Art vs Craft

I get so frustrated with prescribed art and craft activities for children. Recently at a local group the children were presented with photocopied ladybirds, and each child was given four black dots, two googly eyes and two antenes. This kind of activity seems pointless to me- really it's just busy work.  The leader was confronted when Finn declared he didn't want to make a ladybird but wanted to make a lion, but I was beaming at him with pride.

It is so easy to give children a variety of materials in different colours and textures and from there, the children can decide where their project goes. Even choosing what materials from they use from the selection is a creative process in itself.



At two Evie loves declaring- "I made it all by myself", rather than someone telling her what she has to do, and how she has to do it. Children should be able to let their projects take them to where-ever their imaginations want them to go. They should be able to tell a story, dream, design or just experiment with textures, colours, glue, tape, clay, pencils and paint.

Not everything has to look like something that adults recognise, sometimes it's just fun to play and create.

Felt Faces

About a year ago I had cut out a variety of felt facial features and face shapes in different sizes, shapes and colours (noses, lips, beards, eyebrows, eyes, hair etc). I put them in a zip-lock sandwich bag and bring them out occasionally for Finn to play with.  He comes up with new, and interesting faces every time. 

A light, quiet and clean activity for when you are out and about and need to keep little hands busy. 

If the child is skilled with scissors they could make their own shapes, and glueing is also an option. 

Soap Scultpure

I've seen this activity before and had been meaning to try it at home. It was surprisingly easy and wonderfully satisfying for Finn.

I had some bars of hotel soap (left over from my days working as a Flight Attendant), but any translucent soap would work. 

I helped Finn cut the soap into small chunks of different shapes and sizes, and gave him some toothpicks to construct his masterpiece.

It was a good activity to help him learn more about object placement, balance and working in three dimensions.

I'd recommend this activity for over 3's as the toothpicks are quite sharp to work with.

POST OFFICE

This weekend Finn has been busy with his Post Office. First we started by creating some mail, by using a stack of envelopes, some stickers and a date stamp (with ink pad). Finn folded up drawings and paintings and some hand written letters.

Finn wore a little felt hat which looked like a postman's, and I cut down and stitched a canvas shoulder bag and so it was a good size for little hands to reach in to distribute the mail.

We then made a Post Box out of a cardboard box with a hole cut in the front.

A delivery van (little car or bike) is also useful for this activity. Finn spent most of the afternoon delivering, sorting and creating his mail, and his little sister also enjoyed being involved in the posting frenzy.

This is a fun activity with opportunities for language development through role play and enhancing literacy (reading and writing) skills.

Pressed Flowers

A few months ago we collected some flowers from around the neighbourhood and pressed them in a simple flower press (can be done between sheets of blank A4 paper inside a heavy book).

We had forgotten about them for a few months, so they were well and truly ready we pulled them out yesterday.

I gave Finn some clear contact sheets and he arranged his flowers on the sticky side of the contact. We then pressed the contact onto a sheet of paper, and cut the squares so he could then turn them into cards or bookmarks.

I also asked him to place one flower he chose onto a piece of paper, and work into it with a pen using the flower as a starting point to his drawing (you could attach the flower with a bit of glue first or sticky tape to hold it in place). I then sealed his drawing and and the flower with a sheet on contact on top.

There is cute book called Leaf Man which could be used as inspiration for creating other collages with dried leaves and flowers.

Potato People

After reading a sweet book by Pamela Allen Called 'The Potato People' we were inspired to make our own using toothpicks, dressmaking pins and a marker. Like in the book, we'll place him in the windows until he grows shoots, then plant him in the garden.

There is some material that can be downloaded here to further link activities related to this book to Literacy, Visual Arts, Music and Dance.

Box train

I came across this photo that was taken when Finn was about 20 months. He had the best time in his box train. I had collected different sized boxes from the checkout at Bunnings, and joined them together with some pipe cleaners (or string). We added a smoke stack using a smaller box, and a steering wheel using a paper plate. I looped a material belt through the front of the first carriage so I could pull him along from station to station.

