A Boy, His Glue Stick, and Shape Practice

I bought a little glue-together Turkey craft from Target for $1 yesterday. As soon as Ethan saw it come home in the shopping bag he wanted to make the turkey. It ended up being a great project for Ethan and his Daddy to make together! (Love that!) But of course, the project was over quickly and Ethan was not done practicing his mad glue sticking skills.

Quick thinking Daddy got out some construction paper and cut shapes for Ethan to paste. He'd ask him what color and shape he wanted--a great way to sneak in some toddler color and shape practice! Ethan had such a great time selecting his shapes, using the glue stick, and slapping the shapes onto paper. 

Sometimes the basic tried and true projects really are the best. Not to mention, check out how cool this finished product looks! :)

I have to remind myself- Shapes are FUN when you're two.

Apple Picking & Apple Tree Abstract Painting

This past weekend we planned to go apple picking. We were super fortunate because just that week on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood we watched the "Fruit Picking Day" episode, so Ethan was really excited when we told him that he was going to go pick apples like Daniel Tiger (Do your kids watch it? Ethan LOVES Daniel Tiger).

Apple picking was awesome. Ethan loved it. It was a real confidence boosting activity because the apples were low enough for him to pick by himself. He was really proud of his apple picking abilities. I would definitely suggest the activity. So fun. We ended up with a 25lb bag of apples...one of the apples weighed a whole pound by itself! 

After we got home, Ethan sorted and "played" apple for awhile.

Later that night we broke in our new "studio" in our basement. (I'm so excited to have an art space to work in!) One of the projects that we worked on was an abstract apple painting. We did something inspired by this Scrubber and Cork Stamping Apple Tree on Putti's World. I knew though that I wanted to limit how much direction that I gave, so the project became a bit more abstract. (Because this is an awesome way to discover your artistic self when you're two!) Ethan painted the tree with the dish scrubber. Ethan used a cork to paint the apples. Then I painted his hands brown and we smacked down handprints to represent the tree trunk and branches. I'm pretty sure that the handprints were his favorite part.

The painting was a lot of fun, and was a great wrap-up to our fantastic apple picking day!

In case you're wondering..this is how you "play" and sort apples. I think it's a bit of an art installation myself...What do you think?

Multi-Purpose Label Collage

This multi-purpose label collage is actually something that Ethan made at daycare. I just had to share it because it made him so happy to make (he was finishing it when I picked him up) and just turned out so well. They look quite awesome on the red paper too! I especially love the idea of using these labels because they're much cheaper than regular stickers.

I have a ton of similar labels left over from when we created a sombrero for Cinco de Mayo this past spring. Thinking some of these label collages could be perfect for an upcoming road trip that we are planning. 

What other uses do you have for multi-purpose labels? 

Construction Truck Birthday Party

I've never claimed to be amazing at creating stunning party decorations, although I must admit that there are days that I wish it was my secret super-hero skill. 

What I am good at is some creative ways to pull things together in a pinch, and usually on a dime. I'm a firm believer that with some careful thought (you know, the kind you can do in the car when you're driving from work to daycare or from home to the "chicken nugget store") it can all come together quick, easy, and still fantastic.

This year's second birthday party was a construction theme. I had the party early in the day because frankly, that's when Ethan is at his best. 

Decorations included:

• Small road cones- Dollar store find
• "Working Hard" sign- major score from the Target dollar bin
• Orange Pennant Banner- Oriental Trading $8.50 for 100ft!  (BTW, 100 ft is A LOT of banner!)

DIY decorations:

• "Dig In" sign- Here's where I took a major short-cut. When I say I was pressed for time, I mean that even the idea of cutting construction paper into a perfect square seemed like it was going to take too long. To really speed up this process, I bought a pack of 6x6 scrapbook paper and used one of the yellow pieces to make the sign. Origami paper would have worked great too. The idea was to have paper that was already a perfect yellow square.  I also used vinyl lettering. All in all it wasn't the most cost-effective sign (although certainly not expensive), but it definitely was super quick!! 
• Food labels- I found an awesome quick solution for these signs. There are new sticky notes that have adhesive over the entire back of the paper square. I wrote on them with Sharpie marker, cut an orange straw to size for the pick, and sandwiched them between two of the yellow sticky notes. Could not have been easier!

