October 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

A Video About iPads and Kids Art: You'll Be Surprised!

iPads Week in the Art Room Sept. 2011 from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Oct 28, 2011 5:07:18 AM

Monday, October 17, 2011

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!

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Day 1: Basic Leaf Paint and Print

Materials:

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.

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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.

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Day 3: Watercolor Leaf Paint

Materials:

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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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!!

Oct 17, 2011 9:08:08 AM | * Art for Children, Art Activities, Kaplan , Seasonal Art (holidays, seasons, events)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

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.

Oct 13, 2011 12:01:39 PM | * Art for Children, Art Activities, Seasonal Art (holidays, seasons, events)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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.

Oct 12, 2011 9:45:25 AM | * Art for Children, Amazing Artists, Art Activities, Books, Great Masters, Interesting Children, Photos of Children Doing Art

Friday, October 07, 2011

Parents' Expert Circle, Barnes & Noble

Keep an eye out at your local Barnes & Noble for the "Parents' Expert Circle" to launch. All stores nationwide will be offering a bay featuring various experts and their books who also write monthly articles for the BN.com website. Here's how the signage looks, and can be found at the end of a shelf in the juvenile section.

Above are some pictures friends have taken at various stores around the country. If you happen to be in a Barnes & Noble, I hope you will snap a picture and send it to me at maryann@brightring.com.

It's all very new and exciting for those of us who are part of the BN.com expert circle! 16 Experts have been chosen nationwide to share their knowledge and advice. Check out the articles from...