Drawing with glue (and pastels too)

If you are looking for a sure fire way to get a great response from your students, walk into the art room and tell them they will be "drawing with glue."

I can remember Jantje and I going into a school to teach a particularly skeptical (and unsure) group of ten and eleven year olds. When we told them that they would be drawing fish, they silently stared at us as if to say, "yeah, right."

Undeterred, we proceeded to hand out the initial materials required for the lesson... Black poster paper (half a sheet per child) and a bottle of Crayola® School Glue (the kind that dries clear).

And with that, we gained their interest.

Drawing with glue is a terrific activity idea for kids in grades 3 and up. The concept is simple -- draw with clear glue on black paper and let dry for a day. Then, use pastel (chalk or oil) to "fill in" the spaces between the little glue ridges that are on the paper. The results are very much like stained glass.

On KinderArt, we have two lesson plans which walk you through how to draw with glue. The first, written by Karen Larmour and yours truly, is called Glue Fish, the results of which can be seen above. Find that lesson here: http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/gluefish.shtml

The second lesson is slightly more involved. The theme for this one is totem poles. So, in addition to creating with glue, students will also learn about Native culture as they design their own personal totems. Find that lesson plan (complete with informational handouts) here: http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/stained.shtml

Try it yourself the next time you have a couple of class periods available (as the glue needs to dry overnight). I guarantee fantastic results and lots of smiles and excitement all around.

(By the way, I should mention that you can also use glue mixed with black ink on white paper to achieve similar results. If anyone has tried this, I encourage you to contact me at KinderArt to share your photos!)

Until next time...

Keep creating!

~Andrea

Sculptural Flowers for Toddlers

Jannique loves any opportunity to create, so when I offered her the chance to make flowers using muffin liners and some buttons we had recently discovered in a drawer, she let out an enthusiastic, "YES!"

She is familiar with muffin liners, having lined muffin tins with them numerous times during baking sessions. But to use them for arts and crafts? This was, in her mind, terribly exciting.

We used glitter glue because (as an art teacher friend once told me), glitter glue is the best thing to ever happen to art supplies.

Jannique  took the glue and drizzled it randomly on a sheet of construction paper. She then placed muffin liners on the glue. Then, I suggested she squeeze some glue onto the inner parts of the muffin liners. She happily gave it a whirl.

I told her she could choose any buttons she would like and place them on her glitter glue. Such fun!

After the gluing was complete, markers were used with great gusto, to create lots of bold lines on the paper.  It was a major hit and one you can try with your little ones as well.

We have two versions of this lesson online.
One is on KinderArt.com at: http://www.kinderart.com/crafts/muffinfl.shtml and the other is on KinderArtLittles.com at: http://www.kinderartlittles.com/artmaking/muffinlinerflowers.shtml

Enjoy and keep creating!
~Andrea

Beads and Found Objects

Many years ago - when Jantje and I first started visiting schools - one of the workshops we offered was maskmaking. We would show the children how, using some poster paper, papier mache, paint and a few found objects, you could transform simple items into wild and wonderful masks.

Sure, the kids enjoyed the designing, cutting and construction of the masks, but what they loved (more than anything else) was digging their hands into the box of "found objects".

We were lucky enough at the time to work with a public art gallery who often had items donated for the purposes of artmaking. One fantastic woman was known to regularly drop off bits and pieces of old costume jewelery and beads -- lots and lots of beads.

It was a good lesson for us to learn. While it is always great to make art using top of the line supplies that can be purchased, creating with bits and pieces of found items that may or may not have been intended for artmaking, is far more exciting.

The other day, I came across a little container of old bits of stuff. Inside were lots of small shells, foam blocks, wooden shapes and lots of beads - including big wooden ones from old car seat covers that Jantje and I had carefully cut apart years before. When I showed my 2-1/2 year old daughter Jannique this container, I was reminded of all the happy little faces Jantje and I had seen in the schools...

Jannique was over the moon and for the next hour, she and I looked at the items in the container. We counted them, rolled them around in our hands, took them out of one box and placed them in another, strung them on a piece of string and categorized them by size and color. It was a delightful, creative experience.

I highly recommend starting a collection of found objects for your home or school classroom. Of course, you need to be careful with younger children so tiny objects don't make their way into little mouths. But, as Jannique discovered - you don't need to paint or glue with your supplies in order to "make art".

If you are looking for great activities to do with your toddler, visit: www.kinderartlittles.com

If you are looking for the maskmaking lesson I referred to above, visit: www.kinderart.com/multic/machemask.shtml

Keep creating!

~Andrea

Happy to Help :)

We were happy and excited to see that South Shore Reflections blog featured one of our lesson plans recently! So glad the residents enjoyed themselves!

Visit the blog here: http://southshorereflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/coffee-filter-butterflies.html

Keep creating!
~Andrea

What every art cupboard should contain...

"What basic supplies should be in every art cupboard?"

This is a question we hear a lot at KinderArt®. The answer, can be found below...

Paper. Lots of paper: every size, every shape. You can use photocopy paper, newsprint, mural paper, and butcher paper. Even paper grocery bags cut up into squares will do just fine as will old shirt and cereal boxes.

Pencils. If nothing else, you must have pencils. Nice big fat pencils for little hands and smaller pencils for your "grown up" students.

Crayons. The brighter your crayons are, the better.

Markers. Make sure they are washable for the little ones.

Modeling Material. This can be clay, or even homemade goop—anything that can be formed. We love Crayola Model Magic.

Pastels. Try to have both chalk and oil pastels on hand. Chalk pastels should be reserved for your older students while the oil pastels can be introduced to the younger set. Sakura makes a terrific oil pastel.

Scissors. Provide safety scissors and adult assistance for the tiny ones.

Glue. Just a small container of glue is all you need, or you can make your own with flour and water.

Paint & Brushes. You will be most pleased with water-base paints (tempera or watercolor) and brushes from small (¼") to large (1"). Here's a tip: Make clean up easier by adding a few drops of dish soap to your paints.

Found Objects. You can use buttons, beads, stamps, thread, and so on in many an art project.

Meanwhile...
Art and craft time in your childcare program can be fun, educational, and result in treasures that are saved (and displayed on refrigerators) for years. But some art supplies and art activities can be unsafe unless caregivers follow simple guidelines for selecting and storing materials and teach children how to use them properly. Scott G. Allen, Executive Director, Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics has provided us with some helpful tips. You can find those here: http://www.kinderart.com/teachers/artmaterialsafety.shtml

Keep creating!
~Andrea