February 2014 ArtsyKidsNEWS now ready!
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Here's a brief sample of the real thing:
Glitter.
Is there any better time than Christmas for glitter? Valentine's you say? Well, certainly. But Christmas!! Glitter on eyelids, on sweaters, and in your lipstick! Glitter on pinecones, glitter on stars, glitter mixed with paint, stirred into glue, sprinkled on tape, dusted over cardboard cookies, squeezed from glitter glue bottles, one color or colors mixed together, big chunks of glitter, or tiny dusty bits of glitter. GLITTER!
Silver has always been my favorite, and I know kids like all the metallics too. Gold glitter can turn a rock into a treasure, a Christmas drawing into a magical masterpiece, dough ornaments from ordinary to majestic. Never say no to glitter. Yes, you'll be sweeping, vacuuming, and picking it up piece by piece from everywhere for months, and how fortunate...just in time for Valentine's Day. Glitter, ahhhhhhh.
It's December Holiday
ArtsyKidsNEWS time!
Included in the newsletter are 3 winners
of the "1000th Member" Free GiveAway Book Drawing included.
The following images are all jpgs and will not have hyperlinks embedded.
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http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=5ede963e35560c1088968f662&id=3031360cf8
We reached 1000 members for the ArtsyKidsNEWS!
Celebration Book Give-Away
3 WINNERS are....
1. Jes Prochaska has won Great American Artists for Kids
2. Nina Watts has won Scribble Art
3. Shirley Oshima has won Mudworks Bilingual Edition
I hope you will enjoy these photos of kids creating openly with all kinds of materials to make Valentines to give to the Seattle Children's Hospital. We had a workshop at our local children's library on the Feb. 2, and the kids came in open-house-style. It was great fun for me, and they had fun using all the stickers, doilies, glitter glue, and more.
The workshop was put on by MaryAnn Kohl and Sarah Nelson Veleos.
MaryAnn writes children's art books, as you know :) , and Sarah has a new book for parents who expecting or have lost a baby. Titled: My Angel You Are Loved.
by Sarah Nelson Veleos
Hello and Happy New Year!
January 2013 ArtsyKidsNEWS
is here!
SNOWMEN! SNOWMEN! SNOWMEN!
Thank you for visiting my blog!
MaryAnn
To view the actual newsletter, go here:
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When you go to the link and the newsletter, you can find links for signing up for the free newsletter to come directly to your email each month. You can also access the archive of all the past newsletters, which is now more than one year's worth.
Another bonus to joining the mailing list is that each month I give away a free book to someone on the mailing list, which is great fun.
I hope you will consider signing up, and if you already have, I'm so happy!
You can sign up on my website, lower right corner: http://www.brightring.com
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
MaryAnn
By MaryAnn Kohl
I adore engaging in hands-on art experiences with young children, but I also love getting kids excited about dramatic play! This Halloween idea is a sure-fire winner for children from preschool through Grade 2. When I work with kids around Halloween, I bring this favorite activity that involves drawing jack-o-lantern faces on orange paper circles taped to Popsicle sticks. These funny faces then become props in reciting a little poem involving interpretive voices. Children get to hold up the faces during the poem to act out the fun. This also gives them something to hold on to during the dramatics! Jack-o-Pie I am Jack-o-Happy I am Jack-o-Sad I am Jack-o-Sleepy I am Jack-o-Mad I am Jack-o-Pieces I am Jack-o-Small I am Jack-o-Pie, the best of them all! [Repeat at least three times] Recite the poem above once or twice through. Ask the children to repeat the poem after you. Show a different orange pumpkin face for each speaker/character in the poem, such as a happy jack-o-lantern, sad jack-o-lantern, sleepy jack-o-lantern, mad jack-o-lantern, broken jack-o-lantern, small jack-o-lantern, and a pumpkin pie jack-o-lantern. Mix It Up! Hold up various jack-o-lantern faces from the poem out of order and ask the children to shout out who the face is. Jack-o-Happy! Jack-o-Small! Jack-o-Sleepy! and so on. Keep shuffling the jack-o-lantern faces and show them to the children over and over, allowing them to name each face again and again. Next, encourage the kids to use interpretive voices to describe the faces, such as a happy voice for Jack-o-Happy, a tiny voice for Jack-o-Small, and a tired yawning voice for Jack-o-Sleepy. Be prepared for the children to really enjoy the voices, so give them plenty of time to try them out again and again. Some kids may want to stand up and use the interpretive voice alone rather than in the group. Go with this idea as suits your group.
