finger painting activities to help teach concepts such as shapes, colours, or numbers.

Basic Finger Paint
This finger paint recipe is great for all ages, even young toddlers who still put things in their mouths. Mix together one cup flour and one and a half teaspoons of salt. Add one cup of water and mix together. Add your choice of food coloring. It will have a gritty texture.
Use this finger paint for just about any activity. It is great for little ones just to get the feel of the paint on their hands. Allow students to experiment with it and have them put their hand prints on the paper, or have them paint circles all over the paper.

Laundry Soap Finger Paint
This recipe is a fun one to use. It is probably better suited for older toddlers and preschoolers. Make sure children keep their hands away from their eyes. Pour laundry detergent into a small amount of water. Mix using an electric mixer or egg beater. It will have a thick consistency. Add any color tempera paint and mix well. This finger paint recipe is great to use on finger paint paper because of its thicker consistency.

Pudding Finger Paint
This is a fun option for all ages, even young toddlers. It is safe to eat. Make pudding according to package directions. If you want different colors, make vanilla and mix food coloring in.
Spoon the pudding out in bowls or pie tins and allow your students to create their pudding pictures. One fun activity to do with pudding paint is to have children paint their pictures on wax paper. While it is still wet, take a piece of Manila paper and press it on the wax paper.

Ready to Use Finger Paint
Shaving cream makes a wonderful finger paint for older toddlers and preschoolers. Just make sure no one ingests any. Simply squeeze out some shaving cream onto a table or desk top. Allow students to use their hands and create pictures with it. An added bonus to using shaving cream as finger paint is that it cleans the tables and desk tops.

Mix It Up
These mix in ideas are an excellent opportunity to teach about textures. For a rough texture, mix uncooked rice into your finger paint. For a smooth, slippery texture, mix in dish washing liquid soap. For a grainy texture, mix in coffee grounds. For a sticky texture, mix in corn syrup. The corn syrup will also have a super shiny finish when it dries.

Jelly Crystals

Place some jelly crystals into a container and mix it with some water. The mixture is around 1/3 water and 2/3 Jelly Crystals. But it’s really all up to you. This works well as a wash over a picture drawn with pastels first.

Cornstarch Fingerpaint

3 cups water, 1 cup cornstarch, food coloring

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in a separate bowl with water. Remove boiling water from heat and add cornstarch mixture. Return to heat, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture is clear and thick (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.
As the mixture is cooling, divide into separate bowls and add food coloring. Let the children carefully mix in the coloring.

Salt and Flour Finger Paint

2 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
3 c. cold water
2 c. hot water
Food coloring

Add the salt to the flour in a saucepan. Pour in cold water gradually and beat the mixture with an egg beater until smooth. Add the hot water and boil the mixture until it becomes glossy. Beat it until it is smooth. Mix in food coloring.

Soap Powder Finger Paint Recipe with Talcum

Powder

1/2 Cup liquid starch

3 Cups water

1/4 Cup soap powder (not detergent)

1/4 Cup talcum powder

powdered paint

Mix soap and water in a saucepan, then add starch. Stir until soap powder is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook until clear. Remove from heat and add paint and talcum. Using a mixer beat until it is smooth and foamy. Store air tight in refrigerator.

Rice Finger Paint Recipe

Mix baby rice cereal with water and food colouring or use cooked cereals with colouring.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Finger Paint
Sweetened condensed milk
Food coloring or brightly colored fruit juice
Pour a small amount of sweetened condensed milk into several small bowls. Mix in a few drops of food coloring in each bowl to create a variety of colors. Help your toddler use the coloured sweetened condensed milk to paint on newspaper, butcher paper, or craft paper.

Alternatives to Food Colouring
Some parents may prefer to avoid food coloring because their toddler is allergic to it or because they want to use more natural ingredients.
Red - cherry juice, raspberry juice, cranberry juice
Blue - blueberry juice
Yellow - dried turmeric
Health food stores may carry vegetable based food coloring.

Drawing Them In

Before children begin making art with pencils, crayons, and the like, they are creating artwork: A swipe of pudding on the high chair, a pudgy hand raking the sand, a stick scraping through the dirt, it all says, "I can make something appear out of nowhere."


