MaryAnn F. Kohl, process art and treasures of childhood

May ArtsyKidsNEWS : Warmed Crayon Drawing from Play Create Explore blog

Today I share the MAY edition of the ArtsyKidsNEWS.
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Alexander Calder Sculpture: MaryAnn F. Kohl (from the Gryphon House blog)

Visit a recent Gryphon House blog post about how MaryAnn suggests being inspired by Alexander Calder, making Wire Sculptures!

http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/2012/04/10/wire-sculpture-for-kids-inspired-by-alexander-calder/

Wire Sculpture for Kids
(Inspired by Alexander Calder)

April 10, from the Gryphon House blog

By MaryAnn F. Kohl

Kids of all ages can be inspired by the great masters of art: inspired to create in their own ways; inspired to learn more about art, the masters, and history; inspired to discover; inspired to invent and experiment; inspired to learn more about everything; inspired to dream.

Alexander Calder is an artist that kids easily relate to because his sculptures are playful, colorful, and, well, they are SCULPTURES, and kids love to create sculptures!

Here’s some fun information about the great American artist, Alexander Calder, you might enjoy sharing with your kiddos.

 

About Alexander Calder
July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976

Alexander Calder, called Sandy by all who knew him, was born in Pennsylvania and came from a very artistic family: his great-grandfather and his father were both sculptors, and his mother was a painter. When Calder was young, he and his sister used to play with toys and gadgets that Calder made. In 1909, when Calder was in the fourth grade, he sculpted a dog and a duck out of sheet brass as Christmas gifts for his parents. The sculptures were three-dimensional and the duck was kinetic because it rocked when gently tapped. When he grew up, he continued to create such things as games, toys, jewelry, sculptures, drawings, paintings, costumes, movie sets, and more. Through his construction of wire mobiles, he became the founder of a new art form – kinetic sculpture, which means ‘sculpture that moves.’ He created sculptures in sizes from very small to tremendously large, as well as mobiles (suspended moving sculptures), standing mobiles (anchored moving sculptures), and stabiles (sculptures that do not move). Calder is the most famous kinetic sculptor in the world. 

From Page 58, Great American Artists for Kids by Kohl and Solga.
© MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga 2012

See samples of Calder’s sculptures at www.nga.gov.
Learn and see more about Alexander Calder at www.calder.org.

How to Introduce Kids to Calder and His Sculptures

First, show the kids some of his works on the Internet or in a book, or if you are lucky enough, visit his work in person at a museum or exhibit. Help the kids to take special notice of wires and see the possibility of movement in his work. Teach them the word “kinetic.” Even a two-year-old loves new words!

Examples of Calder-Inspired Sculptures

  

Kinetic Sculptures with Pipe Cleaners

For kids to try their hands at an easy Calder-inspired sculpture, you will need:

Materials:

• Pipe cleaners (or other craft-wire on-hand)
• A base (such as a rock or a block of foam insulation or foam packing. Other ideas: a can of gravel or sand, a cup of playdough, or a colander turned upside down.)
• Decorations (any items you have on hand, like: buttons, paper scraps, stickers, beads, paint chips, bottle caps, hardware nuts, macaroni noodles, etc.)
• Glue or tape for sticking things together (or other ideas like ribbons, string, or stickers)

* You can see I’m always saying “or”, “or try this, or try that, or what do you have on hand?” because there are so many options, and no right or wrong way to do these creative sculptures. Sometimes the special things you and your kiddos find together will inspire the sculpture to take on new life and design in ways MaryAnn Kohl never thought possible, so have some fun!

Basic Steps:

1. The kids push the pipe cleaners into the base, or wrap around a base such as a rock. If using Styrofoam, push the wires in deep so they will be strong and hold up well.
2. Bend the wires into designs and shapes, or leave straight. It’s inspiring to cut the wires into different lengths with scissors. Pipe cleaners cut pretty easily.
3. Add decorations! Buttons will thread right onto the wires, and it’s easy to sandwich the wire between two gluey scraps or two stickers. Pony beads thread well onto the wires as do macaroni noodles and hardware “nuts”. Have fun choosing from whatever is on hand. You can always add cotton balls or even lumps of playdough! No rules! Wide open ideas.
4. Wiggle or blow on or shake or otherwise enjoy the movement of the wires and decorations. Movement = Kinetic.

Note: One of the brain-challenges of this sculpture is bending and arranging the wires so the sculpture will not fall over.

What else?

Did you ever think of hanging the sculpture upside down so it becomes a kinetic mobile? Consider adding strings or ribbons too! This project is absolutely wide open for creativity and possibilities. In fact, I once saw a child hammer nails into a block of sculpture and then drape yarn from one nail head to another and say, “Look at my Calder!” That could work here too! Or add some golf tees or toothpicks. Or, or, or.

I love this kind of project because it is completely dictated by the materials on hand and the willingness of the child to explore.

The project above is "a twist" on the pipe cleaner idea: 
Colorful craft wire wrapped and wrapped around itself,
and stapled to a block of wood  -- Calder in a different direction!

Shown below: Kids work with pipe cleaners and Styrofoam to build Calder-inspired sculptures at the annual Art Night, Mountain View Elementary School, Ferndale, WA, 2011. Each child creates in his or her own way, exploring and discovering through the process of art. The finished product is fun too, but it is the process that captured their creativity and individual thinking.

 

 

MaryAnn and a young friend in North Carolina are shown below, each creating a Calder-inspired sculpture with wire and foam insulation (cut into small blocks). May 2011.

 

MaryAnn F. Kohl is the author of over 20 books about art for children. Her books are published both by Gryphon House and by her own company, Bright Ring Publishing. Connect with MaryAnn online on Facebook, Twitter, and her own blog!

 

March 2012 ArtsyKidsNEWS

My blog post today shows you picture clips (the links won't work in these clips) from the March ArtsyKidsNEWS.

If you would like to subscribe to this once a month mailing with art ideas for kids of all ages, go to my webpage, lower right corner, and sign up! Join the creative fun!

Your email will be safe with me, and I only send the mailing once a month.

I would love to have you join.

 

MaryAnn

 

 

The Short Story of MaryAnn's Publishing Company: Bright Ring Publishing

The Short Story of MaryAnn's Publishing Company:
Bright Ring Publishing 

MaryAnn Faubion Kohl has a passion for children and for their natural creativity through art that first permeated her teaching years, then her parenting years, and now her current daily life. That passion became a publishing company in 1985, Bright Ring Publishing, Inc., with her first book, Scribble Cookies: Creative Independent Art Experiences for Children (now titled Scribble Art). There was nothing on the market like it and it has become a cherished classic for parents, teachers, childcares, homeschools, and libraries around the world.

Bright Ring has progressed from that simple classic to a full color glossy art book for kids, Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters (2009).

When asked about independent publishing, Kohl says, “Independent publishing has given me a voice and a crayon-bright-pipeline directly to kids that has changed the face of art for children in this country. What used to be cute kid crafts directed by adults is now true art inspired by children’s own creativity. My mission has been a joy and continues to grow as I bring my passion to the lives and art tables of kids everywhere.

One of the side benefits of my independent press is traveling and speaking to large groups of educators and librarians around the country, sharing my passion for creativity and art for children, and best of all, sharing hands-on art experiences with them. After they have been through ten or fifteen art experiences, and they feel the hands-on joy of pure creativity, they are hooked! If I sell a few books in the process, well then, I know I’ve succeeded.”

Bright Ring Publishing, Inc. recently completed a wide count of all the books in print that Bright Ring has published, those Kohl has written for Gryphon House, Inc. (another independent press), and those translated in numerous foreign countries (harder to count). The total it is closing in on 2 million copies. Kohl was asked, “How many children has each copy reached?” She replied, “The sheer thought of that number is gloriously staggering and impossible to know. It could be over sixty million, if I do a quick estimate, thinking of one book reaching a classroom of 30 kids per year, and then a new classroom the next year, and.... Forgive me if I take a moment and stare at the clouds imagining each of those children finding art within themselves.

Inspiring doesn’t quite cover it!

MaryAnn Kohl loves art for kids, and has enjoyed the publishing experince since 1985, bringing her books to children everywhere.

 

Special Sale: First Art for Toddlers and Twos

Hi, Everyone.

SPECiAL OFFER for
ALL MY Artsy BLOG FRIENDS!!

I have a box of  First Art  regular retail price $14.95,
which I'd like to offer for
$10.00 each book,
INCLUDING shipping.

Write to me at maryann@brightring.com with your
full address, and I'll send you a copy
(or as many copies as you'd like to buy). 

All you have to do is mail me a check for
$10 for each book, to MaryAnn Kohl.
Easy!!

This book has rave reviews and I think this is a
great opportunity to get a copy at a great price.

All copies are brand new and in perfect condition,
black and white interior with really cute illustrations.

I'm planning to put this up on my website, but will wait and give
my blog friends the first chance. There are only 24
so when they're gone, they're gone.

Remember: I need your address by email,
then I confirm with you and send you the book(s),
and you send me a check for $10 for each copy to:

MaryAnn Kohl
PO Box 31338
Bellingham, WA  98228 

SPECiAL OFFER
for ALL MY Artsy BLOG FRIENDS!
Hurry before they are gone!

Marvelous Homemade Paints: 20+ Recipes

Today I am sharing paint recipes from
the book First Art.
I worked with two toddler teachers/parents
Dana Bowman and Renee Ramsey putting it together.
First Art  is a book of art ideas for toddlers and two's.
This excerpt lists 20+ paint recipes, all homemade!!

 

Marvelous Homemade Paints: 20+ RecipesThe ingredients for a treasure trove of paint mixtures are right around the corner in the kitchen, laundry, and bath! Children will be intrigued, challenged, and delighted by painting with mixtures made from soap, flour, corn syrup, and other marvelous ingredients. Try these recipes any time, or when something new and different sounds like fun.

 * View inside the entire old version HERE!

PS This book is now in a full color edition.

Marvelous Homemade
Paints: 24 Recipes

Cold Cream Paint

muffin tin with 6 sections

cornstarch

cold cream

water

measuring spoons

food coloring

paintbrush

 

In each cup of a six-sectioned muffin tin, put 1 teaspoon (3 g) cornstarch, 

1/2 teaspoon (3 g) cold cream, and 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) water. Use a 

paintbrush to stir in a different color food coloring into each cup. Use as 

you would any paint. This also works as a gentle face paint.

 

Egg Paint

colored chalk (bright pastel chalk)

old ceramic bowl

round rock

spoon

muffin tin

teaspoon

water

1 egg

bowl and fork

paintbrush

 

Break pieces of chalk and put them into an old ceramic bowl. Grind them into 

powder using a round rock. Spoon the powder into muffin tin cups. Separate an 

egg, setting aside the egg white and putting the yolk into a bowl with 2 

teaspoons (10 ml) water. Whip the egg yolk and water with a fork until it is 

a frothy yellow. Add drops of egg-water to the ground colored chalk. Stir 

with a paintbrush until the mixture is a smooth, thin paint.

 

Cornstarch Paint

liquid tempera paint

cornstarch

measuring cup

spoon and bowl

 

Mix 1 cup (240 ml) liquid tempera paint and 1 cup (125 g) cornstarch in a 

bowl to make a thick paint that sticks well to paper.

 

Cornstarch Vinegar Paint

white vinegar

cornstarch

food coloring

measuring cups and spoons

spoon and bowl or baby food jar with lid

 

Mix together 2 teaspoons (10 ml) white vinegar, 2 teaspoons (7 g) cornstarch, 

and 20 drops of food coloring (more or less is fine) in a bowl (or shake in a 

baby food jar). This makes enough paint for one child.

 

Corn Syrup & Food Coloring

food coloring

corn syrup

cup and spoon

 

Pour corn syrup into a cup and mix in food coloring. Paint on white paper. 

The painting dries to a shiny, but sticky, result.

 

Frozen Liquid Watercolors

Liquid Watercolors 

small paper cups

freezer

plastic spoons

 

Pour Liquid Watercolors into small paper cups and put them into the freezer. 

When they are partially frozen, put plastic spoons into each cup. After they 

freeze, remove the paper cups. The spoons become handles.

