FREE Art Activities

I found this awesome website yesterday by the National Gallery of Art! It's a super fun place for the kids to experiment, create and even print out their creations! Check it out!

There is way too much on this site to really do it justice in this little space. But playing around on the site will quickly get you addicted! You can create collages, still life's, digital photo art and much more! The site uses images, people, backgrounds and objects taken from famous works of art to create your own new works of art!

Its is a great way of introducing kids to artists, styles of art, famous images and the elements of art. I have a feeling the kids will be fighting over this site......


There is fun for everyone! An idea I had was to save all of your child's creations and print them out in a book as well! How cool would that be to have your very own prints! 

Happy creating!

Inspired

This past weekend we went to the North Shore and watched our friends play in Summer Music Festival. It was put on by a family (of 11 kids), so musically talented, it blows you away to watch them. Most of the kids in the family play a wide variety of instruments, and when I say "play" I mean at a Master's level. Most songs are improvised and it's not uncommon for the kids to switch instruments with each other throughout the performances. If you want to be blown away....or transported to another world, spend some time on their website RonArtis.com . Not only are they musically talented, but in the visual arts as well.

They are a homeschooling family, so talented and free, and they love God so much they are amazing to be around. While we were sitting there I asked a friend, "How in the world do you raise kids like this?" her answer inspired me. She said simply, "Our children are us. They will be what we are." I could go on and on about both the intellectual as well as the spiritual implications of her insight. How they have impacted me this week. But there was one way that I was really inspired.

See, I am actually an education major....an art education major. It's been so long thought since I've felt this creative, artistic urge. And recently I've wanted to show that side of me to my own kids, awaken those abilities in them and give them some freedom to find their own creativity and gifts. So this week I started by setting up an Art Studio for them. A place where they can go whenever they want, paint, sculpt (play with play dough), create! Now I realize with some freedom with art supplies there also comes mess. But I'm learning and training them to care for the space themselves, give them the tools to not only have the supplies at their disposal but clean up as well. Over all I think it's gone fairly well this week. I know they have enjoyed the area, they've spent about 4 hours each day in the space. It has been amazing to watch them outside painting and creating.

Here is a peek at their Art Escape......

A simple little space with everything you need to create!

I am blessed with an outside covered lanai (patio), and yes we do live in a warm climate year round, so it makes it easy to mess up and clean up. (I'll share more later on indoor art areas). I was given 2 easels for art and simply added clips to hold the kids art work. A TV tray table sits in the middle to hold water, brushes and art media (paint, oil pastels, etc). All of the kids Art supplies are located in the plastic drawers on the right. We use a small camping picnic table for the kids that cleans up perfectly with a little help from a magic eraser! And I hung a rope from one post to the house, added some clothes line clips for wet paint.

Painting smocks and shirts, brushes and magic erasers!

Of course we don't have rules for what you can create, but we do for using the work space! I tried to keep the rules short and sweet (although Jonah kept saying "Rule # 49596").
1. Put on a painting shirt or smock.
2. Gather your supplies.
3. Create!
4. Clean up!
As long as they clean up their area, I love the idea of the kids creating for hours on end!

Make sure the drying rope is low enough for the kids to hang themselves!

Three drawers were enough to house paper, paints and clay!

And we are ready to create! 

So far the kids have really loved the space. I've been playing some classical music for them while they create. I hope to showcase what they have done in the future! 

If you have an art space or are inspired, leave a comment and a link to your blog, I would love to check out your Art Escape! 

I'll also be posting some ideas for indoor, less-mess art areas in the future, now go create something!

Making your own Sidewalk Chalk!

Last year for Valentine's Day giveaways I made crayons out of well....crayons. I know creative right? Okay so if you missed that post you can catch up on the idea here {and no, I didn't come up with the idea, I just bought a cookie pan with the fun shapes to melt them in. Anyway, they turned out great and were a big hit.

So this year I sprouted another idea. Something fun without the sugar and allergy warnings! Plus spreading a little creativity along the way!

So this year we are making.......

Homemade sidewalk chalk! 
And let me tell you it's way easier than pealing all those crayons! Especially the ones you hadn't even used yet! You need a few simple ingredients and you are on your way to some sidewalk art fun!

Gather your indredients: Plaster of Paris, Powder tempera paint (liquid would work, but powder works  the best for vibrant consistent colors), cookie tins or muffin tins (I bought girl shapes and boy shapes at Target), a tuperware bowl or disposable paper bowl, measuring cups and spoons. 

Chalk recipe: 2 cups of plaster to 1 cup water , 1-2 T of powder tempera paint.
A few notes about the recipe: You ratio of plaster to water may be different than mine. The thicker it is the faster it will set BUT the harder it is to pour, you have to find a middle ground. You can use liquid tempera paint but your colors will be very muted, if you do that add the paint to the plaster first and then add water. Since you are adding a liquid you'll add less water than the 1st recipe called for. The best results we had were with powder Tempera. There is a lot of wiggle room, you can always add water or plaster if it doesn't seem right. If you have disposable bowls and mixing spoons I'd use those....

 Measure your water first, add the plaster and paint and mix......

 and mix.......

and mix some more!

 

Pour your concotion into the molds and wait! It takes about an hour (sometimes longer) for the plaster to harden and dry enough on the outside. They are pretty hard to get out of the mold so don't be afraid to wack the tin against the counter or tap the back of the mold itself. We didn't have any chalk break and I was pretty rough!

 

Cute huh? And of course we tried them out and they work great and wash right off! You have to wait about 24 hours after they are out of the mold for the inside of the plaster to fully dry, but have fun. 

These make great gifts for Birthdays, goodie bags, for a class or Co-op!