Drawing can be fun. It's sometimes silly how we have preconceived notions on what a good or a bad drawing is. I believe that children should be allowed to use art as a form of expression. But for kids who want to learn how to make specific figures already; you have to show them that drawing is made up of several parts joined together. “I don’t know how to draw!” is what you will often here from pre-schoolers, so I'm a big believer in that we as the teachers/parents/carers can change that statement....how you ask? I think all children and adults can draw, remembering that drawing is a person's perspective on how they see the world. Encourage children to draw what they see and see what THEY see! PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE! Each year that I teach I use drawing for many different purposes within the classroom setting: Quiet time, conflict resolution, grief therapy, fine motor skill practice, just to name a few. During this time I always sit and draw too, modelling this behaviour is so important for little ones, they see their teacher as someone who can draw = they see themselves as someone who can draw. As a child I wasn't encouraged to draw and was often told that I wasn't very good at it, although I enjoyed it. So for me drawing has become a daily part of my routine with my own children and they confidently see themselves as little people who can draw even at this young age. There are a few easy ways that you can show your pre-schooler to draw:

Younger children can start off by drawing stick figures. In the above drawings, you can draw a lollipop by adding lines or circles. I see a man running. But what about the second man? What is he doing? Why are his arms wide open? You can make lots of stick figures. You can draw girl stick figures too by adding clothes. Or you can draw stick figures with hair or make them raise their hands, bend their body and more.

You can use basic shapes like circle, triangle, square, rectangle to come up with simple drawings. The above illustration shows a Missy the Cat facing you and the other is Mister Rabbit with his back to you.
The Cat: Draw a circle. Add a smaller circle inside the big circle. Make sure the inside circle is placed near the bottom of the circle. Then you can add the ears, eyes, nose, whiskers and don't forget a tiny tail. Meow...Missy says "Be quiet. She wants to sleep."
The Rabbit: Draw a circle. Put inside a small circle near the bottom and part of a circle on top. Add the ears making sure it’s pointed and long with whiskers. You’ve got a rabbit about to hop away. Run after him!!!!

STAGES OF SCRIBBLES

Random Scribbles, 12 to 30 months

As soon as they learn to hold a pen and make marks on paper, kids are likely to experience "kinesthetic enjoyment," the pleasure of moving around and making marks. Their marks are typically random and disordered, made with the whole hand and arm, and are likely to extend off the paper. Or off the wall.

Controlled Scribbles, 30 months to 3 years
Now a child begins to use wrist motions, control her marks, make them smaller, and keep them mostly on the paper. Or on the wall.

Named Scribbles, 3 to 4 1/2 years
Kids start to hold crayons with their fingers rather than their fists, make a variety of lines and shapes, and tell you what they are. Kids are also apt to "narrate," announcing as they draw that, say, a squiggle is actually Aunt Kate dancing with Uncle Al. It's a step toward connecting pictures and things.

Preschematic, 4 1/2 to 7 years
Squiggles, circles, and spirals start to develop into symbols that represent things, as well as self-portraits. These new figures, resembling tadpoles and such, may not be in proportion or even strike you as actual objects, but kids are learning that their pictures say something to others, and to value their product.

Schematic, 7 to 9 years
Those symbols start to appear within a larger framework, or schema. Kids might now draw themselves and their family on a baseline, and include the sky. Their colours get more realistic, but still don't expect to be able to recognise who's Aunt Kate and who's Uncle Al.

Edible Art Activities

Here you'll find easy kids crafts using edible art supplies. Most of the ingredients are common household items and these kids food crafts are quick to make and fun! They also expose your child to language development, tactile stimulation and tactile discrimination. So don't ever think your little one is too young to start getting messy and getting arty!!

Play dough

Peanut Butter Play Dough

1 jar peanut butter

6 tsp honey

nonfat dry milk or milk plus flour to right consistency
Mix all together. You can decorate your creations with raisins, chocolate chips, coconut, etc.

Alternative to Peanut Butter Play Dough
1/2 cup peanut butter

2 Tbsp honey

1/2 cup flour
Mix all together. This is great for kids who want the peanut butter play dough but are allergic to milk found in other peanut butter play dough recipes.

Applesauce Cinnamon Dough

1/2 cup cinnamon

1/2 cup applesauce

1 plastic zip lock sandwich bag

Pour cinnamon and applesauce into zip lock bag. Seal bag and knead until mixture turns to dough. Allow your dough creations to air dry for 12 hours or until hard.

Suggestion: Use cookie cutters to make really great, very fragrant tree ornaments. Roll out dough between two sheets of wax paper. Don't roll out too thin (roll out dough to 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness).