 

Flour Paint

flour

liquid soap

water

measuring spoons and cups

spoon

bowl or large jar

food coloring drops or paste, or powdered tempera paint

 

Combine 3 cups (375 g) flour, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) liquid soap, and 3/4 cup 

(180 ml) water in a bowl or large jar until the mixture is a thick paste. Mix 

in food coloring until you have a desired shade.

 

Fragrant Paint

fragrances and spices (see suggestions below)

paint

spoon

 

Add fragrances and scents to paint. Some suggestions are shampoo, lemon or 

almond extract, peppermint extract, scented hand lotion, perfume or cologne, 

fruit drink mix, chocolate powder, and coffee. Adding spices adds texture and 

fragrance. Suggestions include cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil, sage, or 

others.

 

Textured Paint

textures (see suggestions below)

tempera paint

spoon

 

Add textures to tempera paints (or any of the paint mixtures in this book). 

Some possibilities are coffee grounds, sand, salt, sawdust, pencil shavings, 

oatmeal, or crumbled leaves.

 

Jell-O Paint

water

gelatin powder

bowl and spoon or jar with tight-fitting lid

 

Add water to any gelatin powder, such as Jell-O, so it has the consistency of 

watercolor paint. Use as a fingerpaint or a paint for brushing on glossy 

paper, freezer paper, or finger-painting paper. This paint is great for 

"scratch & sniff."

 

Milk & Food Coloring

milk

food coloring

bowl and spoon or jar with tight-fitting lid

 

Mix milk and food coloring together in a bowl or in a jar with a 

tight-fitting lid. Use as a paint for toast, bread, cupcakes, or other edible 

painting projects.

 

Mud Paint

sifted soil

water

cup

paintbrush

 

Mix sifted soil and water in a cup, stirring with a brush. Use it to paint on 

paper, fabric, or wood.

 

Milk Paint

powdered milk

cornstarch

measuring cups and spoons

bowl and spoon

warm water

food coloring drops or food coloring paste

 

Mix together 1/2 cup (75 g) powdered milk and 2 teaspoons (7 g) cornstarch in 

a bowl. Gradually add in 1/2 cup (120 ml) warm water until the paint is 

smooth. Then add in food coloring.

 

Paste Paint

flour

water

measuring cups

saucepan and mixing spoon

stove or hot plate (adult only)

food coloring or tempera paint

 

Mix together 1 cup (125 g) flour and 3 cups (720 ml) water in a saucepan. 

Boil on a stove or hot plate until the mixture is thick. Mix in any coloring, 

such as tempera paint or food coloring, for a paint that will keep its 

texture when dry.

 

Shampoo Paint

shampoo

measuring spoon

water

bowl and spoon

electric mixer

food coloring, optional

 

Mix 3 teaspoons (30 g) shampoo with a little water in a bowl, and then whip 

with an electric mixer until it is thick and creamy. If desired, add food 

coloring.

 

Shaving Cream & Glue Paint

shaving cream

white glue

measuring cup

bowl and mixing spoon

food coloring

 

Mix 1 cup (30 g) shaving cream with 1 cup (240 ml) white glue in a bowl. Add 

in food coloring as desired. This makes a puffy paint that works well on 

cardboard or paper.

 

Shiny Milk Paint

sweetened condensed milk

tempera paint

bowl and spoon or jar with tight-fitting lid

 

Mix together sweetened condensed milk with tempera paint in a bowl or in a 

jar with a tight-fitting lid. When the paint dries, it will be shiny.

 

Slick Paint

tempera paint

white glue

bowl and spoon

 

Mix together an equal amount of tempera paint and white glue in a bowl. This 

mixture works well on glass and other slick surfaces such as aluminum foil.

 

Snow Paint

flour

salt

water

measuring cups

bowl and spoon or jar with tight-fitting lid

tempera paint or food coloring, optional

 

Mix together 1 cup (125 g) flour, 1 cup (250 g) salt, and 1 cup (240 ml) 

water in a bowl or jar. This makes a white paint that looks like snow when 

used on dark paper. Add tempera paint or food coloring, if desired. This 

paint dries hard.

 

Tea Paint

tea bag or instant coffee

water

measuring cup

bowl or cup

 

Soak a tea bag in 1/4 cup (60 ml) water, or add instant coffee to the water. 

Make it dark or light, for color variation. Use this paint for painting on 

plain paper or for shading.

 

Tempera & Starch Brush On

tempera paint

liquid starch

measuring cups

bowl and spoon

water

 

Mix together 2 cups (480 ml) tempera paint and 1 cup (240 ml) liquid starch 

in a bowl until it is smooth and creamy. Add water slowly while mixing, until 

the paint is thick and spreadable. Use it for painting on any type of paper, 

cardboard, or wood.

 

Vinegar Watercolor Paint

white vinegar

baking soda

measuring spoons

small bowl and spoon

cornstarch

glycerin

plastic bottle caps from 2-liter bottles

liquid food coloring

 

Mix together 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar and 2 tablespoons (30 g) 

baking soda in a small bowl; it will bubble. When it stops bubbling, add 1 

tablespoon (10 g) cornstarch and 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) glycerin, mixing well. 

Pour the mixture into bottle caps. Add several drops of food coloring to each 

bottle cap. Allow it to dry overnight to make a watercolor paint similar to 

those found in watercolor paint boxes. (Double or triple this recipe to make 

more colors or to fill more caps.)

 

a little more from First Art .....

Painting Goes Wild! 

Collect and create homemade paintbrushes using imaginative materials such as 

feathers, bristles taped together, fern leaves, a sponge on a stick, or 

cattails. Each adds surprise to a painting experiment.

Materials

newspaper or a plastic tablecloth

tempera paints

Styrofoam grocery trays

paper, in a variety of sizes and types

tray

homemade brushes (see list)

Things to Use as Homemade Brushes 

broom bristles (break a few bristles off an outdoor broom and tape together)

cattails with long stem

dish mops, dish scrubbers, or dish sponges

fern leaves

inflated balloons

long feathers

pine branches with needles attached

small sponges clipped in a clothespin or tied to the end of a chopstick

socks or mittens on one hand

 

Prepare (Adult)

* Protect the work area with newspaper or a plastic tablecloth.

* Place several colors of tempera paints into Styrofoam grocery trays and put 

them on the table.

* Place a sheet of paper in front of each toddler.

* Put several types of homemade brushes on a tray for the children to choose 

from.

 

Process (Child)

* Dip a homemade paintbrush into paint, then brush the paint on the paper.

* Try other brushes as desired.

* Paint with homemade brushes at the easel, on top of paper on the floor, or 

paper taped to the wall.

 

First Art Tips

* Place a loop of masking tape on the bottom of each paint tray to keep it 

attached to the table. Sometimes the homemade brushes can stick to the paint 

and lift the trays if they are not taped.

* Children can become very opinionated about what should or should not be 

used for painting. Don't be surprised!

* Plastic liter bottles cut in half make great cups for paint. Save the tops 

to use as funnels.

 

* Easel Variations--

Painting at the easel is a basic and important art 

experience for toddlers and twos. To stimulate creativity, change the paper 

or paint at the easel. For example, encourage the children to paint on 

grocery bags or a sheet of paper with a hole cut out of the middle. Or they 

can try painting on a big sheet of newspaper or an old poster with the 

graphics showing. Paint on clear Plexiglas. Try a new paint recipe or 

different brushes. Use chalk or crayons, pencils, or pens. Paint with water 

on cardboard sprayed with chalkboard paint, or paint with water on plain 

cardboard or wood. Paint on little sheets of paper with small brushes or big 

paper with oversized brushes. Paint on fabric squares.

 

The sky is the limit, and variety is the spice of every child's creative life!

 

 

Amazing Mommy-Blog Christmas Ideas

I've chosen a few of my all time favorite Mommy Blog Christmas ideas to share. You cannot go wrong with these blogs on any day, and Christmas seems to have brought out art for children is that exemplary and wonderful in so many ways.

I cannot thank these young exciting mommy-bloggers enough for what they contribute to the world of children's creativity. Bless each and every one of you for your dedication and hard work.

~ MaryAnn

 

Painted Snowflakes from "The Artful Parent"

My comments: Cut coffee filters into snowflakes and paint. (You can also do this with flour tortillas and any variety of peanut butter, jam, or colored cream cheese for a fun snack.) You could also paint the coffee filters first and then cut the snowflake when it's dry.
Thank you, AP! 

Spin Art Christmas Tree Cards from "The Chocolate Muffin Tree"

The Chcolate Muffin Tree blog shows us a way to take spin art and cut triangles to assemble in a tree shape and then further decorate with paint dots, glitter, stars, foil, sequins, etc. Cotton is added for snow, which we know kids would love. I just love how happy these little trees are dancing in the snow. Thank you, CMT!

16 Christmas tree crafts to try from "NurtureStore"

NurtureStore shares some amazing Christmas Tree art -- these are far more art than craft, and so beautiful!

One of my favorites is the paint chip art cut into trianges to make little trees. Great gift tags!
And look at the sticks and driftwood tree.  Ooooo.

Sixteen different ideas for you, and just amazingly beautiful yet exploratory and unique for each child. 

Recycled Paint Stick Snowman from "Pink and Green Mama"
"Measure the snowfall!"

Pink and Green Mama blog shares this cute craft. I bet no two snowman sticks will look alike! Provide lots of felt, paper scraps, and ribbon or fabric strips for his scarf. Number at one inch intervals from the bottom up (from 1 to 8), and you have a measuring stick to count the inches of snowfall on Christmas Eve. (dreaming of a....)
Thank you, P&GM! 

 

Recycled Materials Christmas Tree from "The Imagination Tree"

The Imagination Tree provides the young artist with a cardboard tree shape, and then stands back as the artist paints the tree base and then adds scraps and doodads and other items from their "Jar of Wonder". Oh glorious! Check their blog to see how they fix the tree to stand.

Thank you IT! 

 

Thank you all for making Christmas merry, bright, and creative for children.

And Happy New Year to All!

 

PS. I send out a newsletter once a month with an art idea and other news and fun. If you'd like to sign up, go here.  

 

 

 

5 Days of Art with Leaves -- PLUS two bonus leaf art ideas

5 Days of Art with Leaves ::: PLUS two bonus leaf art ideas!!

 The original article by  Kaplan Early Learning  
from October 14, 2011 with added photos and comments by MaryAnn.

With as many leaves on the ground as there are on the trees, October is the perfect time to create leaf art! Have your students collect a colorful assortment of autumn leaves and explore a week of exciting leaf art activities from Art with Anything by MaryAnn Kohl!

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Day 1: Basic Leaf Paint and Print

Materials:

• Leaf (any color)
• Watercolor paints andpaintbrush
• Drawing or construction paper

What to Do:

• Place a leaf on a covered workspace. Paint the leaf with watercolor paints. While the leaf is still wet, press white paper on the painted leaf, patting and pressing with your fingers to help the paper pick up the paint design.
• Lift the paper from the leaf to see the print transferred to the white paper.

