We make these gingerbread houses every year. Sometimes we make them late in the season (like after-Christmas-late), and sometimes I am so organized I even make an invitation! If you are feeling efficient and organized these days, then scroll down to the bottom for a fun and free printable invitation I made for you. Oh,…
Open-ended Crafts for Kids
Patchwork Houses with Cardboard and Collage
I have been saving this post for two years. Why? Because I really, really wanted to create my first ever craft kit out of this patchwork house art activity. I still am thinking about doing it, but my pace is so slow these days and I just couldn’t wait any longer to share this simple…
Painted Leaf Mobiles
By now you know that I am usually very slow in getting my art projects posted here on the blog. This Fall I am mostly writing about things we made a year ago. These beautiful painted leaf mobiles are a case in point. My art students made them last October, but even more comical is…
Draw a Friend // Portraits by Kids for the Classroom
I am a picture book lover and collector, and my favorite ones are about friendship. When my children were little and September came around, there were certain books I would always pull out and read with them prior to the first day or school and throughout those first few weeks. These books were like old…
Tracing is Fun and There Are Benefits!
Transparency film is an amazing art material that I never knew about until recently, and now a whole world has opened up for us. The world of tracing! It’s such a simple material that you can order from Amazon, and it will keep your kids occupied for hours. Even teens! This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for…
Acrylics with Kids
I’ll share a secret with you: I’ve always wished I was a painter. I envy artists who have their own painting studio where they can hide away and listen to music and paint whatever they want. I think it’s the introvert in me who loves this idea of solitude, and not having to please the…
Paper Plate Party Hats
Over here, we are kind of obsessed with making party hats. It’s such a great open-ended activity that allows for artistic freedom while opening the door to imaginary play. Plus it makes them feel special. The idea for these paper plate hats came from the whimsical and playful blog Kid Play Do. If you have five extra…
Giant Cardboard Donuts
Oh my goodness!! It’s been a very long time since I’ve gotten a post up this quickly after doing an art project with the kids, but I just couldn’t wait to share this one from art camp last week. How amazing are these donuts? I just stood back and watched them paint and collage and…
Washi Tape Paper Plates
Paper plates are a fantastic art material. I mean, there are literally hundreds of crafts on Pinterest that use paper plates! I think the possibilities are endless, they really are. I especially love what my friend Leslie from Pink Stripey Socks does with paper plates. I think she needs to write a book! And we’ve…
Stenciled Backpacks by Kids
My art campers made these! I love this process, and I love the way they turned out. We used the scrape painting technique that we are really addicted to, and added some freezer paper stencils. It was basically a big experiment, and it worked! Mostly. Well, there were a few lessons learned that I will share…