Food:

• Bagels- Love that I can place an order for bagels and spreads and just pick them up. Versatile, easy, and cost effective.
• Fruit Salad- I opted out of the fruit tray and cut fruit on my own to save a few bucks. This was probably the most time consuming preparation of the whole party, but at least it could be done the night before.
• "Tires"- Chocolate donuts. BIG hit with the kids.
• "Bricks"- Red Licorice bites.
• "Logs"- Pretzel sticks.
• Cupcakes- The cupcakes were excellent. We have a locally owned grocery store that makes fantastic cupcakes (at an awesome price). I got marble cupcakes with chocolate frosting and asked them to use Oreo cookie crumble to make it look like "dirt." I then topped some of the cupcakes with truck erasers from Oriental Trading ($5.25 for 12). The erasers looked awesome, although like a review on the merchant site said, they fall apart easily and aren't appropriate for kiddos who still put things in their mouths. The looked great for the price though!
• Paper Goods- A good cost cutting tip is to buy plain paper goods in coordinating colors. The fun design plates, napkins, and tablecloths are just too expensive, and I find I like the solid colors better anyway. For this event I got orange plates, yellow and white striped napkins, and black table cloths. 

The invitation:

Got a great deal at Snapfish on the invitations! :)

So that's it in a nutshell! We had a great time, especially the little dude...and isn't that what matters?

Masking Tape Sculpture

Toddlers (and babies too) really enjoy the sensory activity of playing with masking tape. In looking for a crafty activity that we could do with minimal prep time and mess, I pulled out a piece of cardboard, some crayons, and some making tape. Initially I thought we'd place the tape on the cardboard and color on it, next to it, etc. (more like these masking tape paintings)

The project morphed a bit. Ethan wasn't really all that interested in coloring (he was more in the mood for paint), but he was very happy to pull off pieces of tape and stick them to the cardboard. Sometimes the tape would be flush against the cardboard. Sometimes the tape would arc off of the cardboard. Sometime the tape was a knotted mess. Other times the tape was only sticking to other pieces of tape. 

"Rip it Mom!"

The end result was a curly tape sculpture that the little guy really enjoyed making (and had negligible amount of clean up). Total cost was approx 50 cents worth of tape.

Win-win!

What fun have you had with masking tape?

Seeing Stars this July 4th

I have to admit, I'm a bit lax on the intentional crafts and projects lately. June has been insane for our family and our preparations to move have our house looking a bit like a box fort. Still, when the little guy asked to paint this weekend, I quickly pulled together a Fourth of July star theme.

I had brought some form stars in a dollar bin awhile back and Ethan painted them while he sang "Twinkle Twinkle" (his idea). You could just as easily cut out stars from construction paper. The point here is that the project doesn't have to be amazing to be fun and creative. 

Imagine they are hung from curling ribbon. That was my intent, but all the ribbon is already backed away neatly in a cardboard box. Instead, we improvised and hung them on the back door with some scotch tape. They look good :)

Here are some other projects from that past that you may enjoy while you celebrate your holiday this week:

Handprint Fireworks

Aluminum Foil Stars

Hope you enjoy a fantastic and safe holiday!

More Rock Painting

Our rock painting project last month has quickly my most popular blog post. I was also so excited to have the craft featured at The Imagination Tree!

But the best tell of a good project? When you're little person specifically asks to do it again.

Can't wait to move these to our new house later this summer!
Thanks for reading! :)

Painting Garden Rocks

One of Ethan's favorite things to do outside is to help with the garden and I wanted a way for him to put a piece of his personality in the garden too. I decided that a good sunny afternoon project would be to paint rocks. (Ethan is 22 months old, but I think this would work out well for any age. Also a good sensory activity for an infant using finger paints.)

First, we took a bucket to collect rocks. If I had to make a guess, this was probably his favorite part. He loves rocks--I am always finding piles of them in the house or in the car--so why wouldn't collecting them be fun?!

We painted the rocks outside with acrylic paints and q-tips. We did a lot of the painting together. Ethan would paint his own rock, and he'd add paint to my rocks. It was really relaxing to sit together in the shade and create together, even if it only lasted as long as a toddler attention span! 

After the rocks dried, I sprayed them with a coat of glossy acrylic clear coat to help preserve them and add a bit more shine. I'm not sure how they will hold up long term against the elements--I suppose we'll have to wait and see!

I love the way they turned out. My favorite part was the clear acrylic sparkle paint. I love seeing the rocks sparkle and shimmer in the sun! 

