Self-Portrait Mirror Painting

E(4) LOVED painting her self-portrait on a mirror about a month ago!

She wasn't really that interested in this activity at first, but I encouraged her to give it a try.  As soon as she got started, she was into it!  She spent a LONG time painting and seemed to love every minute of it.  I planned to wash the paint off the mirror, so she could paint it again another day, but she wants to keep it forever!

Creative Glitter Art

E(3) was so proud of her glitter art last week!  She poured a bottle of glitter on a piece of paper and spent a long time drawing in it with her finger.  She explained what she was drawing as she did it.  I love it when our girls get creatively messy (as long as they help clean up!).

Painting Frescos

After studying Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel in our homeschool group, we decided that a fresco painting art project was the perfect activity!

To do this project, you need tempera paint, plaster of paris, styrofoam trays (the plaster pops out very easily), paintbrushes, and creative kid artists!

I mixed the plaster of paris...2 parts plaster to one part water.  These trays held 2 cups of plaster mixed with 1 cup of water.  Because the plaster of paris was quick setting, I had to work fast so the first tray didn't set before I had them all made!  I set up the trays, paints, and brushes up on plastic tablecloths in order to make clean-up a little easier.  The kids painted on the plaster while it was still wet, but firm.

All of the kids seemed to really enjoy this activity!  It was simple and fun, and I love all of their creative frescos!

This is my girls' art displayed at home. Displaying the frescos in plate stands seems like the best way to do it,  but I haven't figured out where to put them so they won't get knocked over.  I'm sure they'll shatter if they fall.

I love O(6)'s fish and E(3)'s abstract masterpiece!

Painting Sunflowers Like Van Gogh

The children at our local Montessori school have been studying Van Gogh for about a month, so O(6), E(3), and I went to the school today to do a Van Gogh inspired painting project with them!

We went to a wedding this weekend, and the bride sent both girls home with sunflower bouquets.  They were SO excited, and it was perfect timing since we'd planned to do this sunflower painting project this week!

We gave the children green, yellow, and brown paint (tempera), and they painted on white cardstock.

Before they started painting, I read Vincent's Colors (see link below) to the class.  They studied the sunflowers for a few minutes, and then they started painting.

This was a fun and simple art project that we all enjoyed!

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"Painting with Scissors" like Matisse

We studied the art and life of Henri Matisse during the month of February.  We read a couple of books about Matisse (library books that I don't remember the names of) and looked at his works of art.  After learning that Matisse stated that he "painted with scissors" when creating his collages, I decided that this would be the perfect project to wrap up our study (we also did this art project at our local Montessori school...fun!).

I put a stack of construction paper in the middle of our kitchen table, gave the girls scissors and glue sticks and white cardstock, and told them to cut shapes to create a masterpiece.  O(6) immediately decided to create a rainbow scene.  E(3) loves to copy her sister, so she also decided to make a rainbow.  E(3) had trouble cutting the way she wanted to, so she told me exactly what she wanted and I cut for her.  She did all of her planning and glueing.

O(6) LOVED this activity and was completely engrossed in her work.  As she worked, E(3) decided to make rainbow hills rather than a traditional rainbow.  She then decided to turn a couple of her hills into trees.

O(6)'s finished masterpiece.  I think she did a beautiful job, and she was so proud to present her art to the Montessori class as an example before we did the activity with that group.

E(3) was also very proud to present her artwork to the Montessori class, but she seemed a little disturbed that the children thought that her rainbow hills and trees were popsicles!

We have almost all of the Touch the Art books, and the girls LOVE them.  These books are a wonderful introduction to art!

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Silky Soap Dough

The girls and I had a wonderful time making and playing with silky soap dough last week!  We mixed a cup of cornstarch with a half cup of handsoap.  Once it was thoroughly mixed, it was silky and soft!

We had a discussion of measurement to incorporate a little bit of math into this activity.

O(6) loves making bowls out of clay and dough, so I wasn't surprised to see her making a silky soap dough bowl!  She used the fork to make designs in her dough.

M & M paint

The girls and I had fun making m & m paint a few months ago (during M week).  They put a few m & m's in each cup of an egg carton.


Then they added in some water and stirred it around.


The paint didn't work that well, but they had a lot of fun!

Clean Color Mixing

The girls and I had fun mixing red and yellow paint to make orange a couple of weeks ago! 


To do this activity, I squirted red paint in one side of a gallon zip lock bag and yellow in the opposite corner.  I sealed the bag and taped it to the table. 


The girls liked mashing and squishing the bag to mix the colors. 


O(6) eventually took the tape off the bag so she could roll it and squish it all around.


She wrote messages on the bag for me to read.


They both loved this activity, and I loved that it was so simple and there was no clean-up!  The idea for this activity came via Pinterest, various blogs, and children's craft books...it's an oldie, but goodie :)

Tape Resist Watercolor Paintings

The girls and I have had fun making tape resist watercolor paintings lately.  We had a rough couple of homeschooling weeks, and I realized that I needed to make more of an effort to read aloud more and do more art projects.  O(6) said she wants to do an art project EVERY day!  I don't think that's possible, but we'll try!

We did tape resist watercolor paintings 2 days in a row, and they really loved it...especially O.  We started by making their initials on cardstock using painters tape.

O(6) didn't like the O that I made, so she made her own.

We used homemade watercolors on the first day (that's another post that I'll write eventually).

E(3) was VERY happy with her E!

O(6) was a little disappointed with her O, but I love it!

On the 2nd day, O decided to paint a landscape and a house.  We used our liquid watercolors, and they were much better than our homemade watercolors.




Things got a little dicey when she was removing the tape because the paper tore a little.  Luckily, she was able to control her tears and found a way to make it all ok.  Phew!  (Lately, we've been talking a lot about handling our emotions in the face of disappointment...it's tough to be 6 and 3!)