Hint: Sometimes the leaf sticks to the paper and needs to be peeled away.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 

Day 2: Leaf Burst

Materials:

• Leaves (real or paper cut into leaf shapes)
• Drawing paper
• Damp sponge
• Thin tempera paint or liquid watercolors in a shallow tray

What to Do:

• Choose whole, complete leaves with good edges, either fresh green leaves or supple fall leaves. If leaves are unavailable, draw bold leaf shapes on paper and cut them out to use instead.
• Hold a leaf firmly on a sheet of drawing paper with one hand. Dip a damp sponge into thin paint with the other hand. Dab all around the edges of the leaf, brushing the sponge outward from the leaf’s edge onto the paper creating a “burst” design.
• Gently lift the leaf from the paper to see the clean stencil with a brushed burst design. Make several burst on one paper, changing colors and overlapping shapes, if desired.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Day 3: Watercolor Leaf Paint   

Materials:

• Watercolor paint and paintbrush
• Drawing paper
• Leaves

What to Do:

• Cover a sheet of drawing paper with very wet watercolor paints. Paint color all over the paper without making a picture. Press leaves into the paint in any pattern or arrangement.
• Let the painting dry completely, usually overnight.
• Peel off the leaves and see the design images remaining in the paint.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Day 4: Wiggle Leaf Design

 image 2

Materials:

• 2 or 3 fresh green or supple autumn leaves or paper leaves
• Large drawing paper
• Black marker (permanent marker works best)
• Crayons, colored pencils, and markers

What to Do:

• Using the black marker, trace around two or three leaves (and no more) on paper. Color each leaf with crayons or markers.
• With a crayon or colored pencil, trace just beyond the leaf shape by ½” or so, following the shape, but not touching it. Then trace around this line, about ½” more, expanding out from the original leaf.  *See image 1 with black lines.
• Do the same around each leaf with ever-expanding lines. As the expanding lines grow, lines will at some point bump into each other. Make an artistic decision about when to stop drawing lines. Even if they cross over each other, the design will be interesting and look “wiggly,” like an optical illusion. * See image 2 with lines colored in.

image 2 

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Day 5: Melted Leaf Mobile

Materials:

• One large leaf, either real or cut from paper
• Electric buffet warming tray – adult supervision needed
• Mittens or work gloves to protect hands
• Old, peeled stubs of crayon
• Stick or thin tree branch from outdoors (12” – 18” long) or a paper towel tube 
• String, thread, or yarn
• Paper towels or rag for clean up

Note: Although the warming tray will not get very hot on the “warm” setting, it is important to have an adult nearby at all times and to wear protective mittens or work gloves for this activity.

What to Do:

• Place a large leaf on an electric buffet warming tray (ask an adult to set the temperature on “warm”). Leaf shapes cut from paper are equally effective for this activity.
• Use a crayon to draw on the leaf. Allow the warm tray to melt the crayon as you slowly color the leaf or paper leaf shape. Try mixing several colors on the leaf if desired.
• Remove the leaf and set it aside. Color several more leaves in the same way.
• Attach each leaf to a tree branch with a different lengthof string, thread, or yarn so the leaves hang down at various levels. To hang this tree branch mobile, tie string to each end of the branch (or paper towel tube) and join them above.

Note: Electric buffet warming trays are usually available in thrift stores and yard sales. Warming trays are easy to clean: While the surface is still warm, wipe off the warm crayon with an old towel or paper towels. If you use the tray only for art, detailed cleaning is not necessary. If you plan to use the tray for non-art related activities, cover it with foil before using it for this activity.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Art with Anything by MaryAnn Kohl is available from Kaplan and Gryphon House for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. For more books by MaryAnn Kohl or for more amazing early childhood resources, visit the Gryphon House website. MaryAnn's website is another great resource for this title.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

BONUS LEAF ART IDEA:
Leaves Like Matisse!!

 

Create a leaf cutting like the great master, Henri Matisse!!

Stack colored paper, from three to five sheets, or whatever number of papers you think you can cut through easily. Cut a leaf shape Matisse style from all the paper at once. Fan out the results and look them over. Then paste the shapes on a background paper in a design you enjoy.

Here's an original by Matisse: (* Oh, how I love Matisse's work!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Optical Leaf Cuts

Another interesting leaf art design you might enjoy sharing with kids is this abstract optional illusion. It's easier than it looks. 

The basic directions are
1.  Cut a leaf shape from the orange papers. (You can use any colors, and any shapes.)
2.  Glue all the orange squares with the missing leaves  on a background paper, in this case, yellow paper.
3.  Next glue all the orange leaves in the yellow spaces. This artist chose to flip the orange leaves over, but you can do anything you like.

Easy to do. Really!!

Halloween Color-Changing Cups of Spooky Fun

I saw this idea somewhere and thought it would be fun to try, but I have my own take on the color changing fun (see idea 2)! Kids will be thrilled with the way their drink changes color before their eyes.

Halloween Magic Begins!
MAGICAL COLOR CHANGING DRINKS 

You will need:

    party cups, clear or solid

    food coloring, ice 

    any clear drink (Sprite, Fresca, Ginger Ale, 7-Up, Club Soda)

Idea 1: 

 Place a drop of food coloring at the bottom of each
party cup and let dry. When ready to serve, fill each
cup with clear ice. Then pour in the beverage, and
watch the kids be surprised as their drink changes color. 

Idea 2:

 Pre-freeze ice cubes in different colors using strong
food coloring. When ready to serve, fill the cups with
a clear beverage and leave room for a few ice cubes.
Plop in the cubes at the last minute, and suggest to
the kids that they look at their "magic" clear drink
to see if anything is happening.

All this color changing reminds me of the little ball of white 
playdough you can give a child, but inside is a tiny drop 
or two of food coloring. As the child plays with the 
dough by hand, the color(s) begin to emerge.

 

 

Great American Artists for Kids: A Look at Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was a photographer most famous for his magnificent California nature pictures. However, during World War II, Adams surprised the art world when he traveled to the Japanese concentration camp in Manzanar, California. Here he photographed many of the American families imprisoned there, documenting the hardships and positive spirit of these brave Americans. I believe the pictures from Manzanar are among Adams' best work.

Adams' Manzanar photographs can inspire children to see how powerful photography can be.

How can children be inspired by Adams portraits?

One idea is to encourage children to express themselves through portrait photography. In the page below, second grade children chose, completely on their own, how they wished to be photographed: how to pose themselves, what props if any they might like to include, and also titled their portraits -- all as a way of expressing themselves and their current interests or emotions.

The most successful part of this project was seeing inside children in a different way than I usually saw them. I learned much about children who did not necessarily wish to express themselves through words. I was surprised on many levels -- surprised, delighted, and moved.

For this project, I handled the digital camera and took the pictures, though children could also take on this part of the projects. Children came into the photo area alone and assumed their pose, having previously thought it over (and some practiced). I snapped the picture, and later each child was able to view the picture on the computer where they chose a title and talked a little about it if they chose.

I recommend you explore portrait photography with your kids,  inspired by Ansel Adams. There's more to the photo than meets the eye.

 

~ MaryAnn

* This project can be found in the book Great American Artists for Kids
by MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga. The book is available in paperback
and in an eBook format. 

More information about Ansel Adams.  Wonderful display of his nature photos.

Shaving Cream Leaves, from the "Little Wonders' Days" blog

Shaving Cream Leaves, from Little Wonders' Days blog

* All links take you to Little Wonders' Days

Thank you, Little Wonders' Days! I'm sending all my blog friends over to visit you!

Little J was asking how many days until school started the other day. When I told him that there was about a month of summer break left he was rather quiet. I noticed later that he still seemed off. When I asked him he told me that he was going to miss having all the fun we had this summer. I reminded him of all the fun he had at school and how much he would enjoy seeing all his sweet friends again. This cheered him up some.

It really cheered him up when I suggested that we do a project together that I knew he enjoyed- shaving cream painting! 

It occurred to me that we could do something with our project to help him look forward to going back to school and let him know that while we won't have the lazy days of summer, we will still have Friday fun.

Friday fun is a little "I love you ritual" that we started when Little J was in kindergarten. With the busy weeks of school, extracurricular activities, homework, and earlier bedtimes, it's easy to miss each other.  We started doing simple things that we usually don't have time for during the other weekdays.  Things that help us spend time together and reconnect. 

When they dried, Little J and I thought of a few things together that would be fun to do this September. We wrote them on backs of the leaves (on post it notes...I'm hoping to get them back for our autumn traditions tree) and then put them on his bedroom door. 

• Take a walk on a nature trail
• Play at a favorite park
• Make ice cream for dessert
• Go to the science museum
• Go for an afternoon picnic
• Do a traveling story hour

 

Ivory Soap Amazing Colorful Microwaved Puff Ball, from "The Chocolate Muffin Tree" blog

The Chocolate Muffin Tree is one of my favorite blogs for fun creative ideas of things to do with kids. I had never seen this Ivory Soap sculpture idea, and just had to share it! Check out the Choclate Muffin Tree for further creative ideas and fun.  ~ MaryAnn 

:::::::: From The Chocolate Muffin Tree blog ::::::::
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

Colorful Ivory Soap Sculpture

Have you ever tried the Ivory Soap Trick? It is super easy and a Great Science Lesson! We just happened to have some Ivory Soap around and I happened to come across this idea from the weekly post 10 Ways To Make Today More Magical from A Magical Childhood. I've seen this idea many times, but it was a great reminder to try it! The instructions and Science behind it are found here, if you want more detail. We did the trick a few times (It is addicting!), but also put an Artsy twist on it! Here is our Colorful Ivory Soap Sculpture. Keep reading to find out how we  did this trick and how we made it more fun! 

Before the trick, I did a little reading about the science behind this amazing experiment here and decided to incorporate a little bit of learning about what floats and what sinks and why? We tested a bar of Dial Soap and Ivory Soap and noticed which one sank and which one floated. I had my daughter try to guess why? Then I explained that the Ivory soap has air in it which causes it to float and Dial soap has very little or no air.

To do the trick, first put a unwrapped bar of Ivory soap on a paper plate or piece of paper towel.

Place the soap in your microwave for about 90 seconds and it will puff out and grow into this amazing looking foam sculpture!!!! I didn't let my daughter watch the whole time because of the microwaves harmful rays! Interesting Information: My Father, who worked with radiation, has told me the most dangerous place to stand is the side of the microwave because that is where the harmful rays leak out! He said the front has a protective shield on it so I just thought I would pass that along since I am mentioning the dangers of microwaves.

Now you can see how the soap puffed out! My daughter absolutely LOVED this! We've done it three times and she keeps asking about doing it again! I explained to my daughter that the reason it puffs out is because there is air inside the soap that makes it expand when heated ... she seemed to understand! To make our Ivory Soap Puffed Sculpture more beautiful, I let her put drops of Liquid Watercolor (you could use food coloring) on it to paint it! Be careful because the soap is hot right out of the oven and especially in the center of the soap!

The sculpture is not at all permanent and flakes apart so it is definitely an "in the moment" activity! My daughter loved touching the sculpture and wanted to save pieces of it!!!

Here is a finished "Colorful Ivory Soap Sculpture" again! Beautiful! (or Not?) What do you think? We put the finished sculpture back in the microwave to see what would happen and there was not much difference. I appreciated that my daughter wanted to keep experimenting!

I know we will be doing this "Trick" again and again!!! My daughter keeps eyeing our Ivory soap in the bathroom closet and I'm sure it will happen soon! If you are wondering if you should try this ... it is totally worth it!!! Have FUN !

Thank you, Chocolate Muffin Tree,
for posting this wild and exciting soap sculpture!

 

Hands-On Art Workshop, photos

 

I spent the weekend in Hillsboro, Oregon
with CAOWASH enjoying the hands-on art
workshops I offered throughout the day.

Here are some pictures:

         
 

 

I think the favorite art was melting crayons on the warming trays (center, lower).

I personally love "smooshing" play clay and blending colors (left, lower).

The salty watercolors were a big hit too (right, upper).

Block sculptures with pipecleaners and other odds and ends are fun for all ages (right, lower ).

I'd love to come to your CCR&R or other group in your area.
We can learn and play at the same time.

Visit: www.brightring.com to find info on "MaryAnn Presents!"

Remember: 

1. Sign up for my maiing list to receive the ArtsyNEWS four times a year, plus other special offers. (Sign up link... click on the bug below.)

2.  My website www.brightring.com has lots of free art ideas in "Free Activities"

 

 

Dinosaur Claws

Dinosaur Claws
- from the book, Snacktivities
Serves 5

Here's an easy recipe, and fun for kids.  
    This photo gives some idea of the results,
    but when making your Dinosaur Claws, stick the almonds
    into the dough to look like claws, not sprinkled on top. 

 

Ingredients:

1 can of refrigerator biscuits
margarine, melted
cinnamon sugar
almond slivers

 

 

Utensils:

oven, preheated to 425º degrees F or according to biscuit directions
baking sheet
pastry brush
oven mitts
squares of clean, plain cardboard
permanent markers

Process:

1. Bake the biscuits according to package directions, usually about 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Wear oven mitts and remove the baking sheet and biscuits from the oven.

