Spin art is a childhood favorite.  I don’t think I’ve ever met a child who doesn’t want to take a shot at it.  I think it’s interesting that even the kids who often don’t want to sit down and work on a static art project, suddenly come alive when you introduce movement art like this.

Recently, I scored an old turntable during my in-law’s storage purge.  You know the saying, one man’s trash is a teacher’s treasure!  The turntable doesn’t spin fast enough to use centrifugal force like many spin art methods, but it’s great for doing spin art with markers or paint brushes.  By simply rounding the edges of a standard page and then pressing the center of the page through the peg, you’re ready to create.  Turn on the record player and pull out the markers, it’s time to have some fun!

It’s fun to watch the kiddos do take after take, experimenting first with holding the marker still and then adding motion on motion to create intricate designs. 

I also love the salad spinner method shared by Jean at The Artful Parent. You can grab a salad spinner at IKEA for a few dollars, plus the manual spinner builds large motor skills as well.

Spin art ignites creativity and wonder while also incorporating fine motor skills and an added awareness of principles of motion.  It’s engaging and gratifying, for young and old alike.

(Anyone else have a hard time doing spin art without getting Billy Idol’s   Dead or Alive’s ”You Spin Me Right Round” stuck in your head?  Well, if you didn’t before, now you probably will.)

Do you have a favorite method for spin art or other motion art?

A friend recently asked if I could give a list of the things I keep on hand for creative art activities.  In addition to the standard crayons, markers, and white paper, here are a few of my favorite multitasking art supplies:

Liquid Watercolors: While I also keep the typical watercolor cakes on hand, if I had to choose just one form, I’d take the liquid stuff.  It’s more vibrant for painting, it’s perfect for dying coffee filters, and it’s great for coloring other media like fingerpaint, playdough, and colorful ice for sculptures.

Tempera Paint Powder:  Kids LOVE to paint with tempera paint.  You can buy it already mixed, but powder is more economical and more versatile.  Sprinkle dry powder on wet paper for a reverse effect.  Mix the powder with salt for a fun texture to explore with.  Mix it up thicker or thinner for different effects.

Texture Tools:  Of course I have paint brushes, but I also have a basket of random items like slinkies, texture blocks, combs (one of my faves for painting), texture rollers, bubble wrap, and other random items that add tons of interest to painting projects like these.  The best part is these tools aren’t necessarily something you have to go out and buy.  Just keep your eyes out for something that can create a fun new texture when used as a painting tool.  (You might try cookie cutters  with paint or glue, for example.)

Art Trays and Smocks: They can be official art trays from the store, or old cookie sheets, but having a clear boundary for projects and a protective layer between creative art and your table top can go a long way to alleviate mess stress and makes cleaning up a breeze.  Likewise, smocks can be store-bought or you can just repurpose a small adult shirt.  Use a button-up and put it on your child backwards, buttoning just the top.  (Short sleeves seem to work just right, but you can always take a pair of scissors to whatever you have.)

Beautiful Junk:  Back in the day when I taught at a university lab school, we had an entire closet space labeled “Beautiful Junk”.  Today I have a shelf or two of my own with cardboard tubes, empty oatmeal canisters, and styrofoam bricks that once accompanied something precious in the mail.  Anything that can be repurposed into a creative project finds a temporary landing spot here before being incorporated into a sculpture, a marble track, or being used for shake painting.

If you’re interested in getting more ideas for your art adventures, check out my friend Christie’s ebook Art Not Craft.  It’s a wonderful resource packed with ideas for creative art activities with all the hows, whats, and whys explained along the way.  Click here to learn more about it at Childhood 101.

What are the favorites in your art closet?

Top photo by Thais Rocha Gualberto.

Image by Holton Rower.

I love that place where Science and Art collide.  When truly creative projects focus on the process over the product, they lend themselves to more inquiry, experimentation, and seeing things in a new way.  Children are free to wonder, “What would happen if…” and then experiment.  It’s the scientific process in action!

  I’ve been in awe of some of the art projects for young children I’ve been reading about lately.  There are just so many brilliant people out there encouraging children to really think and feel and create in amazing ways!  They’re really getting both sides of those young brains firing!

My list of projects keeps growing and will likely keep us busy all summer.  I thought I’d share a few of my favorites to inspire you as well!

Tall Painting

Have you seen this video yet?  I could sit and watch it over and over (OK, I have sat and watched it over and over).  The process is so intriguing and the motion (AKA physics) involved in creating it is mesmerizing!

