Collaborating on Art Projects with Little Kids

Detail of Our Ode to Spring

Collaborating on a project isn't easy. Collaborating on an art project with a 4yr old... You might think that it is impossible, but it is not. Here are 8 pointers to help you along.

1) Plan Ahead With Your Team - (Yes, I just referred to you and your child(ren) as a team. If you are going to make something together that is what you need to be.) Come up with a basic idea of what you are making, the materials you will need, the steps involved, where you will work, when you will do it, etc. This will help to get everyone invested in the project and give you a chance to organize in advance.

2) Identify Steps and Tasks - There are some things that you youngest team mates can't do but there are a whole lot of things they can. Identifying those things in advance makes redirection easy without letting it turn into a power struggle. For example: I need to be the one to use the X-Acto knife to cut here because it is very sharp, but we also need some triangles. Can you cut them with your scissors?

3) Give Them the Right Tools - If you want  small flowers don't hand them a big paint brush. If you are hoping for a garden of pink and purple, pull out those colors and leave the yellow and orange crayons in the box.

4) Let Go -  Yes, I know you have a vision of how this project is going to turn out, but so does every other member of your team. Ask open ended questions. Share your ideas. Communicate. Compromise. Create. This goes for kids and adults!

5) Plan Breaks - Not all attentions spans are created equally. Thankfully paint and glue take time to dry, creating convenient times for a break. Stretch. Have a snack. Change the music (or the baby). Take a nap. You don't need to finish in just one sitting. Remember - everything takes longer with kids, even art.


6) Check In - Every once in a while step back and look at your project. Share a complement. Ask a question (I noticed you used a different color on the belly of the bird. Why did you choose red?).

7) Resist the Impulse to 'Fix It'- Yes, it is crooked. No, it doesn't look like the one you saw on Pinterest. It was made by Your Team. It isn't 'wrong' and it doesn't need to be 'fixed'!

8) Be Proud -  Put your work on display. Encourage your child to talk about the art and the process with you and when showing others. What did they contributed and what did other team members add? What was challenging? What was new or fun? What do you want to make next?

The Latest Neighborhood Beautification Project on Display

Simple Science - Plant Maze

We have been planting and tending seedlings for a few months now, and the Figlet has been making all sorts of observations. 

One observation she had made was the way that the plants would 'reach' for the sunlight, so when I saw this experiment I knew 

we had to try it. 

First we soaked and sprouted some pea seeds.

Then we constructed a maze in a shoe box 

using pieces of cardboard, a TP tube and masking tape. 

When the maze was ready, we planted the sprouted seeds 

in a container and put it at the 'start' of the maze.

We set it up in a window, checking every few days to be sure that the soil stayed damp. It took longer than we thought it would for the peas to make their way to the light - about 10 days.

But they made it!

In case you are wondering, the technical term for the way that a plant orients itself to the light is phototropism. 

Turn, Turn, Turn Top - Little Kid Art Project

Turn, Turn, Turn Tops

Age: 18 Months - 8 Years or older (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ lots more time playing with them!)

Theme: Color Mixing, Games

Books: White Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker, Color Dance by Ann Jonas

Materials:

8” Round Cake Board (the cardboard base that bakeries use under their cakes)

Crayons*

Glass Beads (also called gems – they ones that are flat on one side)

Adults get to us a Hot Glue Gun

Prep: Set out the materials and plug in the hot glue gun safely out of reach

Activity: Each child gets a cake board and crayons. Decorate it any way you like! The ADULT then glues a glass bead to the center of the bottom. As soon as the glue cools, spin your top!

Notes/Tips: Ask you child what happened when their design was spinning. Challenge bigger kids to create a design that creates an optical illusion (like a spiral) or to experiment with the placement of the bead.

*The waxy surface of some cake boards resists crayon. If you want more vibrant colors try a student grade oil pastel (cray pas) or Crayola Construction Paper Crayons.  

Dear Spring...

I Miss Spring...

Simple Science - Planting Seeds

What to do on a blustery February day when you are stuck inside? 

Plant seeds of course!

Prepare the dirt

Poke drainage holes in egg carton planters

Fill with dirt then gently plant seeds

Put them on a sunny windowsill  

(make sure the soil stays moist)

Watch them grow!!!

Magic Wands - Little Kid Art Project

Magic Wands

Age: 18 Months – 5+ Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 10 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Magic

Books: The Magic Rabbit by Annette LeBlanc Cate, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

Materials:

Adhesive Backed Felt or Craft Foam
Yarn & String Scraps
Chopsticks
Adults get to use Scissors

Prep: Fold felt/foam and cut doubled shapes for wand tops (roughly 1”). Leave the folded edge intact (this way the pieces are more easily folded closed). Cut yarn and string into various lengths 4” – 12”

Activity: Each child gets a chopstick, a felt/foam shape and several pieces of yarn/string. Take the backing off of the felt/foam and place the top of the chopstick in the middle of the sticky side (littlest artists will need help with this). Choose what types of yarn and string your magic will travel on best. Add them to the sticky side too. When you have enough magic strands, close the wand top. Practice your magic. (Don’t forget to change everyone back to their original form before dinner!)