3. Brush each biscuit with melted margarine. Sprinkle biscuits with cinnamon sugar.

4. While the biscuit is still very warm, carefully insert 5 almond slivers around the edge of the biscuit so it looks like the claws of a dinosaur.

5. Draw tracks near the edges on the clean squares of cardboard with the permanent markers.

6. Serve the claws on the cardboard squares.

 

copyright © 2010 MaryAnn Kohl 
This article/art activity is copyright protected.

Permission is granted to reprint one copy for personal use only.
Please contact maryann@brightring.com or 800-480-4278 for
permission to reprint multiple copies or to disperse.

 

Crayon Melting on a Warm Plate, from www.playcreateexplore.com

Here's a wonderful art project
from Play Create Explore! 
Melting crayons on a warming tray
is one of my favorite art activities,
but not everyone has a warming tray,
and this finally solves the
problem! Great idea!! 

http://www.playcreateexplore.com/2011/01/crayon-melting.html

Crayon Melting on a Warm Plate

L did a crayon melting activity today while I cleaned the kitchen and he loved it!
Warm a plate in the microwave or under hot water.
It doesn't need to be scorching hot to melt the crayons. My plate was very warm to the touch and I explained to L that the plate was very warm. He bumped it a few times, with no reaction.
Just test it first to be on the safe side. 
Give your child some peeled crayons and let them discover the fun of drawing with melting crayons! 

         * Note from MaryAnn: Soak old crayons overnight in a tub of water.
            The paper slides right off.

The great part about this is that with hot water, and dish soap, and a scrubbie, the plate washes clean! So you can give your little artist a clean palette when they cover the plate, so they can start again, AND when they're all done, you'll still have a usable plate! However, don't expect to use the scrubbie again. It remains a bit waxy.
 * Note from MaryAnn: To clean easily, reheat the plate and wipe nearly clean with a paper towel. Then wash as usual.

 

Mixing Mouse Tracks, from Storybook Art

Mouse Paint - 

Some ideas for following up reading the book:

Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh, author

While trying to outsmart a cat, three white mice come upon jars of red, blue and yellow paint. They dance, jump, and amaze themselves as they mix colors, discovering how to make purple and orange and green!

Young children heard the story and then had a chance to mix, paint, and create their own little mice playing in paint colors.

 Toddlers "mouse paint" with their bare feet on butcher paper.

The kids shown above had a chance to paint on toast, using milk colored with food coloring.

Read how to make mouse tracks 
Mouse Paint: by Ellen Stoll Walsh, author

While trying to outsmart a cat, three white mice come upon jars of red, blue and yellow paint. They dance, jump, and amaze themselves as they mix colors, discovering how to make purple and orange and green!

Explore Stoll's color mixing idea as acted out by three white (briefly) mice. Print colorful mouse tracks with a plastic toy mouse dipped in paint. Imaginative mixing of colors is encouraged, like any good mouse would do!

Mixing Mouse Tracks 
from Storybook Art
copyright © 2003 Bright Ring Publishing
Please do not copy or reprint other than for personal use.
Permission for reprint, contact MaryAnn Kohl. 

Materials:

• plastic toy mice (used for party favors around Halloween - if none available, simply make a thumb or finger print, and pretend it is a mouse track! The eraser of pencil also makes a nice little track.
• tempera paints in flat Styrofoam grocery trays

Process:

1. Spread a thin layer of paint in a Styrofoam grocery tray, one color for each tray. Red, blue, and yellow primary colors are good choices and correlate with the story illustrations.

2. Press the fee of a plastic mouse into one color of paint, and then onto paper to make mouse tracks. Make many, many tracks here, there, and everywhere!

3. Dip the toy mouse in a variety of paint colors so colored tracks can mix and combine, just like in the book. Try to make purple, green and orange.

Variations:

• On a warm, sunny day, go outside with bare feet. Walk in a tray of cool squishy paint, and then on paper, recreating the idea of mouse tracks. Repeat one color or walk through previously made footprints so colors will mix and create new colors.

• On the end of a wooden dowel, glue a mouse shaped track cut from the insole of a shoe or a stick-on toe pad. Let the glue dry. Make mouse track prints by pressing the track in paint and then on paper.

• Create painted footprints directly on a blacktop or concrete playground, sidewalk, or driveway. Prints will eventually rinse away after many rainy days.

 

In the Style of Diebenkorn (Stain Painting)

 

click on the book's pages above to see a larger version in a new window

© Note ©
These two pages are copyright protected. 
You may enjoy them for personal use, 
but may not share or disperse them in any form.
For permission to reprint or share, contact maryann@brightring.com 
© copyright MaryAnn Kohl 2011 

Richard Diebenkorn

April 22, 1922 - March 30, 1993

Diebenkorn was born in Portland, Oregon in 1922, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay area where the colors of fog and sea and mist were his everyday companions. His paintings reflect his ocean environment and exposure in abstract works, especially through his famous "Ocean Park Series" paintings.

Though Diebenkorn did not use stain painting technique, children can create paintings that reflect their own special colors too, in an easy to do project called "Stain Painting" based on Diebenkorn's abstract designs. Use bits and pieces of art tissue painted onto paper with water. Once blurred and wet, the art tissue is then removed, leaving a captivating blurred stain on the paper. (Some artists prefer to leave their art tissue on the paper and not peel it away.)

Pages 76 and 77 in "Great American Artists for Kids" shows an example by Richard Diebenkorn as well as four different artworks by children of various ages.

Kids love how the colors blend and blur and bleed from the art tissue, and yes, you can use crepe paper too! Enjoy this project, compliments of Bright Ring Publishing! If you have scans or pictures of what your kids make, send to MaryAnn and I can post them on this blog if you like.

 

Chalk on Starched Fabric: An Art Experience from "Almost Unschoolers" blog

Drawing With Chalk on Wet, Starched Fabric
from "Almost Unschoolers" blog 

Posted completely from
http://almostunschoolers.blogspot.com/2011/07/drawing-with-chalk-on-wet-starched.html 

© 2011  All photos property of almostunschoolers.blogspot.

Almost Unschoolers experimented with chalk and starch drawing today,
with an idea from Preschool Art: Drawing (preview the book in Google Books).

To quote "Almost Unschoolers" blogging mom:

"I cut a few scraps of cotton fabric into squares,
and gave them a quick soak in liquid starch.

 

Wringing the squares out...

 

... laid them flat, in pans, and had the girls color on them with colored chalk.

It worked out great, as the starch not only let the chalk blend out a bit, but really brightened the colors, and "set" it on the fabric (as long as it's not washed), so it won't rub off.

Making the dried pieces perfect for hanging - framed in popsicle sticks, stretched across embroidery hoops, or with twigs and twine, or whatever happens to be handy.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

POSTED BY AN ALMOST UNSCHOOLING MOM "

a HUGE t h a n k  y o u,  

to the
a l m o s t  
u n s c h o o l i n g  

m o m !!

Art Book Give-Away * 3 WINNERS ANNOUNCED! *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

 ... and the WINNERS are ... 

Cathy Wilson - Mudworks

 Christina Spencer  - Storybook Art

 Jenna Freck - Great American Artists for Kids 

Winners:
Please send your mailing address to my email
                 maryann@brightring.com
and your books will go out in the mail right away! 

* Note:
The winners were chosen by a blind random drawing 
in the offices of Bright Ring Publishing.
Names or entries of winners or other particpants 
will never be used for any other purpose 
without their express permission. 
 

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! 

_{. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .}  

Cathy Wilson said:

I already have your Great Artists books and I use them for my junior high art classes. AND I would love to have MudWorks. As a child, I didn't have much confidence in making art, but I do remember finding a side yard that had been recently seeded. To my ten-year-old mind, it looked like the perfect place to make some designs. I didn't have a clue about seeding! I got shovels and a garden hose, and carved out a beautiful city with bridges and rivers and tunnels and buildings. As I recall, my parents didn't punish me for this, even though it ruined their seeding job. I remember the huge delight of running water through the muddy waterworks!

Christina Spencer said:

MaryAnn, I would love to have a copy of your "StoryBook Art". I'm an Artist and Art Educator trying to develop a curriculum to bring art to all ages at our local Arts Center. They have never had classes for the toddler/preschool age. I'm starting up a class called ARTventures: A Story + Art What a Great Start to an ARTventure! I love the age group! I taught toddlers at a daycare for 4 years and have a 2 year old at home. I was hired at the Arts Center as an on site Artist and Education Coordinator. Your book would give me ideas for so many stories and art projects to play off of! I love the teaching about story telling, visual literacy and illustrators as working artists. I hope that it will inspire them to create their own stories.

Jenna Freck said:

I completely enjoy your books. I'd love to have Great American Artists for Kids - I've checked it out from the library twice and renewed it twice...so many fabulous projects and I love that the kids drew the portraits of the artists! All of your books are awesome. My mom, a very creative soul, was always making things when I was small, and I remember when she put a paintbrush in my hand when I was two, walked me over to my easel, and let me paint away, while my dog Blazer licked my ear, looking over my shoulder. Another time she let me help make huge paper mache animals that were as tall as I was, from the messy mache time to painting the spots on the giraffes she made... Also there was this great after school art class at a studio right at school called "Cloud 9 studio" - where my teacher gave us big balls of clay and we made these cool 'matterhorns' with tunnels that traveled through them, and he'd start a marble at the top and we'd watch in suspense as it traveled to the bottom...endless fun. I remember making tickets for the airplane, and pretending to be a passenger on board, making all of the things you'd need to make the flight comfortable, etc...all creating, imagining... Then when I turned 10, Mom signed me up for an oil painting class with her friend Louise. It was there that I leaned that I loved to paint, and catch facial expression and paint portraits of people, and animals. The rest is history...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Dear *ALL* Blog Participants ~

How I wish I could give 215 books as prizes, because that's how many childhood memories were shared during this contest! The time you took to go back into your childhood memories and share those moments with us is truly appreciated. I had no idea that your memories would be so powerful and moving. You had me laughing and crying as I read through each one. 

I hope you enjoyed the experience, and if you have time, do read through all the comments because they are inspiring (and entertaining at times)! I think more than anything your memories of your own art experiences as a child remind each of us how important we are in the lives of the children we touch, and how the things we do, the opportunities we offer, the way we interact... it all makes a difference.

We matter!  :)

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

Thanks to each and every one of you for participating
and sharing your childhood memories of art!

 

And special congratulations to Cathy, Christina, and Jenna.
I hope you each enjoy your prizes! 

 

 

MaryAnn   
(1950)

Some Favorite Artworks by Kids

I chose a few random favorite artworks for you to enjoy. And here they are! I'll share more in the next few days. If you need specific comments about each one, I can add those but for now, just artworks. 

  I love this painting because the cat extends beyond the border of the artwork.

 

Matisse style cutouts in a new way... colorful spirals hooked together and glued on a blue background.

 

 What little rabbit could be cuter than this one?

 Smooshing non-hardening play clay on paper is a new and tactile way to "paint."

 The Three Flamingoes... Crayon and chalk, and crayon resist.

 An interesting little cat drawing.

Matisse style cutouts of little houses glued on a black background. The houses were cut in one "cutting" from a stack of colored paper squares. And then there's the big flower.

 

 Stained glass in the style of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Three kids taped their three panels together to make one window. Grade 2. Contact paper and art tissue, with shapes outlined in black marker, black tape to join them.

  Absolutely beautiful chalk on the sidewalks of Bellingham, Washginton. Age unknown.

 Fox chalk art, Bellingham, Was. Age unknown.

  Photo portrait surrounded by painting and drawing.

 

Drawing Incorporated: fill in with imagination

This is a little idea my dad used to do with me at the kitchen table, and I still do this with kids whenever there's some time to play with drawing. Cut out a picture from a magazine or catalog, and glue it on a sheet of paper. Make a bunch of them! Then draw what's "missing", but don't go for the obvious, draw something with imagination. Get ready for laughter!!

* You can also do other challenging or inspiring things like cut a hole in the paper or glue a solid shape to the paper and try to incorporate those things into a drawing.

Want to see some finished artworks by kids?

    Red scraps were glued to paper and then children could choose which paper they wanted to "finish drawing".

