Teach Art to Your Children v 2.1

They want to make art. They want to make art with YOU. Why? Because your words of encouragement mean SO MUCH.

The question that ran though my head before a play date last week was... "Is it bad parenting to let a child experience real spray paint?" Yes... As much as I want to allow Kate the experiences of the fabulous products I use in my art, I don't think a five year old is ready to wield a spray paint can. So we changed it up a little bit and everyone loved the results!

For this art play date, I gave the children all a piece of watercolor paper cut in a long rectangle. Stir things up by varying the size of your substrate and the children will think each project is better than the last. I mixed drops of acrylic paint in little spray bottles and filled them with water. There are a lot of different dye based spray paints on the market as well. We had a few bottles of this. Check out these other options too: here and here.

There are so many stencils and templates available these days. I gave the children a collection of stencils to use and they had a ball filling up their papers. (Search templates, scrapbook templates, stencils online.) Allow the colors to overlap and bleed into each other for some unique colors.

You don't need store bought stencils for this lesson! Find leaves, shapes in nature, cut paper snowflakes, shapes..you can do it! You can use stencils or masks.

When Leonardo is finished making his or her artwork, you can leave it whole, or cut it up and make smaller paper projects. If your paper curls, once it is dry, use a hot iron to flatten it out.

Looking for other creative ideas for you and your child this summer? Click on the "mixed media for children" link below this article. There is your lesson plan, ready to go! I hope you will join me next week.

edit: This is not a tidy project..The children need supervision with the spray bottles and they need to wear old clothes. Make sure to cover the spray area in plastic. Have paper towels on stand by too.

Comments

[K Hutchinson]

My boys love to do stencils! These are sooo cool! They all did a great job!

[kelly snelling]

Way to go, Julie! It looks like a really fun project. I've already started making my mental lists of the art projects I'll do with the boys this summer. There are lots of great ideas online although I find most of them are for kids much younger than mine. It's as if after they turn 8 art will become lame. Not in my house! We also make regular visits to several museums and they love that, too. I just have to change my expectations for the visit from what I would have for an adult visit and then it is all good. Happy Summer!

[Zorana]

You are such a cool Mom!!! The artwork looks amazing and girls are as cute as can be. It's always refreshing to see what Kate creates.

[Chris]

How great! This has got to be pure delight for them!
I want some of what I'm seeing on MY walls!

[Holly Dean]

Oh, yeah! Great art and what a group of cuties :) You are opening up such a wonderful, creative world for these kids. It will have such an impact on their lives.

[ludid]

i love that my son wants to spend time with me in the studio. i will fill up some bottles with paint/water and let him play. thanks for all these lesson plans.

[Billie]

Fabulous idea, I bet you are THE most popular MOM in the gang :) Look how happy they all are. Its great letting kids get messy, my Mum would have gone mad if I'd have got hold of paint you could spray!!!! when I was that age heheheh.

If you are trying to save the pennies for pearly paint, just add a little scoop of Perfect pearls into your painty sprays, unless the paint is very opaque they mix in lovely and when you spray over several colours they really catch the light. You only need a scoop the size of a garden pea.

Best wishes

Billie :)

[carol sloan]

I love that you are including your child in art making!
I always did this with my son- who is now 22 and in art school.
I also let his friends play with Play Doh when their parents wouldn't let them.
We have to foster their creativity, don't we?

[A Forest Frolic]

Those are beautiful...the girls did such a great job! You are a fantastic teacher Julie. Your daughter will cherish your art lessons forever and ever!

Jamie :)

[patsy]

I think this is wonderful! Found you on Pinterest!

[proactol reviews]

Superb blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers? I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you advise starting with a free platform like Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm totally overwhelmed .. Any recommendations? Appreciate it!