Cream Cheese Play Dough

8 oz. package of cream cheese

1/2 cup non-fat dry milk

1 tablespoon honey crackers or bread slices

Combine cream cheese, milk and honey in a bowl and mix until well blended. Mold sculptures on was paper.

Storage: Unused portions MUST BE STORED in an airtight container and kept refrigerated! Because cream cheese is perishable, use the expiration date on the cream cheese package as your guide for how long you can keep this play dough.

Frosting Play Dough

1 can frosting (any flavor)

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

Mix together until dough reaches desired consistency

Storage: When not using, MUST be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. Next time you want to use it, let it come to room temperature for pliable dough.

Paints

Sticky Paint
2 Tbsp light corn syrup

4-6 drops food coloring
Mix corn syrup and food coloring together in a small bowl until well blended. This can be used with either a paint brush or as finger paint.

Scratch and Sniff Paints
1 Tbsp unsweetened powdered drink

mix 1Tbsp warm water
Mix water and drink mix together. With this recipe you can paint pictures of fruit that will really smell like fruit. Allow finished paintings to dry overnight before scratching and sniffing.

Chocolate Pudding Paint
1 large package instant chocolate pudding

2 cups ice cold water

Whisk instant pudding and water together in a bowl for 2 minutes. Refrigerate for 5 minutes. This makes a thin paint. If you want a thicker finger-paint texture, I just mix up chocolate pudding as per the instructions on the box or buy the canned ready-made pudding from the grocery store.

Vanilla Pudding Paint
1 large package instant vanilla pudding

2 cups ice cold water
Whisk instant pudding and water together in a bowl for 2 minutes. Refrigerate for 5 minutes. Divide the pudding paint into several small containers or a muffin tin and add different food coloring to each one. This makes a thin paint. If you want a thicker finger paint texture, just mix up the pudding as per package instructions or buy the canned, ready-made pudding in the grocery stores.

Jelly Finger Painting
1 package jelly

2 Tbsp hot water
Mix together in a small bowl being careful not to over mix. Let cool 5-10 minutes before using. Paint on tin foil for a neat effect.

Yoghurt Finger Paint
Plain yoghurt

Food coloring

Mix together.

Cornstarch Finger paint
3 cups water

1 cup cornstarch

food coloring
In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in a separate bowl with water. Remove boiling water from heat and add cornstarch mixture. Return to heat, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture is clear and thick (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.
As the mixture is cooling, divide into separate bowls and add food coloring. Let the children carefully mix in the coloring.
Hints:
Add 1 tbsp of glycerin to make the mixture shiny. You can find glycerin in most pharmacies.

Milk Paint

Bread
Dixie cups
Milk
Food Coloring
Paint Brushes

Use a tablespoon or two of milk and a couple of drops of food coloring to create "milk paints" in Dixie cups, as many different colors as you want. Allow child to use paints to decorate slices of bread (don't allow bread to become too soggy). When done, toast as usual. Let child eat their creation! Toppings are optional.

Fun Painting Ideas

Master 2 would give anything for me to leave him at Kinder with his big brother when we drop him off. I have to say I find myself bribing him with the chance to "paint" once we get home if he will leave! (Which I have to say is not easy, and yes he throws the wonderful 2-year-old tantrum in frustration that I'm removing him from somewhere he loves!) Like most 2 year olds Master 2 would paint all day, every day if given the chance. Below I have listed some Fun Painting Ideas that we use at home.

Koosh Ball Painting

Hang a long piece of paper on your outside fence. Place pans of paint and Koosh balls on the ground. Encourage the children to throw the Koosh balls at the paper. This makes a great design and is a lot of fun. If possible have the children do this activity

Outdoor Water Painting

On a hot summer day give your children outdoor paint brushes and buckets of water. Let them paint the fence, walls of the cubby, or anything else they think needs to be painted.

Kelly Crystal Painting

Sprinkle jelly crystals on a piece a paper. Let the children move a piece of ice over the jelly crystals. Watch as the jelly crystals turn to liquid and makes a yummy smelling picture.

Outdoor Chalk Creation

Give children pieces of chalk to draw on the sidewalk or ground. After the children have created their masterpieces give them buckets of water and paintbrushes. They can then paint over their drawings and watch them disappear.