Aren't they a cool addition to the garden?!?  Even their placement (all lined up along the left side of the path) reflects a bit of Ethan's personality!

Have you and your little person painted rocks or created other garden decorations?

Dancing with Jack Vettriano

Inspiration from art

Source: Wikipedia

I always enjoy "The Singing Butler" by Jack Vettriano. I welcome it's romantic spirit coupled with a sense of curiosity. I have a print hanging in our powder room. This weekend we were washing hands and my toddler pointed to the painting and asked to look at the people dancing. 

I asked if he wanted to dance with me, and of course he approved of the idea. He thought it was really funny when I held his hand and lifted his arm in the air. He wanted to see us dancing in the mirror and I decided that was a decent time to snap a photo (from the hip of course). Sorry the photo is a bit lack luster...we were dancing, not taking photos!

Fun activity for a special Mommy and Baby day. Hope today grants you with the luxury of time to dance!

Cinco de Mayo Sombrero Craft

This toddler approved Cinco de Mayo sombrero craft turned out to be pretty quick and easy. It also uses supplies that you probably already have on hand. 

You'll need:

Plastic disposable cup

Desert-sized paper plate

Stickers (we used round dot stickers that cost about $2)

Packing tape

Scissors

To prep the project, I taped the cup to the plate using packing tape and cut a hole in the paper plate below the cup. I originally tried to glue the cup to the plate, but the first thing my toddler did was rip the cup right off the plate. Then hand it over to your toddler and add the stickers!!

I was lucky enough that this was a project that Ethan wanted to do with me. He wanted me to help him put stickers on the cup. We've been adding stickers a little at a time over the last day, and I bet we add more by the end of the week. 

Ethan always enjoys stickers, but I think in the end, he liked putting the hat on the stuffed frog better! (They played quite an exciting game of "peek-a-boo!")

So, Happy Cinco de Mayo! If you need more holiday projects, be sure to check out the Footprint Chili Pepper!

 

Intro to Glue Stick, aka Spring Daffodil Project

The Spring Tulips we made for a gift last spring have been such a hit that I couldn't wait to post this similar project.

There is minimal prep time involved, but it was a quick and easy craft to introduce using a glue stick, and the result made a great gift.

Materials:

Construction paper

Small cupcake wrapper

Glue Stick

Pipe cleaner

Tape

Prep:

Cut out two flower shapes from construction paper. (I drew one with pencil first, and then used that cutout as a stencil to create the other.)

Construction (the toddler part!):

• Use a piece of clear tape to attach the pipe cleaner to one of the flower cutouts.
• Use glue stick to adhere the other flower on top- sandwiching the pipe cleaner between the two flower forms.
• Glue the cupcake wrapper to the center of the flower.

That's it! It's quick and easy, but makes a great presentation. As I mentioned before, it was a great way to introduce (or practice) working with a glue stick to your toddler. Ethan really enjoyed "playing glue" and of course, he was impressed that he had a flower to proudly hand his teacher when he was all done.

For the gift presentation part, I tied two of the flowers together with curling ribbon. I also added construction paper leaves that I curled a little (by wrapping them around a pencil). I also added a leaf shaped gift tag.

Enjoy!

(PS- If you use the project, I'd love to hear from you!)

Exploring Painting Techniques with Toddlers

Toddlers naturally learn though exploration. This project is a great way to use the art process as a way to learn and increase fine motor skills.  
  

I went for a laid-back type project for Easter this year-- painting on cardboard cut-out eggs.

What happened next was really cool. After the he had painted his third egg, I noticed Ethan was painting each egg using a different painting method. When he asked me to help him paint the fourth and fifth eggs, I took a cue from him gave him suggestions for other ways we could apply the paint. 

Here are the painting techniques we tried:

1. Paint with a brush

2. Dab with a dry brush 

3. Fingerpaint

4. Make dots with a q-tip (Bonus: He loved saying "dots" while he was dotting the paint. "Dots" is a great vocab word)

5. Draw lines with a q-tip (Bonus: "Lines" is also a great vocab word)

Of course, we were using our Easter eggs, but you could paint anything. The idea is to look at alternate ways we can apply paint to the paint surface, encouraging that the toddler pay attention to the painting task in a new way.

There's an unlimited number of methods that you could try. The techniques we used were very basic, but the result was that every egg looked very different.