Notes/Tips: Kids who are learning scissor skills can practice on the yarn & string. String cuts best when held taunt, so this is also an opportunity for teamwork. In a group setting, magic wands can be used as ‘talking sticks’, indicating whose turn it is to speak. Foam stickers also work as wand tops.

 

Blast Off Rockets - Toddler Art Project

Blast Off Rockets

Age: 18 Months - 5 Years or older (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Rockets, Space, Imaginative play

Books: On the Launch Pad: A Counting Book About Rockets by Nancy Atterbury, Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

Materials:

Card Stock Weight Paper
Colored Cellophane (We used red but any color will do)
Glue Sticks
Small pictures of faces (I found them in old magazines and used a 1” round punch to cut them out)
Adults get to use Scissors or Exacto Knife and a Ruler

Prep: Cut the four primary pieces of the rocket out of card stock. Our rockets consisted of a 3” x 5” rectangle for the body, the side ‘wings’ are a 3” x 4” rectangle cut into 2 triangles, and the point was half of a 4” square, but you can cut them to whatever scale you like. Cut 3-5 strips of colored cellophane to be the jet, and several faces (human or animal) to act as passengers.

Activity: Each child gets a set of pieces: 1 large rectangle, 1 large triangle, 2 smaller triangles and colored cellophane. Using a glue stick, assemble the rocket (adding the jet last so it doesn’t take off before they are ready). Choose some passengers and add them onto the body of the rocket. Time to Blast Off!

 

Notes/Tips: Putting the 'passengers' out on a large paper plate will help them from ending up everywhere. Choosing passengers after the rocket is assembled will also give the glue a few moments to dry before playing. If you don't have any colored cellophane, party streamers make a fine jet too. Don’t forget to talk about the shapes - its a preliminary math skill.

 

Working on cutting skills with the scraps.

Garbage Truck = Snow Plow?! In NYC it does!

Image borrowed from this web site that has lots of neat info about garbage trucks

Did you know that in New York City we don't have many big snowplows? When we get a snow storm, they suspend garbage pick up and put plow blades on the front of the garbage trucks!

Armed with that bit of trivia and inspired by this 3D Snowplow Craft from Reading Confetti, I came up with this activity to share with the little ones at story time.

We started with a coloring page of a city garbage truck. I used this one but I printed it, trimmed the blah blah blah info off the bottom then made copies for the kids.
 
We used our glue sticks to attach the TP tube plow blade and cotton ball snow. (The little ones really enjoyed pulling the cotton apart.) Then we traded in our glue sticks for crayons and colored them in.

Things That You Can Paint With - Creative Discovery Toddler Style

 

Painting has been the Figlet's art activity of choice lately.
To keep things interesting, she has been testing out the
marks she can make with all kinds of things....
 

Feathers

 

Sponge, Onion Bag, Marbles & Beads

 

Fingers & Fake Flowers

 

Spool, TP Tube, Brushes

 

Foam Sticker Stamps

 



Brushes & Burlap

 

There is such joy in discovery!

 

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?" Howard Ikemoto

 

 

Pizza Party - Toddler Art Project

 

Pizza Party – Toddler Art Project

Age: 18 Months - 5 Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 10 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Pizza

Books: Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington, Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig

Materials:

Brown Construction paper (heavy weight works best)
Assorted scraps and colors of construction paper & tissue paper
Yarn scraps, fabric scraps, foam bits, packing peanuts, sequins, buttons, etc
Small paper plates (optional - for ‘serving’)
Glue
Adults (& some kids) get to use Scissors

Prep: Cut pizza crusts from brown construction paper. I cut three triangular slices per sheet, but you can also make Sicilian style rectangles, or personal pan circles. Prepare toppings such as red and orange tissue scrap sauce, yarn cheese, green pepper paper slices, packing peanut sausage, etc.

Activity: Each child gets a ‘crust’, glue, a paper plate and an assortment of toppings. Make a custom slice! You can suggest that sauce and cheese be the first two toppings, but there is no wrong way to top a pizza. Serve paper pizza on paper plates.