   Everyone had the same cat glued on their paper. This child turned his upside down and made a balloon with a cat in it. As I recall, this student worked on the computer to draw in the details rather than on actual paper.

 

     This boy cut a cow head from a magazine and then drew the details to make the cow a dancing ballerina-cow with a rose.

 

From the Curly Birds Blog: Sciencey Fun (Science Arts book)

Bloggy Fun For Father's Day: ScienceArts

The following post is directly from the Curly Birds blog, showing Science Arts (my book) along with the materials for making a volcano. Thank you, Curly Birds! All credit on this page goes to you! See fullsize photos at Curly Birds.  Bloggy Fun For Father's Day: ScienceArts

Father's Day Gift - Tub of Sciencey Fun   

A thoughtful gift for Father's Day - a fun box of quick, weird and wonderful activities for dads and kids to do together. It is a tub of sciencey fun and a convenient way to have all the materials readily available for a spontaneous afternoon of exploration.

 

For clever science experiments aimed at a younger audience, I bought MaryAnn Kohl's Science Arts. I then chose 15 activities that looked like fun and purchased all the materials to make the projects. I labeled each material with the corresponding project page number and tabbed each of the chosen projects in the book. 

The girls used all the leftover stickers to decorate a big tub to keep the materials and book in. And there you have it - a tub of sciencey fun.
The girls and I made this for Eric last year and it has been used, loved, and restocked many times. Posted on June 01, 2011 at 06:20 PM in Celebrate, Create, Family, hand-made gifts  at Curly Birds

All credit for this post goes to Curly Birds

Cut-Up Repeat (in the style of Matisse)

Matisse Cut-Up Repeats

Try these wonderful bold cut-outs, much like the style of Henri Matisse.

Make a little stack of 5 or 6 colored squares, and staple once in the corner to hold together. Then cut one shape from the stack. (Little kids need less paper to cut through easily, and older kids can experiment to see how many they can handle.) Some kids can cut free-hand like Matisse, and others will prefer to draw a shape first. 

Glue the shapes in any pattern or design on a background paper. Black or bright blue is particularly effective, but any color works fine.

Matisse's cut paper leaves spray across the paper in wild abandon, and yet placed with care and great visual pleasure for the viewer.

 

 

 

 

Polynesia by Matisse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Matisse cuts his famous paper shapes. When he became too ill to paint, he invented his wild and wonderful paper shapes. He was called a Fauvist, which means "wild beast", for no one had ever created art such as this before.

 

Matisse is shown in his studio in his home in France with his artwork surrounding him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matisse poses in his garden. I think his face shows the kind of person he was, as beautiful and cheerful as his artwork.

When he became too ill to leave his bed, he painted his grandchildren's images on the ceiling above his bed using a broom handle with a paintbrush tied to it so he could enjoy looking at them when they were not with him. That tells me everything I need to know.

 

More Kid Art Works after Matisse

Spray Paint & Scrape Sequence Photos

A preschool teacher friend of mine, Margaret Mahowald, asked a little guy at her center to help us show the process of "spray and scrape" paintings. He agreed, and here are the steps and results:

• 1. Photo of all the materials, including the scraper (use any straight edge, like a credit card or ruler).
• 2. Child colors with Cray-Pas^TM (oil pastels). Crayons work too.
• 3. Child getting ready to spray.  
• 4. Child sprays his drawing with a fine mist of liquid watercolors. He has chosen green. (Thin tempera paint works too. Or strong food coloring in a little water.)
• 5. Child scraps and smears the paint to cover the drawing in any way. (Some kids like to keep the spray as is and not scrape it.)
• 6. Finished resist. The paint is almost completely dry from the scraping smearing step. 

photos by Margaret Mahowald, 
Calvary Lutheran Church preschool,
Golden Valley, Minnesota

 

THANK YOU, MARGARET 

Spray & Scrape Drawing

Draw with crayons on paper. Draw shiny and bright. If you have oil pastels, they work really well for this project too.

Spray liquid watercolor paint over the crayon drawing, and before it can dry.
scrape the paint with a spatula to spread and dry it. (You can also use a credit card or ruler to spread the paint.) 

The bottles that I use that work best are from Discount School Supply and make a fine controllable mist, not a wide spray like some. Liquid Watercolors come in amazing colors, including metallics. I love them more than any other paint I've ever used. 

10 Simple Art Activities from The Artful Parent

List created by Jean Van’t Hul
The Artful Parent
www.artfulparent.typepad.com

I was so enamored by Jean Van't Hul's post at The Artful Parent, I decided to share it here.
To visit Jean's wonderful inspirational amazing delightful fun blog, click on her logo: You'll see her photos and read more of her story about  

10 simple art activities to set up for after school

Activities that require minimal set up that children
can do on their own with little or no guidance. 

1. Crayon-Watercolor Resist    Set out: Watercolor paper and crayons  The process: Let kids draw for a while then bring out the watercolors to paint over the drawings  Variations: Use oil pastels. Draw white on white then reveal the mystery drawing by painting over it. Paint over leaf crayon rubbings.	2. Paper Cut Art    Set out: Construction paper, scissors, hole punch, and tape or glue stick  The process: Let kids fold, cut, and decorate paper.  Variations: Try snowflakes, origami, paper hats, boats, sculptures, mobiles, fans, collage, paper dolls, pop-ups, flaps, etc.
3. Contact Paper Suncatcher    Set out: Clear contact paper (cut into squares and taped to the table sticky side up) and colored tissue paper  The process: Let the kids tear or cut the tissue paper into pieces then stick them to the contact paper. Cover with another sheet of contact paper and hang in the window.  Variations: Use flowers, leaves, and other nature items instead of tissue paper. Try ribbons, lace, or feathers.	4. Collage    Set out: Cardstock, a glue bottle, and collage items such as beans, feathers, and buttons.  The process: Let kids glue collage items to the cardstock as desired.  Variations: Draw a picture then fill in with collage items. Glue collage items to a cardboard box for a 3-D experience.
5. Toothpick Sculptures    Set out: Toothpicks and marshmallows (stale works best)  The process: Let kids build using the toothpicks and marshmallows.  Variations: Other easy sculptural activities include pipecleaners, straws and tape, playdough and tools, cardboard boxes and glue, bread dough and raisins.	6. Q-tip Pointillism    Set out: Paint, paper, and Q-tips  The process: Let kids dip Q-tips in paint then press on paper to make a picture with dots.  Variations: Try cotton balls for larger dots. Use Do-A-Dot markers or regular markers. Try two primary colors together to see if you can create the illusion of color mixing.
7. Printing with Fruits & Vegetables    Set out: Paper, paints, and one or more fruits such as a lemon or apple cut in half.  The process: Dip fruit in paint then press to paper.  Variations: Try printing with other objects such as leaves, animal figure feet, kitchen tools. Get out the stamp pad and stamps. Try fingerprint art.	8. Hole “Challenge” Drawings    Set out: Paper with a hole cut out of it and a pen  The process: Let kids draw on the hole paper as they see fit.  Variations: Try different size, shape, or number of holes. Cut the paper into different shapes. Use white paper, colored construction paper, or large posterboard. Glue a paper shape to a piece of paper. Offer different drawing tools. Try this with paints or collage items.
9. Masking Tape Art    Set out: Paper, scissors, and masking tape  The process: Let kids cut or tear masking tape into pieces and adhere to paper in any way desired.  Variations: Offer multiple colors and widths of tape. Draw or paint over the masking tape art then remove the tape.	10. Simply Drawing / Simply Painting    Set out: Paper and drawing tool or paints  The process: Let kids draw and paint! No need to get fancy.  Variations: You can vary the papers, sizes, kinds of paint, kinds of drawing tools…

 

Inspiring Triptych Art for Kids (from the Angry Chicken blog)

See children's triptych art from Discovering Great Artists 

 
Visit the Angry Chicken Blog!

The owner of Angry Chicken prefers you visit her site to see her words and photos, so I won't post those here. While visiting this creative fun blog, you will easily see how a triptych painting can be inspiring and unusual and easy and just plain COOL for little kids to paint (or draw).  Please visit her blog and check it out!!

 I will share this quote:

"We have been having a lot of fun doing projects out of Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters. This one is inspired by the triptychs by Jan van Eyck. I love this book. We checked it out from the library and now must buy a copy. It's great as a starting point for working on a particular artist, but sometimes the girls just flip though the book and choose a project to do." ~ from Angry Chicken blog

Masking Tape and Mondrian: abstract tape art for kids

Masking tape and a piece of matboard or cardboard...that's all you need!

Kids wrap around the board with my favorite,
colored masking tape from DiscountSchoolSupply.com 
(or wherever you like to get your art materials). 

To do:

Kids simply wrap colored masking tape around the board, in any way they like.
First time "wrappers" tend to make the board puffy with tape and colors.
They will refine their work when they get the idea.
This idea comes from being inspired by the great abstract master, Mondrian. Look at more of his work here and HERE: 

 

About Piet Mondrian, the great abstract master:

Mondrian, Piet (1872-1944)

"I would not trouble to cite these observations if I did not belive they bring one to see better Mondrian's vigilant planning for variation, balance, and interest. His were not just the moves of an intellectual game or tour de force of painterly construction. Through the rhythem of differences and contrasts of a few colors and lines, with an appearence of both freedom and control in the opposition of the regular and the random, he effects a stirring expression of his delight in sensation and movement. (...)

Piet Mondrian. Broadway Boogie-Woogie. 1942-43. Oil on canvas, 50 x 50"(127x127 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Given anonymously.

While Mondrian's abstract paintings of the 1920s and 1930s have an architectural effect with an impressive stability and strength, the surprise of Broadway Boogie-Woogie lies in its movement and colorful visual music. The reversion to his earlier styles clearly served a new expressive intent. In conceiving Broadway Boogie-Woogie, Mondrian could well have been inspired by the sights of New York, the dazzling night spectacle of its high buildings with their countless points of light, and in particular the moving illumined signs at Times Square. He had been prepared for this new conception by his enjoyment of Paris where, on first encountering jazz and modern popular dance in the 1920s, he defended them against detractors. In Paris he discovered, besides Cubist painting, the beauty of a big city as a collective work of art and its promise of greater freedom and an understanding milieu. Shortly before coming to New York he had disclosed a new inspiration in paintings with more complex grids, which he called Place de la Concorde and Trafalga Square - the forerunnerd of the interwoven grid in New York Cityand Broadway Boogie-Woogie. (...)

Mondrian was never freer and more colorful, and closer to the city spectacle in its double aspect of the architectual as an endless construction of repeated regular units and of the random in the perpetual movement of people, traffic, and flashing lights."

 

Melted Crayon, oh my

Melted Crayon, oh my! Everyone loves this, adults included. You have to find an electric warming tray at a thrift store, or maybe you have one in your pantry. I did! Lots of grandmas and grampas have them and don't use them, so ask anyone over the age of 60 if they want to get rid of theirs.

Draw with old crayons on paper that has warmed on the tray. The crayon will melt and smoothly move across the paper, soaking in to the paper, and creating crayon art you will love!!! There's something about the fragrance of melting crayon that is soothing, too.

Kids can wear a mitten or hold pot holders, but really the only hand they need to protect is the non-drawing hand. And by the way, these trays are very low heat and kids work with them very well. I'm personally pretty careful about the electric cords, taping them down to the table to prevent tripping or movement of the trays. With young kids, I recommend just one tray one kid at a time. Older kids, I put six or eight at a table at the same time.

Preschoolers love this. Middle school kids love this! I love this.

 

 melted crayon designs cut out

 examples of various melted crayon art

  example of melted crayon on paper plates

  more examples

 

Googly Puppet Stick: an easy but artsy craft

Crafts can be process and not heavily product. Here's one that's always a winning favorite. You need some large tongue depressors (ask your pediatrician for a few) and any little collage items, markers, etc. to decorate the sticks. Googly eyes are a plus! Sticks can be puppets, or sticks can simply be decorated in any way at all. Kids always love when your puppet talks to them!

 

Smooshing Play Clay: a favorite!

