There is something about potato stamps that makes me think of my childhood. I’m not even sure I ever did potato stamping, but it’s more the look that the stamping provokes: imperfect, smudgy, and just authentically kid-like. I was hoping my art class students would be into it. And to my eternal relief…they were! How…
Art for Toddlers
Build It! Wooden Towers with Kids
Kids LOVE building wooden towers! Woodworking is such an incredibly satisfying art experience for kids. They don’t often get to work with wood, so when my 4-yr olds came in to art class and saw wood pieces and glue scattered around the table, their faces just lit up. This is actually quite a simple activity with…
Puffy Paper Stars
We looove making these little puffy “pillows” in art class. (We’ve made clouds and hearts before.) There are many steps involved, but that’s what makes it so exciting! The kids made these last week to use for holiday decoration. Some wanted to put them on top of their trees, and some wanted to hang them over their…
Holiday Art // Christmas Tree Assemblage
These beautiful and original Christmas trees were made by the four-year olds in art class! Aren’t they amazing? They loved learning the word “assemblage”, which is basically like collage except you you do more than just glueing. You can do anything to hold pieces together, like wrapping or weaving or cutting. It involves picking up…
Pantone Playdough + Gift Tag
Making playdough is something I could do in my sleep. I have made it for so many years. It is so far superior to store bought in every way! First of all, it’s really soft. Secondly, it lasts forever. Third of all, it’s really cool to watch the liquid turn into a solid right before…
Painted Wooden Blocks
When the kids walked into art class last week and saw wooden blocks and paint, they couldn’t believe it! Were they really allowed to paint on them? One little girl told us a story about how she once drew on wooden blocks. She said her mom didn’t get mad. Then they all started to chat…
Sensory Art Play with Easy Dough
This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for your support in this way! My friend Asia from Fun at Home with Kids has a new book! It’s called 150+ Screen Free Activities for Kids and it’s literally awesome. There are recipes for everything under the sun, from flubber to slime, moon sand to fizzy slush. There are…
Paper Lanterns // Made by Kids
Maybe it’s me, but I felt like I needed a little departure from Holiday and leaves and fall colors. These lanterns were made by my art campers, ages four to six. Aren’t they so pretty? This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support! Materials for splatter paper: Gray sulphite paper (12 x 18)…
Paper Bag Art Journal for Kids
Over the summer, I had art camp here every day for five weeks. On day one of each new session, the first thing we did was make an art journal. It was something that could be used throughout the week, if the kids were done with their projects early, or if they had an idea…
Scrape Painting with Kids
Process art is such a prominent word in art education. There are many people who can write about it much better than I can, like Meri Cherry, Stephanie from Twodaloo, and Mary Catherine from Fun-a-Day. If you want to dig a little deeper then definitely click on the links. In a nutshell, process art just means child-led…