Notes/Tips: You can use a hole punch to ‘pit’ black olive circles and onion rings shape themselves when card stock is cut in a thin spiral. When choosing toppings avoid potential choking hazards such as buttons for little ones. This activity can be made longer by making it a pizza shop game where children make and serve slices to order.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Alphabet Tree - Toddler Art Project

Alphabet Tree

Age: 18 Months - 5 Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 10 - 15 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Alphabet

Books: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault,  Alphabet City by Stephen Johnson, or just pick your favorite ABC book

 
Materials:
Green Construction Paper
Toilet Paper Tube(s)
Glue Sticks
Pre-printed Letters
Adults get to use Scissors and Computer/Printer

Prep: Cut out Tree leaves out of construction paper. Mine were cut freehand out of 1/6 sheets. (Fold the sheet into 1/3 then cutting along the fold lines to make 3” x 12” strips, then folded these in half to make 3” x 6”. Fold in half again and cut out leaves). To make letters, type out the alphabet (bold, 36pt), copy & paste until the sheet is full, then print & cut out. For the tree trunk, cut 4 slits about ½” deep into the top of the TP tube.                                                           

Activity: Each child gets 2 pre-cut leaves, an assortment of letters, a glue stick and a TP tube. Glue letters onto the leaves – and the trunk if you want too. Slide each leaf into two of the slits. Play with your tree!

Notes/Tips: Encourage older kids to put letters in order or spell out their name or other words with them. If you are up for the mess, paint the TP rolls first then while they are drying glue the letters to the leaves.

 

 

 

I first saw a version of this project here: http://www.2care2teach4kids.com/preschool/storyextenders/chickachickaboomboom.htm

Someday I will have a studio...

Someday I will have a studio - a place dedicated to art making - with shelves so overflowing with art supplies that creativity simply drips down onto the table where I work. But in the mean time my family graciously accepts that:

 Things like this will sprout up in the bathroom...

And things like these will appear in the living room...

And that the kitchen hutch can't hold any fancy dishes

because it is full of art supplies...

I love my family!

Sunflower Offers Psychiatric Help for a Nickle

In NYC everyone lives within close quarters. There is a thin ledge about 2' high with a 6' fence between the back of our yard and the neighbor's side alley. To utilize the space for plants and provide a little visual privacy we built planters out of old pallets and decorated them to look like market stands. One is a kissing booth, another a monster and the last a tribute to Lucy's Psychiatric Help Booth. The doctor may be out, but the sunflowers are in bloom. Somehow that makes it all okay.

I Love Chasing Butterflies – Toddler Art Project

I Love Chasing Butterflies – Toddler Art Project

Age: 18 Months - 5 Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Butterflies, Hearts

Books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall, The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann   

Materials:

Construction Paper of any color
Tissue Paper Scraps
Craft Sticks
Pipe Cleaner(s)
Glue Sticks
Adults get to use Scissors
 
Prep: Cut out pairs of matching hears by folding the construction paper into ¼’s. Make sure you start on the folded edge. Hearts cut to this size will be about 4” x 5”.
 
Activity: Each child gets a pair of hearts, a craft stick, a pipe cleaner and glue. Wrap the pipe cleaner several times around the top of the craft stick to form the body and antennas and then set aside. Overlap the hearts pointing tip to tip and glue them together to form wings. Glue the body to the front of the wings. Decorate the wings using small scraps of tissue paper. Chase Butterflies!
 
Notes/Tips: I like to use the ‘smart stick’ craft sticks for this project because the little notches keep the antennae from sliding off. The wings get in the way when adding the antennae so do this step first. Putting glue on both the stick and the paper helps make sure they stick together. Distribute the tissue paper on plates to save on clean-up. Add a strip of magnet - these are adorable on refrigerators and metal doors.

Crazy Animal House - Toddler Art Project

Crazy Animal House

Age: 18 Months - 5 Years or older (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Doors, Windows, Houses

Books: The Doghouse by Jan Thomas, A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker

Materials:

Construction Paper
Glue Sticks
Small pictures or silhouettes of animals (I used recycled wrapping paper, but it is easy to find and print images)  
Adults get to use Scissors, Exacto Knife and a Ruler

Prep: The house is made from a half sheet of construction paper (6 x 9). You can freehand or use your own measurements for the house, window and door or use mine. Mine were cut with an exacto knife as follows: Mark the Center (3”) of the top of the sheet. From 2” down on each side cut to the top center, creating the ‘roof’. Cut parallel lines 1” and 3” below the roof edge (3” and 5” down from the top) and about ½” from each of the edges. Make a horizontal cut in the middle (3” from edge) to create two window shutters.  The door is 1” below the window (6” from the top), the horizontal cut (top) 2” long and the vertical edge cut to the bottom of the page. The animals are easier – size them so they can ‘hide’ behind the windows and door and cut them out.

Activity: Each child gets a full sheet of construction paper (or copy paper), a pre-cut house, an assortment of animals to choose from and a glue stick. Glue the house to the full sheet of paper (an adult can help fold the windows and door open so they don’t get glued closed). Choose and glue animals inside and outside of the house. Color if desired. 

Notes/Tips: Putting the animals out on a large paper plate will help them from ending up everywhere. The kids I did this with had a lot of fun playing ‘peek-a-boo’ with the animals in the houses, as well as inviting the adults to ‘guess’ where they were.