When I first saw this video I wondered to myself, “How could this be adapted for kids?”  Well, someone has already figured that out.  It was Teacher Tom, of course!  Check out how he created this same art experience for the children he works with.  Also read his reflection on the activity in the Tall Painting Epilogue.  I’m thinking of adding another block layer to create a multiple waterfall effect similar to the work of the artist in the video,Holton Rower.  In fact, after giving it an initial go, it may be fun to let the children create their own wood block sculpture before you begin the pouring.  I’d be interested to see how they might anticipate the movement of the paint over different structures.

 Drawing Shadows

Experiment with the science concepts of light and shadows as well as the art concepts of composition and shape by adding props and creating dynamic shadow tracings like the one showcased at Tinker Lab.  (I just love the fairy wing/bicycle combination in her photo!)  You could also experiment with these designs at different times of the day and explore how shadows change as the relative position of the sun changes.

Fizz Bang!

I still can’t get this fizzing sidewalk paint from Quirky Mama out of my head.  I have all the ingredients stock-piled in my pantry and am waiting for a sunny day to head to the park. (Vinegar can damage grass, so find a large cement area with plenty of buffer for your artwork/science experiment).  Art and chemical reactions.  I challenge you to find a child who won’t be intrigued by that!

 Get Outside

If you’re looking for more outdoor art (bonus: you get some natural science in, a little extra Vitamin D, and less clean up stress) there are 20 Ways to Get Artsy Outdoors over at Childhood 101.  And, speaking of Childhood 101, for those of you who still haven’t picked upChristie Burnett’s ebook Art Not Craft, you might want to jump on it while the code “CREATE” will still get you a nice $3 discount.  The offer only lasts through April, so you’ll have to act fast!  It’s a great resource for creating limitless art activities that will emphasize inquiry and process for the children you love and teach.

Also, if you’re interested in learning more about the importance of creative thinking, be sure to follow the four-part series on creativity I’ve been writing, starting here!

Enjoy creating together!

There’s a fascinating article from Newsweek entitled, The Creativity Crisis.  It was actually published in the summer, but I just stumbled upon it recently.  It’s left me with all kinds of writing prompts swimming around in my head, but I thought I’d actually start with something I’ve already written.  Here’s a look at what the term “arts and crafts” means to me, originally published August 12, 2009.

I recently got a great compliment from a parent. At least I think it was a compliment. She said, “I love that you have these random art projects!”  Now, as I said, I do believe she sincerely meant it as a compliment, but it got me wondering.  Certainly I can see how creating collages with seeds, fingerpainting with  colored shaving cream , and dropping colored water on coffee filters may seem a little random, but random as compared to what?  I think when most people envision preschool arts, they see the paper plate snowmen, the construction paper alphabet train, and woven paper place mats.  These aren’t actually arts, they’re closer to crafts.  Now I’m not saying crafts aren’t appropriate for preschoolers, I quite enjoy making  paper plate snowmen and I think the children do to.  I just hate to see crafts used at the exclusion of art.  Let me explain how I see them as different.

A Crafty Plan.  Crafts are more teacher directed.  Whether for supervision, help with a technique, or providing step-by-step instructions, an adult’s help is usually needed for crafts. Though it is important to provide some kind of opportunity for variation and choice, crafts generally need to be done a certain way to create a certain “object”.  There is a bit more emphasis on the outcome being something (a tree, a frame, an ornament).  Often, we do crafts when we’re creating a parent gift with the children.  We want it to be something so that it has a purpose as a gift.  This has some benefits.  It is certainly not a bad thing for children to learn how to follow directions, and they usually have a great sense of self-satisfaction when they complete their product.  They also learn techniques that are often implemented in independent art projects later.  But to do only crafts and call it art gives our children the short end of the stick.  In fact, constant focus on crafts can muzzle creativity and leave children feeling discouraged.

Express Yourself.  I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t read Bev Bos’s book, Don’t Move the Muffin Tins, until recently, but I’m convinced that I was taught her philosophy for art by my own mentors during my undergrad. I think Bev distinguishes between arts and crafts best when she says, “I make my own distinction between “art” and” craft” by asking how much participation by an adult is needed once I have presented materials.  When the activity is truly art and genuinely creative, all I have to do is to put a name on the paper or perhaps stand by to add to the supplies.” (page 2) 

That’s how I judge my art activities.  If I really want to foster creativity  I simply need to focus on providing tools and media and watch how the children put them together.  They don’t need me to tell them how the end result should look any more than Monet would!  As a matter of fact, I have always taught and been taught that providing models for the children stifles their creativity and causes frustration, but I love Bev’s example of setting out something like a Van Gogh for teachers and asking them to copy it.  That’s what it’s like for children looking at our own versions of their projects.  It’s demeaning and intimidating.  True art activities honor the artist.