Golf Ball Pool Painting

Cut out a large piece of paper and put it in the bottom of a plastic pool. Place golf balls dipped in different paint colors on the paper. Together the children can hold the edges of the pool and roll the golf balls around. This makes a great design when you are done.

Coloured Water Fence Painting

Hang a long piece of bulletin board paper on your outside fence. Give the children bottles of coloured water and let them squirt the paper. This is a lot of fun and a great way to see how secondary colors are made. For example spray blue and yellow water on the paper to make a beautiful green design.

Splatter Fence Painting

Hang a long piece of bulletin board paper on your outside fence. Give the children buckets of paint and paint brushes have them flick the paint onto the paper. Watch out this can get pretty messy. If you can have the children wear their bathing suits.

Fly Swatter Painting

Hang a long piece of bulletin board paper on your outside fence. Have the children place fly swatters into pans of paint and then swat the paper. This is always a favourite activity.

Sand Box Painting

Give the children spray bottles with colored water. When the children spray the sand it will change colour until they shovel it up. This always amazes the children.

Sun Catchers

Cut the inside out of a paper plate for each child. Place clear contact paper with the covering removed over the hole. Have each child stick pieces of bright tissue paper all over his contact paper. When the child is done place another piece of contact paper over the tissue paper. Hang the sun catchers from your ceiling or windows.

Lid Sun catchers

Punch a hole at the top of different sized clear lids. Allow the children to spread glue over the lid and then cover it with bright tissue paper for a stunning sun catcher. Or mix corn syrup and a lot of food coloring, paint the lids with this mixture and let dry for a rainbow sun catcher. With both of these sun catchers thread a ribbon through the hole and hang in front of your window.

Corn Meal Sun

Cut a large circle out of poster board Have the children paint it yellow with a paint and glue mixture. While the paint and glue mixture is still wet sprinkle the sun with corn meal.

Sunflowers

Help your children paint their own paper plate yellow. After the paint has dries glue yellow crepe paper around the edges and glue sunflower seed in the center. If the children want they can attach a green stem.

Sunflower Hand prints

Use your children's hands to make a summery sunflower picture.
Paint the child hand yellow and place it on the paper. Continue to make hand prints until you have made a complete circle. Then let the child use her thumb to make brown seeds in the center. Use green paint to make a stem and some grass.

Blueberry Painting

Give your children blueberries to look at, touch, smell, and taste. After the children have observed the blueberries add a little water to them and cook them in the microwave for one minute. Have the children help you mush them up. Use the blueberry juice to paint a beautiful blue blueberry picture.

Shadow Tracing

On a sunny day take some chalk outside and let your children trace each others and your shadow. When the outline is complete fill the shadow in with facial features and whatever you are wearing.

Car Track/Train Track Painting

Put different coloured colours of paint on paper plates. Let your child push a small car or

train back and forth in the paint and then make tracks on the paper.

Balloon Painting

Blow up balloons and rub them on to paint (best to put paint on paper plates) then roll balloons onto paper. Children love seeing all the colours merge together.

'Substitute Brush' Ideas...
Q-tips or cotton swabs

Cotton Balls

Fingers

Toes

Rags

Toothpick

Twigs or sticks

Feathers

Toothbrush

String or yarn

Printing/Stamping/Stenciling Objects
Fruit or vegetables

Corks

Cookie cutters

Wood blocks

Leaves

Textured Fabric

Lace Doilies

Styrofoam

Shapes

Body Puff Loof

Sponges

Stamps

Stencils

Plastic lids from containers (to make circles)

Wheels from toy cars

Other Painting Tools
Blow Paints

Squirt bottle

Eye dropper

Old or Cheap Toys

Paint Variations
Water color

Tempera Paint

Poster Paint

Paint Sticks

Wet Chalk

Add Water to Thin Paint

Add Flour or Starch to Thicken Paint

Add Sand

Add Glitter

Add Fake Snow

Add Dirt

Add Whole Spices (Like Cloves or Peppercorn)

Who says babies can't paint?

Mmmm..... something very dear to my heart - Chocolate!!

Chocolate Pudding Paint.

Large package instant chocolate pudding

2 cups ice cold water

Whisk instant pudding and water together in a bowl for 2 minutes.

Refrigerate for 5 minutes.

This makes a thin paint. If you want a thicker finger-paint texture, I just mix up chocolate pudding as per the instructions on the box or buy the canned ready-made pudding from the grocery store.