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Colouring In

'Rapunzel's Supermarket' has a paragraph about colouring-in books which makes perfect sense to me, and which is why I cringe when I turn up at some library and playgroup events for children where the only 'creative' activity is for children to  colour in pre-drawn sheets. I usually just turn the page over to the blank page and encourage Finn to draw his own lovely drawing (like shown above). To quote Ursula Kolbe on p. 118.

" It is sad when programs provide children with pre-drawn colouring in activities in the belief that these are 'educational'. Some claim that learning to colour within outlines helps children develop fine-muscle control and so assists them in gaining 'pre-writing'skills. That may be so, but why give children pre-drawn outlines to fill in?

When children are pleased with their own drawings, they usually take great care in colouring them in. Pride in their own drawings come from the confidence of knowing that they can draw. And confidence comes from having many opportunities to draw. If colouring-in activities are offered too frequently, children may miss opportunities to learn to draw. Less confident children may even lose faith in their drawing abilities. "

Children and design

I recently ordered a copy of a wonderful book called "Beautiful Stuff" By Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandin, which I've been reading and re-reading every chance I get. One paragraph I particularly like is about children's natural design sense on p. 32. 

"Looking at these arrangements of objects we see the strong sense of design in young children. It is in this sense of composition that Picasso refers to when he says, "Once I drew like Raphael, but it has taken me a whole lifetime to learn how to draw like a child". The strong sense of design that emerges in the early years is often misunderstood or not encouraged. To hear children describe how they put their designs helps us appreciate the complexity of their thinking and the many ways of making connections."

Finger Prints

For this activity you need:

A stamp pad (one or more colours)

Pens/ pencils/ Crayons

Paper

Optional:

Magnifying glass

Book about Bugs/ insects

We started by looking at a few books about insects and bugs. Noting the different body parts that make up the insects (a journey into the garden with the magnifying glass would also be valuable). 

I then let Finn experiment with making prints and patterns by pressing his fingers in the ink-pad (show children how roll fingers in the ink then onto the paper).

Finn loved watching the different shades and tones appear (as he repeated printing before re-applying ink to his finger).

He also enjoyed testing out a variety of his fingers for creating different shapes and sizes.

We then looked at the patterns of the finger prints through the magnifying glass.

I then gave him some smaller pieces of paper so he could try his hand at turning some prints into his own insect. Adding wings, antennae, legs. etc.

Space Craft

My little Finn is into all things Space related. He spends hours in a cardboard rocket we made for him at the beginning of the year (an empty booster seat box, with a door and window cut into it).

Today we to create a space control center for him. The helmet we made by attaching empty paper rolls into a plastic 'builders' helmet, and for the visor attached some clear plastic to the front with masking tape. We covered the paper rolls with silver contact (although aluminum foil would also work).

For his control booth and computer screen, we used an empty fruit box and another sheet of clear plastic over the top of a drawing of a rocket blasting off (or any space scene). I also drew a keyboard, some buttons and dials on a sheet of paper and attached it to his desk. 

Potato stamps

This is another simple activity that creates a lot of fun for toddlers. Cut a variety of shapes and patterns into a small raw potato, give them a shallow dish of acrylic paint (with a paint soaked dish sponge to press the stamp into), or you can cheaply buy big paint stamp pads from most newsagents or art supply shops.

After experimenting with repetition and what shapes they can make, you can also encourage children to create scenes, objects, or images using simple geometric shapes (for example triangles and squares can look like houses or buildings, or robots using squares, circles and rectangles). 
Once the paint has dried, children can also work into their stamped images with other materials (pens, textas, crayons etc). 

Painting Chalk

This is a lovely simple activity that my three year old loves just as much as my (almost) 1 year old.

Just ask them to draw on their blackboard with chalk, then give them a pot of water and a few paintbrushes, and ask them to draw into the chalk and watch it disappear. They can also create interesting shapes with the black space they create.

body drawing

This activity is by no means new or original, but I thought I'd let Finn experiment with drawing on a large scale, and on a different shaped piece of paper. 

