4.01.2013
Chalk for sports
3.16.2013
Acrylic Painting with Children
The other day I pulled out some crayola brand acrylic paint and nice acrylic paper for some simple art time. I have done acrylic paint in the past with my other children and not had as much fun as we did this last time. Usually I dump a little paint onto a paper plate, use some printer paper, and let them try. This time I used a painting pallet, acrylic paint for kids, and nicer paper.
A painting pallet can be purchased at any art store. There are many different types and sizes. I have lots of them, but the one I used with my daughter was probably the smallest type and about a dollar in price. It is a nice way to keep your colors, mix colors, and keep everything neat and tidy.
Acrylic paint dries really fast and is permanent. It is a harder medium to paint with than watercolor because once the color is put down it is set. You cannot lift the color with water. Most the time young kids like my daughter don't feel the need to have to lift their paint, but it is permanent on clothing as well. Using a crayola washable acrylic is a bit different. It actually did lift a little. It says it is washable and I found it came off of the table we were panting on. It also did not dry as fast as regular acrylic paint so we didn't have to re-wet the paint on the pallet. However it did dry rather rapidly once she was finished with her paintings and we laid them out to dry.
Acrylic paper can be bought at art or craft stores. It can range in price from very expensive to relatively cheep. I purchased a book of 400 series paper. The thicker paper is much better for holding paint. I remember with my other children having the paint and water make the paper wet and since it was copy paper it would soon have holes in the paper. Paint just works better on the better paper. I find even with little artists it is nice to use something better than copy or construction paper.
This was definitely a fun activity for my three year old. She enjoyed using the paint and painted for about an hour. I sat down and painted with her on my own paper. I find when I do this my children focus as long on their painting as I do on mine. I filled my entire paper with color and so did she. I am almost certain that if I had not sat and painted an entire picture that she would have stopped sooner. She filled her paper and gave lots of attention to her "mountain with green people on top" painting.
What are your tips for painting with acrylics with children? Have you tried it? If not I challenge you to let your child enjoy this medium this week.
2.27.2013
2.23.2013
Learning Letters with Salt
2.08.2013
Gak
Are you tired of the winter weather? We sure are. I call these kind of grey winter ugly days, GAK days. A GAK day is a day where you just need something to mix and mold and play with to get your mind off the fact that we are only halfway through winter.
To make Gak you need:
8 oz bottle of elmers glue
water
1/3 teas of borax (found in the laundry section of your grocery)
Mix 8 oz elmers glue with 8 oz water. Then in a separate bowl mix 1/3 teas borax into a half a cup of water (add food coloring to this if you want). When that is all mixed poor the borax concoction with the elmers glue concoction and keep mixing. You have to get your hands into it at this point and mix and mix. If it is too slimy keep mixing and mixing and eventually it gets better.
Then just give the concoction to your child and let them go to town. You can give them tools to look at and see what they do. You can also provide some markers (that will get ruined sometimes by writing on the gak.) Just sit back and see what they do. If you show them how to play with it you take away the fun.
Remember the last time we did Gak? She was so little. It was the best way to learn to use those scissors however! Made me miss the art blog so I may be back.
3.02.2012
Happy Birthday Dr.Seuss
1.22.2012
Art For the soul: Pass It On
Today I was at Ikea buying a new wardrobe. It was heavy and I was trying to load it into my van by myself. I really wasn't sure how I was going to do it when a man stopped and helped me out (two people walked by before him.) May have not been a big deal to him, but it was to me. Maybe because I saw this video this week:
As I drove home from Ikea and off to Target and a few other errands I kept thinking about what I was going to do to pass it on. I rehearsed in my mind things I could do. If I see a person with a flat on the side of the road I always drive by. I always feel that is a man's job to help. Maybe not. Maybe I can be of help in those situations. I never leave a penny because I never take a penny. Maybe I should be leaving some anyway. I don't often take cookies to my neighbor for no reason at all. Maybe I should. Wouldn't it be fun to leave a quarter in the cart at Aldi for someone? Maybe it would make their day. Or even put a few quarters on top of the gum ball machine to make some kids day!
I do a few things already that I hope make people want to pass it on. I always let people ahead of me in the grocery line if they have one item and I have a thousand. I always smile at strangers and people in stores. This may be a fault of mine because many many times people assume I work in the store and ask me where something is. Today I smiled at an old lady so much because she just wouldn't smile back. I kept thinking if only she would smile back maybe she would feel a little more happiness in life. Seriously she looked so sad. I always slow down and let cars in front of me if they put their blinker on in heavy traffic. I also try to never get mad or show annoyance after standing in line at a store or waiting too long at the bank. It isn't always the workers fault.
What do you do to pass it on?
Are there small things you do each day that you hope puts a little light in someone's day? Let me know. I would love to have a list of things I am prepared to do for others in need.
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