You know that soft play clay called Plasticine or Modeling Clay? It never hardens, comes in pretty colors? Try this instead of modeling the clay. Take small pinches and smoosh them on paper like the little kids in the pictures. You use your pointer or thumb to smear the clay in designs, thin smears and smooshes. Toddlers and young kids like to further press little things into the smooshed clay, like buttons or sequins. This project is my personal current favorite, and kids from age 1-16 have agreed with me! Start Smooshing!

Art with Anything featured in "Arts & Activities", May issue

My book, Art with Anything, is in Arts & Activities May edition.

It's such a good magazine. YAY!!!

You can look at the entire magazine online. Lots of great art ideas for you and your kids.

http://pubdev.ipaperus.com/ArtsandActivities/AAMay2011/

 

 

Enhancing Literacy Through Process Art

Enhancing Literacy Through Process Art

This I know: If you want to hold the attention of a child, read a book out loud to him. If you want to see a child become easily and deeply involved in creativity, give him crayons and paper for free drawing. We know these truths to be self-evident, for we’ve seen and done them so many times we can’t begin to count them!

Books and art have always been powerful tools for motivating, subduing, intriguing, and delighting children. Indeed, it is proven through research that success in reading is linked to early experiences reading-aloud to children and reading aloud as often as possible. As an article in the online magazine Collage says, “Reading aloud is more than saying words.” Following up reading time with related activities such as art increases a child’s love and appreciation of books, and inspires children to return to their favorites with deeper understanding and comprehension.

Because picture books are the center of a young child’s step into literacy, following up with easy art ideas that center on the illustrator’s style or technique is a natural progression requiring no great expertise on anyone’s part. Activities use materials found in most classrooms or homes. For example, crayons and blank paper are the perfect combination for a starting point. Try this with a child or small group of children, and judge for yourself: Read-aloud a favorite children’s classic picture book, such as Harold and the Purple Crayon [Crockett Johnson, author and illustrator], as you and your child enjoy the illustrations along with reading the story aloud.

Follow-up the reading time with an incredibly easy and enjoyable art activity: Simply draw on large blank paper with a purple crayon! Draw anything. There is no right or wrong way to explore art. After all, it is the process of exploration and discovering that is most valuable, not the finished product. In other words, enjoy the doing more than the end result. When the purple drawing and coloring and designing and exploring is over, the next time you read Harold and the Purple Crayon to your child, you will notice a remarkable and directly related interest in the illustrations due to this very simple activity. Your child is appreciating art and tying together the enjoyment of reading with the experience of art.

If the child was particularly enamored with the purple crayon experience, take it a step further on another day: tape purple yarn in rambling and looping designs on a sheet of cardboard or on a tabletop. The yarn will travel great distances with great freedom of creativity. Some children like to color or paint in the spaces in the looping yarn; other are content to loop away the afternoon. When the child hears Harold and the Purple Crayon once again, the appreciation of the illustrations combined with comprehension of the story will be greatly enhanced and ingrained by the hands-on process experience. The child will have a more personal relationship with the book not only hearing it read aloud, but getting to know the book through hands-on process art related to the illustrations.

One of the most loved books and most requested art ideas go hand-in-hand with this follow-up activity, requiring only paper, scissors, crayons, aluminum foil, and glue. Bits of sparkly craft items like sequins or glitter are optional, based on whatever you have on hand. The project honors the process of creativity and does not have a planned outcome. Read aloud Caldecott Award Winner, The Rainbow Fish [Marcus Pfister, author and illustrator]. Enjoy the sparkly illustrations while reading along. Talk about the shiny fish scales and the colors of the Rainbow Fish himself. As a follow-up, place small scraps of aluminum foil, scissors, paper, crayons and glue on the worktable. Invite the child to create a sparkly crayon drawing, incorporating bits of foil glued into the artwork. Though some children will try to create a sparkly rainbow fish, others will most certainly work up abstract colored designs and then snip and tear aluminum foil into bits and shapes to glue into the art. Like snowflakes, rarely are two artworks ever the same if the creative process is honored over the finished product.

Plain paper and crayons will always be the shining star of art follow-up activities for read-aloud book time or any time. Drawing on plain paper with crayon, uninterrupted by an adult, has been proven by research to benefit children in their success in all other subjects. Art for children doesn’t have to be fancy; it simply must have a moment in time to be offered to a child. Children are capable of looking at illustrations and seeing elements they may wish to explore in their own art. Children are capable of appreciating illustrations for their style, color, and appeal. Children are inspired to love and appreciate books through hands-on companion art experiences. Give them the gift of opportunity to appreciate their books as they get to know the illustrations first hand and hands-on.

Listed below are summaries of quick follow-up art ideas to enhance a child’s love and appreciation of favorite read-aloud picture books (found in Storybook Art by Kohl and Potter):

Corduroy - Don Freeman author/illustrator
- make prints from scraps of corduroy pressed in paint and then on paper

Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey, author/illustrator
- dip a fingertip in blue paint and make finger-dot designs on paper

Elmer - David McKee, author/illustrator
- create patchwork designs, like Elmer’s skin, with collected junk and bright construction paper background

It Looked Like Spilt Milk - Charles Shaw, author/illustrator
- mix ¼ cup white glue with 1 cup frothy shaving cream, and use to fingerpaint white puffy designs on blue or black paper

Ten Black Dots - Donald Crews, author/illustrator
- with any chosen number of black dot stickers, create a design with dots and incorporate the dots in a drawing (4 dots, wheels of a car; 6 dots, apples in a tree; 1 dot; a nose on a puppy; 20 dots, fancy design)

Gilberto and the Wind - Marie Hall Ets, author/illustrator
- draw on green colored paper with pencil and accent parts with white chalk (like the illustrator’s style)

A Tree is Nice - Marc Simont, illustrator; Janice Udry, author
- collect fallen natural materials from trees (leaves, needles, twigs, blossoms), place them under a sheet of paper, and make a crayon rubbing with peeled crayons rubbed over the bumpy design

Alligator Shoes - Arthur Dorros, author/illustrator
- a book about fancy shoes inspires kids to decorate an old pair of sneakers with felt, buttons, rick-rack, and other trims on hand; drawings or tracings of shoes may also be designed and decorated; boots, slippers, flip-flops, and so on.

More Spaghetti I Say - Mort Gerberg, illustrator; Rita Gelman, author
- mix strands of cooked spaghetti and glue in a bowl; stir in glitter or small decorative things if desired; arrange spaghetti strands on aluminum foil dry until hard and shiny. Peel away, and hang by a thread.

 

Further Recommendations

Storybook Art, MaryAnn Kohl and Jean Potter (Bright Ring) 

Discovering Great Artists, MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga (Bright Ring)

The Psychology of Art: A Psychology Today Book, Rhoda Kellogg (CRM; distributed by Random House)

Analyzing Children's Art, Rhoda Kellogg (Mayfield Publishing Company)

Creative and Mental Growth (8th Ed), Viktor Lowenfeld (Prentice Hall)

The Best in Children's Books: The University of Chicago Guide to Children's Literature

The Hedgie Awards offers a list of the best read-aloud Picture and Chapter books, grouped in categories such as Early Readers and Read-Alones. Visit Kids Art website and find truly creative, inspiring art ideas.

Read Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease (Penguin USA)

The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children, Eden Ross Lipson (Random House)

Copyright © 2010 Bright Ring Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
For questions or permissions to reprint, write to MaryAnn here, or phone 800-480-4278.

 

 

 

 

 

Funnel Painting at Tinker Lab

Tinker Lab just tried "Funnel Painting" and it's great to see the pictures! What fun!  For more freedom, try wider paper (two sheets taped together), or cover the floor with an old shower curtain or tarp.

Quote from Tinker Lab:

This was inspired by an idea we found in Mary Ann Kohl’s book, Preschool Art. I know I’ve said this many times before, but Mary Ann’s books are brimming with creative and engaging projects, and each of mine are dog-eared in a million places. We used materials that we already had around the house — low threshold projects are my cup of tea! — and the set-up is really easy. The other thing I loved about this activity is the SCALE of it — I knew my child would be captivated by swinging a paint-filled funnel across a huge sheet of paper! Now that we’ve done this, the only drawback I could see was doing this indoors, as my daughter wanted to swing paint in every possible direction, turning me into a mini-general who curbed her enthusiasm more than I like to.

via tinkerlab.com

Snow Painting (from the art room plant)

 
While there is  snow try painting on snow!

You will need cups, watercolors or blocks of paint. Next, purchase some pipettes or pour paint from cups (pipettes allow more accuracy).

Mix some watercolors into cups of water and go out and do some painting in the snow!

Go to    theartroomplant.blogspot.com  
to see where these pictures came from
and how to do snow painting with pipettes
or from cups. 

 
The following pictures are from theartroomplant.blogspot.com

It's also fun to spray colored water on the snow from spray bottles.

 

  

Pour Painting: Kids would love to try this!

Let's try something similar with kids!
Think cups of tempera paint and really large sheets of paper.

POUR PAINTING 
What a mesmerizing painting process!
The finished pieces are striking,
but the process of creating the paintings
is completely mesmerizing.

These paintings are the brainchild of Holton Rower. 
Click Here to Learn More

“Tall Painting” by David Kaufman documents the marvelous Pour painting series by Holton Rower. 

The finished "pour painting" below shows the painting viewed from above looking directly down.
 

"Summer Fun: Together Again!"

I know we're in the middle of winter, but that won't stop me from sharing these summer ideas. Something to think about and imagine for the future. May and June and July will be here before we know it.

"Summer Fun: Together Again!"
( from Village Books Blog )

MaryAnn Faubion Kohl, Bellingham author/educator/consultant, is the award-winning author of 20+ art activity books for children. Her newest title is Art with Anything: 52 Weeks of Fun with Everyday Stuff. Please visit her website to enjoy free art activity samples from all of her books:www.brightring.com and be sure to visit MaryAnn’s new blog: maryannfkohl.typepad.com/blog/. 

 

Summer is an endless stretch of time for kids to fill. Make it special for them by doing things together. You won’t need anything unusual for these easy recipes and activities - just a little time and cheerful energy to fuel the fun. The bonus of these activities is two-fold: you are building memories together in the process, AND you are showing your kids how to be good parents one day!

When it’s hot and sunny and the kids are raring to go, have some fun in the sun!

•    Play “Tidal Wave!” Play a giggly blanket game that is oceans of fun! Two people hold the blanket, one on each edge. Another person stands in front of the blanket. The two holding the blanket say, “Tidal Wave, Tidal Wave, watch out, watch out, Tidal Wave!” Swing and float the blanket-tidal wave back and forth, moving forward towards the person in front of the blanket, and try to catch them in the blanket-tidal wave. Then move back like the wave receding. Repeat with a new tidal wave and try to catch the player again. This easy game has lots of squealing and laughing. 
•    When everyone is tired, flop on the blanket with a book or magazine for a little rest time. You’re going to need it! Now, get ready to play in the water!

Hot weather is water weather! Here are some ideas for active water fun in your own backyard:

•    Play in the sprinkler or with the hose (extra fun: eat watermelon first, and then wash off – and cool off - in sprinkler or hose)
•    Scrub it up! Kids love to wash and scrub, they really do! Fill buckets with soapy water, add sponges and rags, and let them wash their bikes, the swing set, and the lawn furniture. Have a hose ready for rinsing. Let the sun sparkle on the clean and shiny new world!
•    Play sponge toss - take soaked sponges and throw them at a designated target (that includes mom or dad!)
•    Squirt Mania Game! Fill a big squirt bottle with water. To play, everyone sits side by side on the ground with a plastic cup on their heads, backs to the “squirter”. The “squirter” takes the squirt bottle and tries to knock the cups off each person’s head. When all cups are off, the squirter takes his place in the line-up with a cup on his head, and a new person takes a turn at being the squirter. Everyone gets a turn!

Where there are kids, there must be food! Kids need protein to keep them powered, water to keep them hydrated, and fruits and veggies to keep them healthy.

