• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

ARTBAR

raising creative thinkers

  • MY BOOKS
    • Art Workshop for Children
    • Cardboard Creations
  • ART SUPPLIES
  • SHOP
    • Art Bar on Etsy
    • Art Class Poster
  • ABOUT
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Process Art

Painted Wooden Blocks

November 17, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 9 Comments

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…

Read More

A Painted Branch // Collaborative Art with Kids

October 23, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 83 Comments

Children collaborate to paint a fallen branch

This week for art class I tried something new. Our neighbor cut down some branches and left them on our property. They’d been there a while, actually. We kept thinking they would clean them up. As I was staring at them from the kitchen window Monday morning I thought that I should really make a…

Read More

Paper Bag Art Journal for Kids

October 7, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 15 Comments

make art journals with your kids from paper bags // teach them how to think like an artist!

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…

Read More

Scrape Painting with Kids

September 10, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 4 Comments

beautiful process art ~ kids love pushing and pulling and scraping the paint around in their tray ~ mixing colors and seeing what will happen is one big art experiment and so much fun!

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…

Read More

Making Art with Bubbles

August 5, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I received a surprise package ~ the new book by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller! These two ladies have an incredibly successful blog that you should follow immediately called Kids Activities Blog. They sent me a free copy, just because they like me I think. I immediately opened it and started folding down…

Read More

Watercolor Garland {paint with Q-tips}

July 10, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 8 Comments

make a beautiful garland with liquid watercolors and a unique painting tool

I am so in love with these garlands that the 4-yr olds made in art camp last week. This technique was such a success that the kids asked to do it again the next day! They LOVED painting with q-tips. And I swear, there was literally no way to make these mini paintings look bad….

Read More

Paper Bag Crowns

July 1, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 8 Comments

I love the way these crowns turned out. I don’t know what my vision was exactly…probably something more refined – ha! But since this was an open-ended project, I just gave the 4-yr olds their plain crowns and their art supplies and they made each their very own. I don’t think I could have imagined…

Read More

Shoe Box Castles

June 23, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 5 Comments

children make castles from recycled materials

Last week in art camp the 4-yr olds made these beautiful castles. They were totally into it! We made them over a period of three days, with drying time. When they finally took them home, they were completely sturdy and ready for imaginary play! This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support! Here’s…

Read More

Make Art Mail

June 10, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 7 Comments

send small works of art to someone you love!

We had a very exciting art class this week becasue the kids made mail! The 3-yr olds spent 40 minutes using watercolors to paint cards and envelopes. They were so excited to put them in the mailbox that I had to blow-dry their paintings so that they could mail them out ASAP. This post contains…

Read More

Cardboard Paintings: Exploring Primary Colors

May 21, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 6 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support! Last week I made some cardboard canvases for my 3-yr old class. They were totally digging the format and each of them painted two or three or more paintings. I cut some pieces big, and some small. I primed some with a light gray paint,…

Read More

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Page 9
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

The Creativity Project
RESOURCE FOR TEACHERS
Start Here!
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Yes! I want to raise thoughtful and creative children. Send me more inspiration, please!

artbarblog

i make things✖️
creativity facilitator✖️
design as a lense✖️
author✖️✖️
mom✖️✖️✖️
blog at artbarblog✖️
teacher resources ⬇️
@the.creativityproject

I have been thinking lately about so many big idea I have been thinking lately about so many big ideas. They seem to be stuck, though, in the cogs of my brain. I need to articulate and connect these ideas together, but I can’t find the right words, or medium. It feels like trudging through thick mud, and then making the choice to set up camp in the muddy place. Maybe this is always what motherhood + living a creative life will be. And I am ok with that, too. Life is mucky, and even though I crave clarity, I am also acutely aware that this is why I also crave art. Music, books, museums, film, gardens… these are the mediums humans turn to when they need to find connection and, if we are lucky, clarity. But I feel more protective of my human-centered ideas these days and less willing to share them in spaces like this where they are open source. I don’t even know what is real sometimes. And how am I contributing to this landscape of creative and intellectual robbery. I think I am headed in a different direction but I don’t know what that is yet. Meanwhile, I am camping in the mud and looking for beauty where I am. 

Some moments new and old, lately…

1. Painting at my easel, age 4 when we lived in England before moving to the US. 
2. I tried making a video of motherhood on mother’s day inspired by this song 🌙 but never finished. 
3. Planting dahlias 🌸
4. Year 2 of my veggie garden. It is not going well. 
5. We diagnosed our garden problem as not enough sun so cut down a tree to give the sun a little path but then the sun moved. Also failing at science 😳
6. When you see your habits in your children ❤️ 
7. My mom’s caretaker gave me a cake and now I am a whole year younger 🙏🏼
8. Thank you James for the treats, mom dreams of traveling to visit your bakery but this was the next best thing 🥐
9. Finding 50 bucks in jeans from 20 years ago 👏🏼 Always check the pockets!
10. The newly graduated makeup artist with her kit off to a job 💋 
11. When the birthday kid isn’t home it’s too sad. must make art. 
12. When I am so dumb and share it on the internet 🙃
13. My heart, my clarity ❤️
14. Another round of silkscreening! Things are happening. 
15. MUA by Ava, and hanging out with the help 😍
16. Reminder.
Follow on Instagram

Categories

Archives

Copyright and Reposting

All content on this blog is copyright and owned by Art Bar Blog unless otherise stated. I would be flattered if you wanted to use an image from one of my posts! But please, ask me first. I would also ask that if it involves DIY instructions with a list of supplies that you don't repost any of that stuff because then nobody would have a reason to click back to my original post!

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

About Me

There are two things that I'm passionate about: Children + Art. As an art teacher, author, graphic designer, and mom to 3 creative thinkers, I get to explore my passions every day! Learn more...

I am dedicated to keeping your information safe. Please review my Privacy Policy.

Recent Posts

shibori tie-dying with kids in art camp

Copyright © 2026 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework