Spring Has Sprung!

It has actually been Spring where we live for quite some time, but with the recent celebration of the Spring Equinox we decided to make some lovely little blooms for this week's art activity. This was definitely another "use whatever's on hand" project. We took pipe cleaners, cupcake papers, napkins and pages of an old magazine to create a bunch of fake flowers. Elliot was only interested in bending pipe cleaners. I don't think she really could've done much more than that given the supplies I put before her. Rebecca and I, however, had fun making each flower it's own special creation.

I got this idea from a Klutz craft book (that Rebecca will likely get in her Easter basket this year, shh!) and thought it would be a good activity. We'll definitely do this again with other types of paper and perhaps some colorful felt. There are lots of possibilities here! And as long as the cat doesn't decide they will make good playthings, we can enjoy their sweetness for many days to come.

The top picture is a cluster of wild irises that have been growing in our gardenia beds since we moved into this house two and a half years ago. I originally thought they were weeds but I was happily surprised when the bloomed the first time. We didn't plant them, but we'll keep them!

Play-Doh

This weeks's art activity was playing with play-doh. While not new for Rebecca, it was Elliot's first experience with the stuff, and I must say that she was not impressed. Elliot, the girl who loves to dig in the dirt and make mud with the water left in the watering cans, didn't much care for the colored dough I placed in front of her. In fact, she spent the entire time opening and closing the play-doh containers. Oh well, better luck next time.

Perhaps the problem stemmed from the fact that Rebecca wanted me to make available all of the pieces in the "Play-Doh Fun Factory Deluxe Set," and when set side by side with a bunch of animal-shaped cookie cutters and child-sized tupperware containers, the gobs of dough weren't all that intriguing. It maybe would've been better to simplify things a bit and offer only the dough to start.

I guess they are bit young to really get into the play-doh process, as Rebecca left her mass of play-doh in a single large ball and poked and prodded at it instead of breaking it up and making things with it. But it was still a fun, tactile experience, and it was easy enough for me to set up and clean up without putting too much energy into planning, gathering new materials, etc. I'll save that for next week.

Oil Pastels

This week's project was to let the girls experiment with oil pastels. I personally have always enjoyed the deep colors and rich textures that come from oil pastels, not to mention the mixing capabilities, and I thought I'd let the girls try something they've never used before. So I gave them each a large piece of butcher paper and set each girl up at a desk in the nursery with the instructions to fill their paper with color.

When I initially brought out the box of oil pastels both

girls knew there was something special inside. These weren't just ordinary crayons that are kept in a jumble in multiple tubs so that each kid can have ownership over her own. Each pastel was laid out

carefully and in keeping with the color spectrum. I think Rebecca spent half of the time playing with the box itself. It wasn't until after much convincing by me that she finally set it down and began to color.

I'm not sure they made any real discoveries about oil pastels, but they did make a few discoveries about butcher paper. Rebecca decided she wanted to try putting the paper on the carpeted floor instead of on the desk, and I mentioned to her that it wouldn't work as well since the carpet is soft. Boy was she excited to see that it did indeed work! Elliot of course wanted to move her paper to the floor as well, and she discovered what crackly sounds the paper can make when stepped on! She then experimented with different poses to use while coloring, her favorite being the "standing on two feet and bending at the waist" position.

Recycling

So last week I will was unfaithful to my resolution: I didn't plan an art project for the girls aside from the almost daily coloring with crayons that they do anyway. I do find the evolution of a child's scribbling quite interesting, and I intend to make that a subject of a future post. Still, I think this is possibly the most success I've ever had with New Year's Resolutions, and I intend to continue full speed ahead.

This week our project was to take a few items from our recycle bin, combined with random objects from our art supply cabinet (namely feathers, buttons, and colored tissue paper) and create three-dimensional sculptures with the help of glue and tape. As soon as Rebecca saw the supplies set out on the table, she was in her chair working on her first (of four) sculptures. Elliot as usual was content to play with the supplies, the buttons in particular, so I attached loops of tape to a couple of recyclables so she could stick the buttons to them at her own pace. Double sided tape would work great for this also. As in previous projects, the buttons she stuck to the tape did not remain there for long as she repeatedly removed and re-stuck said buttons numerous times.

Each sculpture is unique and interesting! We just so happened to have a couple of friends over for this project, so we added their creations to group. I will definitely do this again with different objects.