One way to convince kids to eat and drink right is to pack a picnic. You can set-up your picnic as close as your own yard, or travel across town to a lake, mountain, park, or riverside for a picnic adventure. Everyone loves a picnic! Pack these easy recipes that travel well, or let the kids pack their regular old favorites like peanut butter and jelly, apples, and bottled juice. Most kids will enjoy making and packing the following:

•    Tuna Bun Boat: Separate hotdog buns, and gently scoop out the center of each half. Fill with tuna salad to make a little boat. Add grapes or pickles to the boat, or other tasty choices like olives or raisins. Wrap with plastic wrap. Pack a drinking straw and lettuce leaf with the boat. When it’s picnic time, poke the straw through the lettuce to make a sail, and poke it into the boat. 
•    Fruit and Cheese Kabobs: Cut fruit and cheese into chunks about 1’” square. Stack them on toothpicks in different combinations and patterns. Place in a plastic bowl with a snap-on lid for the picnic. 
•    Veggie Bundles: cut carrots, celery, and other veggies into strips. Broccoli stems trimmed of their tough outer core and cut into strips can be the mystery ingredient. No one can ever guess what they are, and they taste really good! Bundle a selection of veggie strips together, and tie with a string. Wrap in plastic, or place in a larger container with a snap-on lid.
•    Light Juice: squeeze lemons, limes, and oranges into plain drinking water. Do not add sugar or sweetener. Add slices of the same fruits for added flavor. Fill a plastic pitcher or thermos and bring along some cups for each picnicker. Refreshing - and good for you too!

The word summer simply means fun! Doing things together will make the days spin by and before you know it, fall will be in the air, kids in school, and memories will fill the hearts and mind of all.

As the song goes, “These are the days, my friend! I thought they’d never end….”

 

Happy New Art Year: Art with Anything, Aluminum Foil

My newest book, Art with Anything,
has 52 weeks of art ideas, 5 days a week!
I call that a very Happy New [Art] Year! 

With 52 weeks of art projects using easy-to-find, everyday materials, Art with Anything provides a year of creativity, imagination, and fun for children ages 4-10! Organized alphabetically by material, each week features one everyday material (like address labels, fabric scraps, leaves, rocks) and provides five days of unique activities, increasing in complexity with each day. Art with Anything encourages recycling and reusing materials like buttons, cardboard, hole-punch dots, junk mail, masking tape,  sandpaper, and salt -- things found commonly in most homes or classrooms (or easy to collect).

Some examples? Children will love making “Glitter Photo Jars” or “Shake-It-Up-Bag Paintings,” and projects like “Family Finger Puppets” and “Fluff-N-Puff Mobiles”will keep them entertained for hours, stretching their imaginations. 

Whether at home or at school, in child care or an after-school program, exploring the process of creating art is one of the most compelling ways children learn, and Art with Anything keeps children learning creatively all year long! 

Did you know that children who participate in the arts
tend to do better in the academics?  

Below is a sample page spread for you to enjoy. The five days use aluminum foil in five different projects. Use one or use them all! The first day is easiest, and the fifth day is "fanciest", as the kids say. Day 4 is an open-ended craft, and all the other days are pure art. 

* These pages are copyright protected.
You are welcome to use them for your own reference,
but reprinting for distribution to others is not allowed.
Multiple copies are not allowed without permission.      
copyright restricted      © Gryphon House, Inc. 2011    
For permission, write to MaryAnn Kohl at maryann@brightring.com

If you can't read these images, write to me and I can email them to you in a larger size.
Or better yet, go to the library or bookstore for your own copy to enjoy.

HAPPY NEW {ART} YEAR!! Imagine all 52 weeks of art spread out before you and your kids!

Exploring the Art Museum with Kids

 
Exploring the Art Museum: 

Making the Most of Your
Child's First Visit

by MaryAnn F. Kohl

 

Taking children to an art museum can be an outing that is both fun and educational. You do not need to be an expert or an art historian to introduce young boys and girls to the wonderful world of great art. Children will love exploring the museum and discovering interesting and familiar subjects in the paintings and other pieces. All you need is a little planning and an hour or two to enjoy visiting the museum's exhibits. The following ideas will work well for you and your child, or for you and a group of children. If bringing a group, be sure to enlist extra help to give you a hand. If you prefer, you can even break up into smaller groups. 

Planning a First Visit to an Art Museum 

Before the Visit

• Talk with your child about what an art museum is and how it might look. Check out a few books about museums and artists to read together so your child is introduced simply and gradually to the idea. Discuss how a museum is different than a store.
• Look online at the museum's website and preview the special exhibits or artists who are part of the current displays or collections. Make note of a few your child might like. You can also write to the museum and ask for a current brochure to be mailed to your child.
• Together, look online at the museum's website, sharing with your child what you've found, and paying attention to his or her interests as the two of you browse.
• Together, look through a few books about great artists' lives and works. " If your child is interested in something specific, be sure to add that to your plan.

Preparing for the Visit - the Game Plan

• Ask the museum what the least crowded times and days might be, and work that into your plan.
• Leave time in you plan for snacks, breaks, restrooms, and rest. Two hours is about as long as any child can handle.
• Visit at a time of day that is most comfortable for your child.
• Bring the notes of what your child is most interested in seeing and mark the museum map so you can find them easily.

The First Visit 

Museum Rules 

• Most museums don't have many rules, but running is never allowed.
• Children may speak in a normal voice; whispering is not required.
• Don't touch artwork unless it's in a children's hands-on area where touching is encouraged.

Who's Driving the Visit?

• Kids will want to see definite things and completely skip others. Relax and enjoy the visit as it unfolds. Let your child drive the visit.
• Some children may want to bring a sketchbook and pencil to make notes or draw things along the way.
• Reading labels of the artworks can be educational and interesting, but only read those in which your child is most interested. Less is always best with young children who are being introduced to a new experience.

Ideas to Make the Visit an Adventure 

Some ideas from which you can choose to make the visit interactive are listed below. Searching or hunting for special things in artwork will make the visit an adventure that will stay with your child long after the trip is over. As you and your child find things of interest, talk about them as you view the artwork, and follow up at school or home if your child is still interested. 

Choose to look for: 
Animals or strange creatures: notice animals and talk about their colors, shapes, or features. 
Funny or interesting faces: try to imitate the expressions of faces in paintings or sculptures. 
Places to live: notice different kinds of homes and buildings. 
Dress-up, clothing, and costumes: notice different kinds of clothing, and consider creating a costume when you get home. 
Play: find children, people, or animals at play. 
All kinds of colors: crazy, lovely, and new - make note of colors and find them or mix them with paints at home. 
Shapes and textures: look for shapes like circles and rectangles, or textures like blurry and scratchy. 

Choose to be creative: 
Tell stories: make up a story about a painting or sculpture. 
Imagine: traveling through time and living in the painting. 
Talk about: how the objects in the artwork would taste or feel or smell? 

Choose favorites

• Remember a favorite painting from the visit.
• Remember the name of a favorite artist from the visit.
• Remember an artwork that is - the biggest, funniest, weirdest, tiniest, most colorful, etc.
• Remember a favorite moment from the visit - something interesting, funny, or special about the experience.

Before the Visit Ends

• Before the adventure is over, visit the museum gift shop and encourage your child to choose a postcard that shows a favorite artwork or artist from the day's outing. You can be sure that your child will never forget this particular special image.
• Don't worry if you didn't see everything you planned. Your child will be better equipped for the next visit and you will both be able to choose special things to find or revisit.
• Plan to visit again!

Recommended Books about the Masters
by MaryAnn

Easy Art is the BEST ~ Let's Make Blottos!

Blottos

from Scribble Art 

By placing paint between sheets of paper and then folding them together, colors mix and form strange and interesting shapes. Shapes often resemble butterflies because of the symmetry, but a butterfly shape need not be the goal. Enjoy the surprise of color and design.

Materials:

tempera paints in cups
spoon or paintbrush for each cup
large sheet of butcher paper, or any paper

Process:

1. Fold the paper in half. Open it.
2. Drop a blob of paint (or several blobs of one or many colors) on the fold.
3. Press the paper together and pat.
4. Open once again to see the blotto made from the paint pressed inside.

Variation

Cut out the dry blotto shape and glue it to a striking background such as purple, black, or yellow.

 

   

copyright © 2010 MaryAnn Kohl 
This art activity is copyright protected.

Permission is granted to reprint one copy for personal use only.
Please contact maryann@brightring.com or 800-480-4278 for permission to reprint
multiple copies or to disperse.

 

Dark Sugar Chalk - from Preschool Art

Simply dipping chalk into sugar water will brighten the colors
 and ultimately help a little with chalk smudges. So easy! So beautiful!
If you work on dark paper, you'll be extra pleased.

Dark Sugar Chalk   
    from PRESCHOOL ART
 

 

Preschool Art, by MaryAnn Kohl offers over
 200 process-oriented preschool activities for children ages 3-6 years.

Materials: • colored chalk  • black paper or matte board  • 1/3 cup (70g) sugar or less,  dissolved in 1 cup (230 ml) water  • cotton balls, optional

Art Process:

1. Soak the chalk sticks in the cup of sugar water for five to ten minutes (or just dip now and then is ok too). This adds brilliance to the color and helps resist smudging. 
2. Draw on the black paper with the sugar chalk. Lines can be bold and bright or light and blurry. 
3. Brush chalk marks with cotton balls as an optional art technique.
 

 

Variations:

• Make a spooky fall drawing. The black background will make the colors seem to glow. 
• Use other colors and different textures of paper. 
• Paint the paper with a mixture of canned milk and liquid starch. Draw on the wet paper for a sparkling effect.

Hint: Chalk is inherently smudgy, but the sugar-water mixture will help reduce smudging a little bit. 

© copyright MaryAnn Kohl 2010

Permission is given to print one copy for personal use.
Multiple copies require permission from MaryAnn Kohl or the publisher, Gryphon House.
Go to: www.brightring.com   or   www.gryphonhouse.com and find contact link.

Superheroes and Princesses Had Fun with "Art with Anything"

Creating art with fingerpainting, but covered with contact paper, STICKY SIDE UP! :)  Smoosh the paint around by pressing down on the sticky contact paper. The tactile stickiness combined with the color mixing and paint spreading is a fun experience. 

When you finish smooshing the paint around, discard the contact paper and let the artwork dry!

superheroesandprincesses.blogspot.com

5 Days of Art with Address Labels

Stick-On Address Labels: art for 5 days in a row
from Art with Anything: 52 Weeks of Fun Using Everyday Stuff
by MaryAnn F. Kohl
$19.95 tax + shipping included ~ 25th Anniversary Special

Do you have a few sheets of white address labels on hand, maybe even some with addresses incorrectly printed on them, or labels that didn’t quite line up? Things that stick are an inspiration for art any day of the week!

Materials for the Week

• child-safe scissors
• crayons, markers, paints, and paintbrushes
• drawing paper, construction paper or colored paper, sturdy paper or cardboard, poster board
• old magazines
• sealable plastic bag or envelope for storing puzzle pieces
• sheets of white address labels (used or new)

Day 1: Label Collage

• Color each individual label on a full sheet of white address labels in a different way. Draw designs on some labels, and cover others with single blocks of color.

• To make a simple label collage, peel and stick the labels on a colorful piece of paper in any fashion, overlapping the labels if desired.

• Picture Cover Art Idea: Cover a magazine picture or poster, leaving some of the picture exposed between colorful labels; fully covering other parts of the picture.

Day 2: Painted Label Art

Note: This art idea is for groups or partners.

• Each child paints, colors, or scribbles over an entire sheet of white address labels with one color.

• The artists then share their labels so everyone has different colored labels with which to work.

• Use the labels to make colorful collages.

• Mosaic Idea: Cut the labels into smaller squares and create a label mosaic on drawing paper.

Day 3: Woven Look Painting

• Paint a wash of colors on a large sheet of paper. Don’t worry about painting a picture—simply paint colors and shapes. Cover the paper completely.

• When dry, peel and stick labels in a planned pattern where the labels are spaced out in lines and rows (or some other pattern).

• The painting may resemble a weaving when viewed from a distance.

• Color or decorate the labels.

Day 4: Label Puzzle Craft

• Completely cover a sturdy piece of paper or cardboard with peel-and-stick labels.