I traced the shape of his body when he was lying down (if you are working with other children they could all take turns in tracing each other). He was then able to decide how he finished it off.

Finn is very interested in how the Human body works, so together we looked at a reference book and using large wax crayons, he added in organs and details of the body in his own way. 

Worms for Dinner

I gave Finn a bowl of left over noodles, and some food colouring. He had great fun mixing, stirring and pouring the noodles into muffin trays and other small containers. 

It did get messy- so I recommend this for outdoor play, or putting a plastic mat down if it's a covered or indoor area. 

If you add a bit of glue to the pasta, children can also arrange noodles and make patterns onto a  piece of cardboard. Allow to dry. 

collage

I like to give children a variety of materials for collage. If you display and store the material in a clear craft box- it gives the children an attractive choice, without overwhelming them.

 Today Finn was working on a nature-based artwork using paper bark and bird seed. Cutting or tearing up unwanted dried paintings also creates lovely textural materials for collage. 

clay

"Prehistoric humans discovered the useful properties of clay, and one of the earliest artifacts ever uncovered is a drinking vessel made of sun-dried clay" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay ) 

Even children as young as two enjoy manipulating clay- a material that has been around for thousands of years. 

 Clay is an inexpensive material, and if stored correctly can be used countless times. There is no need to fire it unless you have access to a kiln, children will enjoy building and creating objects which can be shelf dried, or squashed down to be re-used. 

In these photos I was working with some 4 year olds who were using a small block of air-drying clay. We used metal and plastic spoons and cotton buds to create texture and detail, and a heavy rolling pin to flatten to clay. 

Remind children to join pieces firmly as if they are too thin they will fall apart when dry. 

Puff the Magic Dragon

After listening to a reading of the song book 'Puff The Magic Dragon' at his Music Class, Finn was inspired to draw magic dragons for the next day or so.  

I had a packet of 140 'self adhesive colour label' (found in variety shop for only $1 a packet), and suggested he could incorporate some spots into his art work (as scales, or patterns). 

He had a wonderful time creating patterns, shapes and layers. At one stage the spots became smoke, and in on of this drawings he decided that his creation was actually a fire-fly which he used a pen to add wings to (the top example). 

There is some great information on Jennifer McCormack's lavendilly site: 

http://lavendilly.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/childrens-development-in-drawings-part-4-talking-to-children-about-their-drawings/

Which discusses positive ways to talk to children about their artwork, and encourage them to think about the process they are engaged in. 

Nature Table

Finn has a Nature Table on our paved outdoor area (a nature table is really meant to be set up inside as a way of bringing nature indoors, but we lack space in our house, and his table is pretty large and messy!). Every time we go on walks he collects new things to add to his collection- feathers, rocks, sticks, seed pods etc. 

Today I thought we needed to add some people to the table so he could create some natural scenes, and I decided to use a gorgeous family of wooden peg dolls I bought recently on Etsy which I had been meaning to do something with. 

I made them to represent our little family, so I glued (using PVA) some felt for our clothes (Finn choose the colours he thought were our favourites), I tied a small bit of string around the middle, attached a bit of woolen hair (I used some unspun Alpaca fleece, but anything would do), and drew on some simple faces with a fine permanent marker. 

Then we created an island setting for them using rocks, sand, bark and sticks,  

and a seed pod worked well as a raft.. 

If you don't have wooden peg dolls to use, sticks can make really sweet gnomes as demonstrated on this site: http://thatartistwoman.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-make-gnomes-out-of-sticks.html

map making

Today I asked Finn (3 years) to paint me a map of our suburb. Paint didn't allow him to add much detail, so when the paint was dry, he worked into his map adding details (with a fine texta) such as our house, some favourite cafes, his family daycare, and some of his friends houses. 

You could also suggest children add trees, traffic lights, rivers, parks and shops. 

You could show children some real street maps of their street (or from google earth), so they can see their suburb from a different perspective and get an idea of distance between places.