The activity turned out so well that I can't wait to try this again. Special thanks to my little guy for the inspiration. :)

What are some of your favorite toddler paint techniques?

Paint like Pollock

The idea of painting with water on cement outside seemed to me to be a
no-brainer great activity for my little guy. 

Outside play+ water+ painting= awesomeness. 

I got out a basin of water and a foam paint brush (get them at the hardware store for less that a quarter) and showed him to dip the brush and "paint" the sidewalk. He started by painting the sidewalk, and even painting the daffodils. 

I love presenting creative activities to kids--I think the most interesting part of the activity is seeing them bring their own creativity to the table.

Ethan decided to use the brush to paint Jackson Pollock style. They key here is having a foam brush because it holds more water than a regular paint brush. He'd dip the brush and fling the water all over the sidewalk. It made a great sound as it splattered, and he was overjoyed to watch the water fly though the air and splat on the ground.

Sometimes, it's the little things!

Seriously, THIS is happiness.

Have you had a good experience "painting" with water??

Tissue Collage, Bead Necklace Game, and Mardi Gras

Tissue paper collage
This project is out of my archives, but it was a really enjoyable, and I never got around to posting it. I also think a pretty vibrant tissue collage like this is perfect for Mardi Gras!

What you need:

Glue stick

Construction or other paper (or use Contact Paper and no glue)

Tissue paper (think leftover from gift bags)

We made this collage when Ethan was 7 months old. I smeared glue stick all over the paper to make it sticky and sat it in front of Ethan. Then I gave him a variety of different tissue paper pieces, showed him how to tear the paper, and then just let him play. As the tissue pieces would fall to the paper, they would stick to the glue, and eventually, a collage was made! Playing with the tissue paper was a big hit, and the collage was bright and colorful when it was done. You could also do the same thing using Contact paper instead of paper and glue. For an infant, the glue worked great, although it would be much more messy if you were making a tissue collage with a toddler! We used Contact paper when we made our Heart Collage.

Playing with Beads/ Bead Game

Last year we Played with Beaded Necklaces on Fat Tuesday (again, this is an activity that definitely requires adult supervision). I think we'll do the same this evening, but make it more fun for a toddler by dropping the beaded necklaces into a wide-mouthed water bottle similar to playing the Pin Drop Game. I guarantee the noise of the beads falling into the bottle will be sure to impress a little person, and is great for refining fine motor skills. (Sorry for not playing this all out ahead of time, but I think you get the idea!)  

And of course, to make Fat Tuesday official, we'll have donut holes for desert. :)

How are you celebrating Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras with your infant or toddler?


Update 3/6/12: We had fun playing with the beads, but my suggestion is to cut the strands of beads so they are just a strand and no longer a necklace. Not only does it make the game easier, but it makes it safer too! :)

Calendar Coloring- Adding Inexpensive Variety to your Day!

This time of year, calendars are CHEAP! 

Last weekend, I picked some up for 50 cents a piece. 50 cents!! I was inspired because there were some calendars where each month had a blank bordered page that was supposed to be colored in each month. I thought to myself, "Self, for this price, I could rip out these pages and they would make nice coloring pages"

So I purchased two calendars and took them home. Ethan was very excited to color on "monkey paper" and "robot paper," and was just as happy to color on the calendar grid. I declare the calendars a hit!!

Got me thinking- it would be just as fun to color on any calendar- and a nice change from coloring on construction paper or coloring books/pages. 

What'cha think?

Heart Inspired Crafts

Hmmm, so I scheduled this post to go out last week, but just realized it never did. BUMMER!! Valentines day may be over, but these projects are still fun- and Mother's Day is just around the corner!!


Heart Collage
This years Valentines collage craft was quick, easy, and clean. It's great for a toddler, but it's possible to create a collage with an infant too by using larger hearts (the Contact paper makes a great sensory experience- just have the infant play with the shapes and let them fall where they may!)

What you need:

Clear Contact paper

Construction paper

Scissors

To prep the project, cut out a bunch of small paper hearts (Out of pure necessity, I actually cut mine out at work while I was on my lunch break- so whatever works!) and cut two pieces of Contact paper to the same size. Mine was approximately 8x6 inches. I created red and pink hearts, but I think it would also be real cool to cut some hearts out of newspaper as well. The white with black text would be a nice addition to the mix.