Often times, the satisfaction and expression comes in the process of doing the art.  It is not uncommon for children to spend tens of minutes on a project, and then show no interest in taking it home.  They have mixed colors and tried every utensil and now that their paper is caked and finally dried, they tell you they don’t need it. 

For them, it was about the experimentation, the sensory input, and the experience.  They weren’t looking for something to hang on the fridge.  They were looking for something to unload their feelings and energy on.  They wanted something to explore.  They wanted something to control.  The “product” is often something only we adults see.

So take another look at your art activities.  Do you see product or process?  Mentally create a spectrum with “true art” on one end (child-driven, teacher simply provides and monitors supplies) and “complete craft” on the other (teacher directed, step-by-step with identical outcomes expected).  As you plan, take time to evaluate where your art activities fall on that spectrum.  For the benefit of your children, make sure you’re providing enough “random art projects”.

Photo provided by ginam.

I recently had a teacher ask about art projects for the very young, particularly young two’s.  She was especially concerned with the safety factor, as the little ones have a tendency to try to eat what they’re working with.  I have a long list of suggestions for her, but I’ll share just one with you now!

The first project that came to mind was finger-painting!  This finger-paint recipe is fantastic!  It’s so easy and made from ingredients that are safe enough to eat — but it doesn’t taste great, so I doubt they’d try more than once.  (Though as soon as I say that, some little child somewhere will eat an entire container of this like it was yogurt.  Oh well, like I said, it’s safe.)

Cornstarch Finger-Paint

3 Tbsp sugar

½ cup cornstarch

2 cups cold water

Coloring

Liquid Soap

Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan.  Add the water and mix well.  Cook over med-low heat, stirring all the time, until thick, about 5 minutes.  (To me, it looks almost like Vaseline.)  Remove from the stove, cool, and pour into containers (muffin tins are great for a variety of colors).  Add a little food coloring or liquid watercolors to each cup and then a drop or two of soap to help with the washability.  (Liquid watercolors are ideal, as they are more washable, though food coloring is pretty safe once it is fully mixed into the paint solution.)  Mix well and paint when cool!  If making the night before, store in the refrigerator.

One thing I like to do with this recipe is to make it without any color, and put about 1/4 a cup or so in plastic bags.  Then I let the children mix in the color by working the *well-sealed* bag.  It’s particularly exciting to let the children choose two primary colors and mix it all together until a secondary color is formed.

Finger-painting can be done on paper plates, poster board, or art paper.  For many young children, however, finger-painting is about the experience and exploration, not about making something to be displayed on a refrigerator or bulletin board.  So you may even want to do finger-painting right onto art trays or the table top.  If you do finger-painting on a table top or tray, you can always do a reverse print by pressing paper onto the paint and lifting it again to reveal the design!

This is a great creative sensory activity, while also working fine motor skills.  And if they happen to lick their fingers.  No problem!

Top photo by NecoGarnica.

I do enjoy Bev Bos!  That woman is in a league of her own!  Well, it’s thanks to Bev that I’ve learned the secret to great shaving cream painting!  In the past, I’ve had children paint with colored shaving cream, and they’ve had a great experience, but unless they spread the foam out, once that foam’s dry, it all seems to fall apart.  Enter Bev.  Her big secret is to add equal parts Elmer’s glue and shaving cream and whip them together.  Then add your color and you’re good to go!

One of the best kinds of fingerpaints ever!  (Great with brushes too for the mess-avoidant child.)  You can add glitter right to it, or let the little ones sprinkle it on top.  It’s still fragile after it dries, but it does hold it’s shape- and the sparkles- much better than shaving cream alone!

