Edible Egg Tempera Art

The Story of the World Activity Book had a great idea to teach about Byzantine art and egg tempera by  making Byzantine cross cookies painted with an egg tempera of sorts (egg yolk & food coloring paste). We took it further and painted some Easter eggs, too.

And then I forgot to set the timer and burned most of their masterpieces. 

It's the process, not the product... right?

 

Turkey Art

First, I printed the simple turkey line drawing and the kids outlined it with a Sharpie. 

Then they colored them beautifully with oil pastels. Don't forget the horizon line.

 

Fully colored. Lovely.

Now take a black oil pastel and cover the whole thing with black. 

Really, Mom, are you sure? Yep.

Now you can scratch away using a toothpick, skewer, or popsicle stick. 

Try to follow the direction of the grass and the sky/wind and the feathers.

They loved the final product.

I did not love the little balls of black oil pastel all over the wood floors. 

My advice: take it outside to brush off all the scraped bits of black.

 

Peter wanted to do something a little different. I love this project. There are step-by-step instructions as to how to draw a turkey. 
I did it with Hannah and Will three years ago.

Wishing-for-Snow Painting

We are so ready for a big snow.

For a couple of hours last week we had some snow flurries. It was pretty, but we want more.

So, today we created a little of our own. Peter was home from kindergarten again. His symptoms are basically gone, but he is tired - just plain worn out from fighting bronchitis all week. But an art project? Well, we can always find some energy to create.

First, we started with a 8x10 canvas I found in the basement. I asked him to draw his horizon line and an off-centered/off-the-page tree (after I encouraged him to look at the trees outside). Using acrylic craft paint, he painted the blue sky, then the gray tree, making sure to leave a little drying time in between colors.


Then he painted the snow. And while it was still very wet, he sprinkled epsom salt on the snowy parts. I happened to find some leftover espom salt in the basement leftover from making snowy candles. Glitter would work, too.


Lastly, as an afterthought, he added a cardinal. I love that cardinal.


Now, if we just find some of the white wonder outside.

Create-a-Face

I picked up this Create-a-Face pad at our local toy store a few weeks ago for $5. It's perfect for portrait practice and makes for a very easy, low-prep art project. Before they got started I had the kids look closely each others faces for eye placement, proportion, and shape of features. Pencils, colored pencils, markers, stickers, colored paper, glue, buttons... just throw it all on the table and watch them create!

Hannah's portrait

Peter's portrait - I love this

And here is another face I keep seeing this week.
The I've-been-sneaking-Easter-candy face with the blue-tinged lips.
At least he's honest about it. : )

Spring Trees

A spring take on our fall trees.

Blowing paint with straws makes for a fun project - and with surprisingly realistic results.
A little friend joined us for art afternoon this week.

Lollipop Valentines

I'm so thankful I had this valentine idea filed away. It fits Peter's personality so well.

There are many easy ways to adapt this. You could simply print the photos and write a valentine message on the back. I love the simplicity. Now getting Peter to write his name 14 times will be a challenge... : )

Valentine baking plans this weekend? Check out this cuteness from smitten kitchen...

Complementary Hearts

For a valentine-themed art lesson on complementary colors, we picked up some 11"x 14" canvases (on sale at Michael's) and used inexpensive, acrylic paints in the six colors of the color wheel.

Art Projects for Kids has a free color wheel download HERE.


I drew the grid (extending the lines over the edges) and the hearts lightly with pencil. Then I asked them to paint the background colors first - 2 squares for each color, careful to make sure that colors are evenly distributed over the canvas. They finished with the hearts in the complementary color.


Hannah and Will are so happy with these bright and beautiful paintings...
now to find a place to hang them.



Peter did his own thing - which turned out very well. So cute.

I love...

...this idea. Cute printable "I love... " from it is what it is.

I printed them out yesterday afternoon and the kids (and my husband and I) have had fun with it. The plan is to make a Valentine's Day paper chain. I will be needing to print more.

Make sure to check out it is what it is all valentine week for more adorable ideas.

"Guns" ... aah, life with boys.
Which may have lead to Hannah's "My Own Room."

While I made dinner last night, they sat perched at the bar laughing
and writing all the they things they love.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

This was a perfect project for a snowy afternoon with a creative treatment
of warm and cool colors. I found the idea at Art Projects for Kids.
We used colored pencils instead of crayons.

Coloring by the fire...

Peter asked if he could color it a different way : )...

I didn't have a compass, so I made my own with a piece of cardboard...
(this one is mine... I can't resist coloring by the fire)

The finished project... and Kit and Hannah in their matching nightgowns. So sweet.

Five

My baby is FIVE!... despite my pleading with him to stop getting older,
to which he always replies, "Mom, stop it! I have to get big."

Happy Birthday, Peter!


***************

I designed these cupcake toppers for his school cupcakes,
but in the process I found these super cute free printable ones
and had to share.

Snow Globes

My kids are longing for a good snow. The big storms keep just missing us! So, we decided to make a bit of our own. This project was oh-so-easy and the kids are thrilled with the results. And there's the added bonus of three less playmobil figures lying around the house.

Snow Globes

What you need:

• a glass jar with a tight fitting lid
• super glue
• glitter (we had white and gold on hand, so that's what we used)
• small plastic figures, plastic beads, plastic trees, etc.
• water

Instructions:

1. Have your kids come up with the arrangement of the figures on the lids.
2. Superglue the arrangement/figure to the inside of the lid. I did that part... I'm not that brave.
3. Fill the glass jars with water (to about a half inch from the top).
4. Add about 1/2 tsp of glitter to each jar.
5. Screw on the lid and shake!

A few details:
I super-glued my boys lids onto the jar to avoid a watery-glittery mess in my future.
The white glitter we used didn't sink to the bottom at first, but floated to the top after the shaken blizzard (I think the gold and silver metallic glitters tend to be a bit heavier). We decided our white glitter created a looming snow cloud look, but a few days later it did settle... not sure why.

This is Will's...

Hannah's...
Peter's...