Tape the Contact paper to the table (or we use our highchair try insert as a craft/art surface), sticky side up and let your kiddo start sticking the hearts to the surface. Ethan did a lot of moving the hearts around. When he got bored, we put the remaining heart in a box, dumped them all over the paper, and smacked them down. 

Finish by placing the other sheet of Contact paper on top to seal in the hearts. 

Looks pretty and festive hanging on our white cabinet, but it would look really cool hanging in a window too!

Fingerpaint Heart
Last year we painted a heart for Valentines Day. (It was a great project for a 6 month old!)

Hope you enjoyed you special day!

Q-tip and Finger Painting Letters on Canvas

I've seen this technique all over Pinterest lately, and was really excited to give it a try!

I think this project is a cool way to practice letter recognition, and is appropriate for both the infant and toddler crowd.

Place the masking tape on the paint surface (I used a canvas board because I wanted the extra stability, and ease of removing the tape). Also, Ethan was surprised by the texture on the canvas, and thought it was pretty cool!

You can purchase canvas board for $1-2 in the art department of your local art or craft store. Then of course Ethan went to town painting. To add an bit of extra fun, I gave him Q-Tips to use (use your judgement as to when your child is ready to try this technique). He was very interested in the difference between a line painted with the Q-Tip and a line painted with his finger. On this particular day, he preferred the Q-tip. You can see he was very thoughtful about his painting!

After the paint dried, I carefully removed the tape and hot glued a piece of ribbon on the back for hanging. Ethan now has a new personalized piece of artwork for his wall!

We also did an abstract painting using the same technique. This time, I tore off pieces of tape and let Ethan apply them to the paper. Of course, masking tape is a lot like stickers, so to a toddler, it was super fun! This time we just used printer paper, and I was surprised that the tape came off better than I expected. Makes for some great abstract artwork.

How have you used making tape in a painting project? What about other methods for painting letters?

Bathtub Canvas

You don't need bathwater- the tub is such a fantastic giant canvas on a rainy day. Even more good news? The clean-up is a breeze! The whole activity is pretty cool, and a toddler will take great pride in being able to create and make marks that big!

Remember to use the giant canvas as an opportunity to learn:

• Ask or discuss what color crayon your child is using, or what color they would like to use. Tell them what a good idea it was to use that blue crayon- it's great practice! 
• Ask them what they are drawing, or what they would like to draw- you just may be surprised by what those lines represent!
• Ask if they can draw a specific object for you- Get them thinking about the marks they are making
• Provide words of encouragement- always!
• Ask them if they would like you to draw something. What would that be?- Every time we do this, Ethan always asks me to draw something that I never would have expected
• Review vocabulary- Draw something, and ask them about what you just drew
• Write letters and numbers, or names. Or count the crayons.
  
  

Bonus- Heal diaper rash??

The best cure for diaper rash is to let the area air dry, but letting a little boy run around the house sans diaper was not #1 on my to-do list on this particular day. In fact, it's not even on my top 10! The bathtub seemed like a perfect place to be with a bare bottom, so I got out the bathtub crayons and let the little guy go to town. (I considered trying some shaving creme bath paint too, but I wanted to be able to contain the mess since running the water wasn't on the agenda) 

The drawing lasted a whole hour before he got bored, leaving lots of time for a baby bottom to get some much needed relief. Not to mention, the activity was engaging enough to keep his mind off of his discomfort! 

I'd love to hear- How do you use your bathtub as a creative canvas??

Pine Needle Brushes

I saw the idea to paint with pine branches on The Artful Parent, and I thought it was a great toddler sensory paint project, and especially appropriate for the holiday.

Certainly, the idea of painting with evergreens is not necessarily seasonal, but painting with Christmas tree branches is! Can't tell you how happy it makes me to create art with our Christmas tree!

I put the paint on a paper plate pallet and suggested that Ethan dip the branches and then paint them on the paper. For children under a year old, I would suggest placing small blobs of paint on the paper first, and instead showing them to smear the paint around with the branch.

As he was painting, we talked about how the branches were painting lots of little colored lines and dots on his paper. He really enjoyed himself, and I liked watching him explore. When we were all done, he had a really cool looking painting too! I love the feeling of motion and chaos that those fine smeary lines give it!

(Have I mentioned that painting with your young child is a great way to work on learning colors?!!)

Enjoy your holiday, and let me know if you're doing any crafting or art projects using your Christmas tree!!