It’s a great sensory activity, creative activity, and small motor activity.  And really, it’s just plain fun!  Who can walk past a pot of colorful foam and not want to join in?  And as I look at these projects, and think of Bev Bos, I’m reminded of her statement, “children have to use too much”.  It’s not a judgemental statement, it’s a reminder of the exuberance with which they approach art.  So be prepared to supply them with “too much” of your art supplies!  In fact, I’ve learned that when given a shaker of glitter, the typical child will empty it entirely onto one piece of paper.  It doesn’t really seem to matter whether the shaker had .8 oz or 18 oz!  So I now use a smaller amount in the shakers (or smaller shakers) and refill them if needed for the next child.  That way, each child can have the satisfaction of emptying the container!  ♥

I do enjoy Bev Bos!  That woman is in a league of her own!  Well, it’s thanks to Bev that I’ve learned the secret to great shaving cream painting!  In the past, I’ve had children paint with colored shaving cream, and they’ve had a great experience, but unless they spread the foam out, once that foam’s dry, it all seems to fall apart.  Enter Bev.  Her big secret is to add equal parts Elmer’s glue and shaving cream and whip them together.  Then add your color and you’re good to go!

One of the best kinds of fingerpaints ever!  (Great with brushes too for the mess-avoidant child.)  You can add glitter right to it, or let the little ones sprinkle it on top.  It’s still fragile after it dries, but it does hold it’s shape- and the sparkles- much better than shaving cream alone!

It’s a great sensory activity, creative activity, and small motor activity.  And really, it’s just plain fun!  Who can walk past a pot of colorful foam and not want to join in?  And as I look at these projects, and think of Bev Bos, I’m reminded of her statement, “children have to use too much”.  It’s not a judgemental statement, it’s a reminder of the exuberance with which they approach art.  So be prepared to supply them with “too much” of your art supplies!  In fact, I’ve learned that when given a shaker of glitter, the typical child will empty it entirely onto one piece of paper.  It doesn’t really seem to matter whether the shaker had .8 oz or 18 oz!  So I now use a smaller amount in the shakers (or smaller shakers) and refill them if needed for the next child.  That way, each child can have the satisfaction of emptying the container!  ♥

I’m rushing to finish up the posts for the Arts and the Senses unit, so that I can start posting the next unit I’m excited about!  Check back on the unit theme page, where I’ve explained several activities in quick notes and links rather than a full post!  This activity, however, warranted a little more explanation!

Whenever I talk to young children about visual art, I love to have several famous pieces of work to use for examples.  Of course, I don’t have any originals myself, feel free to use those if you do! 

I tend to get ideas about 12 hours before I need them.  24 on a good day.  I’d like to think that’s a sign of genius, but I have a feeling it’s more likely attributed to procrastination.  At any rate, the first time I decided I absolutely had to have some examples of fine art to show a group of children, I rushed to a few book stores and teacher supply shops looking for a kit with teaching samples.  I’m sure such a kit exists…somewhere.  But I certainly couldn’t find one in my frenzied search.  What I did find works just as well and is probably cheaper.  I love it when that happens.

I purchased this art book from the clearance table at Barnes and Noble or Borders.  It was about $10.  I took it home and took a razor blade to it, releasing the pictures from the book.  I selected some of my very favorites to show to the kiddos and laminated them.  I used construction paper to cover some of the more “mature” pictures (read: “nude” or “gory”) before laminating.  These laminated book pages are fantastic because they offer wonderful art samples while also including a bit of information, like the art era, the artist’s name and time period, as well as a short biographical sketch.  The book also includes information about each art movement through history.  So much information, which is really helpful when you’re only a hobby artist and not a trained one!

When I talk to young children about art, my objective is to expose them to great works, but also to help them see themselves as artists and to think critically about art.

I usually start by showing a few pieces from the Modern Era and talk about how the artists use shape and color.  We look through a few pieces by artists like Piet Mondrian, Barnett Newman, and Sonia Delaunay.  And I always love to show the little ones the action paintings by Jackson Pollock!  Looking at these more abstract works makes it easier to focus simply on lines, shapes, colors, and intensity.  We talk a lot about how their work is similar to these  pieces!

From there, I begin showing a few other works, talking about how some artists like to paint nature, flowers, and scenes.  Some like to paint people in many different ways.  I show a variety of paintings- as long as the children are still interested- and we talk about what we notice, like, or feel about the paintings.  It may just be that one of the girls likes Degas’ ballet dancers!  Or it may be that one painting makes us feel warm because there are flowers and light, and another makes us feel cold because the colors are dark and it looks like the wind is blowing.  Sometimes I hand out magnifying glasses and we look at the types of strokes that were used. 

I use a lot of the concepts I addressed in this post.  The idea is to give a broad look at the different ways art can be done and the different experiences viewing it can bring.  It is very effective to use pieces that show contrasting components – bright/dull, reality/fantasy, warm/cold, etc. 