Make Your Own Jack-o-Faces Kids will need orange paper, scissors, black marker or crayon, tape or glue, and a Popsicle stick or tongue depressor. Have the children divide into groups of 7, to construct the seven Jack-o-Faces. Each child can cut one of the seven faces from orange paper, add the facial features for that face, and glue or tape it to a Popsicle stick (like a masquerade mask). No eye-holes need be cut. Gather Together Again Ask the children to bring their Jack-o-Faces to the circle. Have the first group of children line up before the others, following the order of the poem. Read aloud the poem and make sure each child holds up his or her “face” at the right time. Now, ask the children to create individual funny voices for their pumpkin faces. Once again, recite the poem. The happy pumpkin uses a very happy voice. The sad pumpkin uses a crying voice. The mad pumpkin uses an angry voice. Jack-o-Pieces sounds broken and the words are staccato. The small pumpkin has a tiny voice and Jack-o-Pie has the strongest voice of all! Invite the children to say the poem in order, holding up their Jack-o-Faces in front of their own face as they use their interpretive voices. When complete, they may sit down. Then, repeat with a new group! Follow-Up Activity Ideas Matching Game: In a box, place 7 Jack-o-Faces to match with 7 words/names, like big, small, pie, pieces, etc. Match the Jack-o-Faces with the words that describe them. Sentence Chart: On a sentence chart, feature sentences from the poem, such as, “I am Jack-o-Happy.” Make sure the sentences are out of order. The children can then put the sentences in the correct order of the memorized poem, saying it out loud as they work. Little Jack-o-Faces can also be used to help match to the sentences. Puppet Show: Use the Jack-o-Faces to create your own puppet show, repeating the interpretative voices used to recite the poem. Jack-o-Face Books: Children can draw one of the Jack-o-Faces on each page of a short handmade book. Encourage them to invent new faces and voices, like Jack-o-Fish (bloop bloop) or Jack-o-Baby (wah, wah, goo goo). They can draw, write, or cut out faces to glue in the book. See Where the Children Take You! I have seen one child act out the entire poem on his own. I have seen kids invent new personalities and jack-o-lantern faces to add to the poem, often rhyming. Open your mind to letting kids carry this to a new level, and you may be surprised what they come up with from this simple poem! Additional Ideas to Expand the Theme:
MaryAnn Faubion Kohl is the author of 20+ award-winning books of activities for children. Two of her newest titles are First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos and Art with Anything. MaryAnn invites you to subscribe to her free ArtsyKidsNEWS monthly e-newsletter packed with lots of art ideas and book giveaways. |
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
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!
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"
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.
I hope you enjoy seeing this great mix of Christmas images, most vintage (that is most from my own childhood growing up in the 50s in Longmeadow, Massachusetts). Do you see any you remember or love? If you have some favroites, send as email attachments to maryann@brightring.com, and I'll post them for you!
Here are a few Valentine's Day cards to enjoy
-- in my favorite 50s style --
Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!
Clip and send these to your friends.
You will love Random Acts of Culture, bringing you
the Hallelujah Chorus at Macy's!
Bring your tissues. This is really worth hearing and seeing. Inspiring!!
http://www.knightarts.org/community/detroit/your-words-random-acts-of-culture
MaryAnn writes books about art for children of all ages.
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