• Draw a picture on the entire sheet of stickers, ignoring lines and sections.

• To make a puzzle, cut the sheet apart between labels.

• Reassemble the puzzle picture.

• When finished, store the puzzle pieces in a sealable plastic bag, envelope, or small box.

Day 5: Fancy Spaced-Out Labels

• Draw on a full sheet of blank labels using crayons, paints, or markers. A detailed picture or a freeform design will work equally well.

• Peel off each drawn-on label, and then reassemble the labels in the same order on a piece of poster board. Leave large spaces between the labels as you put them on the poster board. These spaces will create a larger version of the original piece of art, as well as an optical illusion.

• Some artists like to color or decorate between the labels; others prefer to leave the spaces untouched.

* You may print one copy of this post for personal use only.  Multiple copying, printing, dispersing or sharing must receive permission from MaryAnn Kohl. Copyright restrictions must be observed. © Gryphon House 2010.

Bubble Wrap Projects for You to Enjoy

Download Bubble Wrap Art

Enjoy this download of 5 art activities using bubble wrap
from the book, Art with Anything.

Please only print out one copy for your personal use.
Multiple distribution is copyright restricted without permission.
For permission, contact MaryAnn Kohl.

 

5 Bubble Wrap Art Ideas from the book "Art with Anything"

week 4
Bubble Wrap

Pop! Pop! and POP! What is more joyful or satisfying for children (or the young at heart) than the sound and feel of bubble wrap popping? Pop some, pack with some, and use the rest for bubbly art activities.

Day 1 - Bubble-Wrap Surprise Rubbing

* easy beginner activity

Materials

bubble wrap (any sizes of bubble air pockets)

large paper, like newsprint, butcher paper, or wide craft paper from a roll

tape

peeled crayons  

Steps:

 Note: An adult needs to prepare this bubble wrap surprise-art activity by taping bubble wrap to a tabletop (bubbles up), completely covering the bubble wrap with newsprint or other large paper, and then taping the paper to the table.

* The surprise: The artist rubs a peeled crayon on its side over the paper. Enjoy the pattern of bubbles on the paper that emerges, and the noise of the bubble wrap popping as you rub crayons more firmly over the paper. Use lots of colors!

 

Day 2 - Bubble-Wrap Print 
 

* easy beginner activity

Materials

bubble wrap (any sizes of air pockets and bubbles)

fingerpaint

paper for making a print

paper for the background

glue

(optional) tape, paints and brushes

(optional) painted picture still wet

Steps

* Cover a square of bubble wrap (about 12” x 12”) with fingerpaint. Mix several colors at once. (Try mixing and exploring the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow.)

* Place a piece of paper on top of the painted bubble wrap and gently press down. Lift the paper to see the print. Let both the paper and the bubble wrap dry. Glue the dry painted bubble wrap on a larger separate sheet of paper with the bubble–paint side up, and then tape the bubble-wrap print next to the bubble wrap so you can see both pieces together.

* Bubble Wrap Painted Print Idea: Use tape to cover a table top with bubble wrap. Paint any color or design on the bubble wrap with tempera paints and paintbrushes. While the paint is still wet, make a print by pressing a piece of paper down on top of the painting and then lifting. The more paint and colors there are on the bubble wrap, the more interesting the prints.

* Bubble Wrap Smoosh Idea: Paint a picture with wet, colorful areas. While the paint is still wet and in puddles, place a piece of bubble wrap over the artwork and smoosh it down onto the wet paint. Set the painting aside to dry for an hour. Pull off the bubble wrap to see the patterns left in the dry paint beneath.

 

Day 3 - Bubble-Wrap Collage

 * beginner activity

Materials

bubble wrap (any sizes of air pockets and bubbles)

tape or glue

colorful scraps of paper or art tissue

white glue thinned with water

collage materials, choose from: paper scraps, art tissue scraps, bits of foil, sequins, feathers, yarn, or other choices

Steps

* Use bubble wrap as a unique base for a translucent collage. Pop all the bubbles first (fun!) to make a flat collage, or leave the bubbles puffy. To begin, tape a square of bubble wrap to a flat workspace.

* Tape or glue colorful scraps of paper or art tissue to the bubble wrap. A colorful approach is to use a brush to “paint” art tissue scraps to the bubble wrap with white glue that has been thinned with water. Add more collage items. Be sure everything is secure before moving the bubble-wrap collage and displaying it. Collages can be heavy! Display a bubble-wrap collage in a window to see how the light shines through.

 

Day 4 - Bubble-Wrap Fish Craft
 

Materials

bubble wrap (any sizes of air pockets and bubbles)

rolling pin or paint roller

tape

tempera paint in a large tray or baking pan

scissors

googly craft eyes or buttons

 Steps

* Wrap bubble wrap around a rolling pin or a paint roller. Use tape to secure the bubble wrap.

* Roll the bubble wrap in a tray of tempera paint and then onto paper. When the paint is dry, use this paper to create tropical fish. Cut out colorful paper fish in all shapes and sizes (the bubble dots makes great “scale” marks). Use some of the dots to make air bubbles for the fish.

* Make more fish by pressing your hand onto a piece of bubble wrap that has been covered in paint, and then making a handprint, fingers closed together, thumb sticking up on a sheet of paper. Add a wiggly craft eye or button for a fish eye.

* When all the fish when are dry, cut them out, and tape them to windows, walls, or hang them on thread wherever a school of fish would be fun to see.  
 
 

Day 5 - Bubble-Wrap Mural

Materials

bubble wrap (any sizes of air pockets and bubbles)

scrunched ball of newspaper

tray of tempera paint

 large sheet of paper

(optional) crayons, scissors, paper, glue

Steps

Note: Ask an adult to help hang a large piece of paper on a wall. (If you prefer, spread the paper on the floor or on a table, and then hang it on the wall when dry.)

* Scrunch a ball of bubble wrap into a fist-sized ball, like a softball. Press it into a tray of tempera paint, and then press it onto the mural paper. Change colors as desired.

* Scene Mural Idea: Use this large sheet of bubbly printed paper to create the background of a mural scene. Consider these ideas for the mural backdrop: a forest, an undersea world, the desert, the night sky, an alien planet, and outer space. While the bubble-printed background is drying, color and cut out figures, people, animals, fish, stars, moons, or other elements. Glue them to the mural background to form the complete scene.

© MaryAnn Kohl 2010 Here's a peek at the "Bubble Wrap" pages in the book --- you can click on the page images below  and open them in a new window. Print out for personal use only, not for multiple copies or distribution.

 

 
 

Story 3: Solomon and The Red Balloon

Solomon and the Red Balloon

MaryAnn F. Kohl
* photo caption:
 Lummi nation - child, dancer.
 Name of child not listed.
 
My kindergarten class had just watched the French film, The Red Balloon, a touching and beautifully rendered wordless children's classic. Our class was preparing for recess when Solomon Toby, a brown-eyed Native American boy, approached me requesting a private word.
"Mrs. Kohl," he said in a whisper, "I need to draw about that movie."
My heart rate buzzed. "Of course, you do," I smiled gently. This beautiful child, Solomon with the dark eyes and hair like the feathers of a crow, rarely expressed any interest in school activities or projects of any kind, and had not bonded with me, though I had reached out to him daily. My thoughts were racing to capture this moment with Solomon, to allow it to be meaningful for him, to tread gently so that it might be a possible springboard for future opportunities for learning and communication.
I excused the others to the playground and helped Solomon find a large fresh sheet of drawing paper and a box of unbroken crayons with the points still intact. He packed everything off to the reading corner tent to work alone.
As he worked, I reflected on this silent child. Solomon usually chose fighting over playing, and generally lived a pretty tough life which he acted out on a daily basis. But today, The Red Balloon had touched his heart and he couldn't keep his feelings inside.
I could see him through the entry of the tent. He was working with purpose, elbow and arm moving resolutely across the wide paper, filling it with visual expressions from his heart. He drew about the story of the Red Balloon who befriends a little boy, and about how that little boy loses his friend. He drew and drew.
His drawing was not the blonde French child in the film; it was a brown, strong boy running on a rocky beach with a huge red smiling balloon in tow on a heavy rope, a rope that would never come untied or let a balloon break free. The clouds he drew were gray with rays of sunlight spilling out from behind. The sea breaking on the shore was choppy with two fish jumping, smiles on their silvery faces. The boy was running with a look of surprise and joy on his crayoned face. I could tell that this boy would never let his balloon go, would never lose his gentle friend.
When the drawing was finished, I saw Solomon start to cry. He cried silently, shoulders shaking, tears spilling down his smooth cheeks. I did not interrupt his privacy but waited nearby anxious to soothe his hurts.
When he left his drawing in the tent and walked towards me, I knew I was being allowed a rare gift in this child’s young life. As he approached, I scrunched down to his five year old level as he threw his arms around my neck, hugging me close to him, crying quietly until the sniffling began to subside. I remember thinking, “I will make a difference to this child. We can build from this together. We’re going to make it this one year we have together. Together, we’re going to make it.”
As the other children returned from recess, Solomon and I gathered up his drawing and supplies, but neither of us was the same. We had begun.

Room Weaving

Room Weaving is found in the book,
Making Make-Believe

Author: MaryAnn F. Kohl
ISBN: 9780876591987
Publisher: Gryphon House
Paperback, Pages: 192, © 1999, $16.95

Have you ever done ROOM WEAVING with kids (or watched them do their own)? My brother and I used to weave rooms when we were little kids, thanks to our mom being a good person who encouraged us to keep busy in whatever acceptable ways we could imagine. Try this with kids asap!! Rainy day indoors, or sunny day outdoors (in which case it would be deck weaving, patio weaving, porch weaving, yard weaving, etc.)

• String yarn, ribbon, or twine
• Scissors

1. Tie any smaller pieces of string and yarn together to make one long strand. Roll into a ball.
2. To begin the Room Weaving, tie one end of the string or yarn to a doorknob, closet rod, bedpost, or chair leg.
3. Take the string from one object to another, tying or wrapping around furniture or objects to hold it in place. String can crisscross itself and go all around the room like a web.
4. Now weave and tie strings in between the first strings. A plan is not necessary, just keep tying and weaving strings to strings.
5. When the web is done, imagine and play in the Room Weaving.

And more....Pretend the Room Weaving is an imaginary world, a spider web, a thick jungle, an underground cave
Add other materials, such as blankets or sheets, paper cutouts, strips of fabric, strips of newspaper.

I attended the Mountain View Elementary School Art Fair (Ferndale, Washington) last week and set up a fun sculpture at my book table... styrofoam squares, with pipe cleaners, buttons, scraps, sequins, and so on. We used up every last piece of everything. I taught at Mt. View back in the 70s so find it a good place to volunteer when I can. Enjoy the pictures!!

PS This activity is found in Great American Artists for Kids and is an enjoyable sculpture activity based on Alexander Calder's famous stabiles (which are "standing mobiles").

From the Tacoma Children's Museum: Inspiration

Inspire your budding artist - ParentMap.com.

I found this article at parentmap.com with information from the Tacoma Children's Museum. It offers some solid philosophy about why art is important for children. 

To quote: "Little artists, even those younger than two, develop problem-solving skills and open up avenues for self-expression as they experiment. Art also builds hand-eye coordination and helps them gain fine-muscle control that will help them later with handwriting." The entire article is available at the parentmap.com blog.

Enjoy this easy and delightfully fragrant Scented Playdough, 

courtesy of Children's Museum of Tacoma:

Materials: 
3 1/2 cups of flour
3 packets unsweetened powdered drink mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
2 cups very hot water

Food coloring Instructions:
1. Mix dry ingredients together; add water and oil. Mixture will be sticky.
2. If more color is desired, add the same hue of food coloring.
3. Turn out onto a smooth surface sprinkled with flour. Knead and add more flour slowly until the right consistency has been reached.
4. Sculpt and create with fragrant dough. Keep the dough in an airtight container.

Class Project Video: The Art of Pointillism

These kids do a great job with their class project of explaining pointillism through their video. At the end of the video, they show some of their own works in pointillism. Wait until you meet George Seurat, the Father of Pointillism! Very cute, but more important, very well done. via www.youtube.com