Depending on the attention span of your group, you may want to break these viewings up into several sessions with different emphases in mind.  One day you may look at the color and form of the Modern Era, and then create some similar works.  Another day, you may look at the different ways artists portray plants, and another day people.  Or you may look at a series of “blue” pieces, and a series of “red” pieces and compare and contrast them. 

There really are so many ways to examine visual art, and they go far beyond just memorizing artists and titles.  Ditch the flash card approach to art.  Get closer, get talking, and turn your little ones into critics! 

More from the “Exploring the Arts through Our Senses” unit here!

Top photo by tullosmark.  Painting in top photo by Robert Rouschenberg.

Children love to explore!  That is a widely accepted fact!  So here’s a little project you can do quickly and inexpensively to create a fun exploration station where they can explore shape, size, and texture, and create designs to their little hearts’ content!

First, cut a variety of geometric shapes out of sturdy cardboard.  I like to have smaller and larger versions of the same shapes for larger/smaller comparisons, and I also like to use some of the unit block principles (two triangles are the same size as one square, two squares are the same as one rectangle, etc.).  Next, cover those shapes with a variety of textures.  Go through your fabric scraps for silky, bumpy, ribbed, or wooly.  Raid your tool shelves for sandpaper and dig through your craft closet for smooth foam or spent and wrinkly aluminum foil.  One of my favorite textures is created from corrugated cardboard.  Sometimes you can find it with the corrugates exposed, other times you have to peel back one layer.  It’s fantastically bumpy!

Add self-adhesive magnets to the back and use them on a magnet board against the wall or at your working tables.  (If you’re concerned about the children pulling off the magnets, you may want to cover them with packing tape, or cover the entire back with contact paper.)

As children create a variety of designs with the geometric shapes (patterns, butterflies, etc.) talk about the names of the shapes, how the shapes feel, and how they compare in size.  This encourages language skills as they describe the shapes and the stories behind their designs, creativity as they come up with their designs, as well as math skills as they begin to be familiar with the characteristics of geometric shapes and can compare them using terms like smaller than, larger than, half as big, etc.  While they’re at it, they’re also using their small motor skills to manipulate the pieces, science knowledge is built as they explore with the magnets, and social skills would certainly come into play if they happen to be working with a partner.  Wow!  Who knew one fun little exploration center could support so many different areas?  There are even more objectives that could come into play, but my fingers are cramping up, so you’ll just have to recognize those yourselves!

Often, after free-play time, as I’m gathering the group, I will grab these shapes and ask who played with that area that day.  Then we’ll quickly go through the shapes as  a large group, discussing the shape names and characteristics as well as their textures.  This creates a quick opportunity for review as a group, while also sparking interest in that area for the next day.

More from the “Exploring the Arts through Our Senses” unit here!

My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard is a perfect introduction into the interplay between color and language.  The girl in the story explains how her colors talk as she draws.  For example, “Yellow chirps, ‘Quick, Baby chick.’” The accompanying picture shows the girl sitting in a straw-colored meadow, surrounded by baby chicks, while wearing a sunny sun dress and funky sunglasses. 

As you read the story, point out that the colors don’t actually talk in a way the girl can hear, but that the colors remind her of things.  They make her feel a certain way.  After the story, or after each color, talk with the children about what the colors remind them of.

After the story, I like to use this My Favorite Color poem page to do a whole language activity.  It gives each child the chance to think about her favorite color in terms of each of the five senses.  As she completes each thought, her words are written down, creating a connection between the written and spoken word.  You can enhance this language and literacy activity by slowly sounding out the words, or asking questions like, “What letter does ‘blue’ start with?”, or simply thinking out loud as you write (“Purple.  P..p..p.. that sounds like a “p” to me!” “I like writing “T”! Straight down and straight across!”).  Don’t make it overly laborious, but enhance the experience as it feels appropriate.  (For more  tips for encouraging beginning writers, read here.)  Afterward, the children draw pictures right on top of their words, or on the back of the paper, whichever they prefer.  It’s a preschool masterpiece combining visual and language arts along with the five senses!

This activity builds sensory awareness, creativity, and language and literacy skills.  It is also just an enjoyable experience to hear the children’s answers!  Some are poetic, others silly, and some are very matter-of-fact, but they are each unique to the individual child who composed them! 

More from the “Exploring the Arts through Our Senses” unit here!