art
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Making Leprechaun Traps
Designing and building leprechaun traps has become one of our favorite traditions. I think the planning and creating is just as much fun as the anticipation of seeing if they’ll actually catch anything! This is one of those projects that really evokes my favorite memories of the kinds of activities that I loved as a child – the opportunity to use any and all materials to create something that I can see in my mind. That’s definitely a major reason that this stays on my plans year after year. Here are some of the supplies that I make sure to have available when it’s time to build our leprechaun traps:…
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Christmas Coloring Freebie
I’m working on a little something new, and while that won’t be ready until after the new year, I did want to share a little sample with you! Here’s my latest freebie, just in time for Christmas. Please enjoy these holiday coloring pages, made using my very own clipart. Go download your set here (scroll all of the way down and click on the coloring page image)! If you’re interested in the coordinating clipart please explore my Christmas Bright clipart bundle, and my Peppermint Wonderland clipart bundle.
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Genius Painting Solution!
I shared this incredible find on my instagram yesterday – but had to put it here too! I spotted this paint tray at the Dollar Tree and quickly scooped a couple up for myself. This would be the BEST art solution for the classroom. A place for individual paint (or glue, or small collage materials, or beads, or…) an easy to clean surface, and it closes so that children can come back to a project later. It’s like a preschool art miracle! These are available in stores, but you can also order in bulk on the Dollar Tree website – a case of 24 at a time (it’s like they…
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DIY Art Supply Kit
*This post contains affiliate links* I’ve been looking at art supply kits like this one, and this one, for months. I love the idea of them – all of those great supplies right at your fingertips! It definitely makes creativity feel easy and inviting. Plus, everything is easy to access, which means that children can use it independently and I’m not using my precious time finding and opening supplies. I haven’t been able to pull the trigger because every kit that I find includes one or two things that I don’t need or want. So I finally took matters into my own hands and put together a DIY art supply…
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Easter Art Projects
Here’s a collection of the art projects that we’ve been working on for Easter. The classics are classics for a reason, and the woven placemats were especially a hit! We used a mixture of shaving cream and white glue to paint these soft bunnies. For the bows we added a little food coloring. We also mixed some shaving cream and food coloring, then dipped paper egg cutouts to create swirled patterns on the eggs. Finally, we used the leftover strips from our placemats to make a paper chain. The colors are all super happy and the finished products remind me of my favorite projects from my own childhood. That’s what…
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Valentine Crafting for Kids
We had a snow day this week! As a teacher, that’s always welcome – as a parent it’s a bit of a scramble to find things to keep my girl busy all day. I had a good feeling that this particular snow day was coming, so I tried to plan ahead. Art projects are always a good option! After working on some of my own projects on Tuesday, I put my leftover supplies (along with some others from our craft stash) together so that they’d be all ready for some Valentine’s Day crafting. I started with this tray. It’s been one of my all-time-favorite purchases – it’s a heavy melamine,…
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Make a Monster – Collaborative Art Project
I am a huge fan of large group art projects – I love that each child can bring a different vision to the project. I also love them for practical reasons, it’s a lot easier to find space for one large project to dry than it is to find space for 20 small projects, and they use far fewer materials. One year I made a dragon with my class. I drew the outline on a large sheet of table paper, and they decorated it with bingo markers. It was amazing to see the details that they included, and which parts of the dragon each child chose to work on. I…
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Friday Freebie – Art Center Labels
Happy Friday! Today’s freebie goes along with all of the art projects that I shared this week. These Art Center Labels are perfect for keeping your art area organized and making sure that children know where materials and supplies belong. Go download these from Jessica Harris and have a great weekend!
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Messy Art for Preschool – Paper Mache
I’m not sure that I’m in majority, but I love love love messy art projects. Yes, they are a pain to clean up, but they are such a fun experience for the children because they never get to do stuff like this at home, and it’s always a new way to experience the materials that you’re using. As for the cleaning part, the children are usually just as excited to help me clean up as they are to actually do the activity. How long has it been since you did some old fashioned paper mache?! As a kid, I honestly hated paper mache, I’ve never liked getting my hands messy…
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Messy Art for Preschool – Toothbrush Painting
I’m not sure that I’m in majority, but I love love love messy art projects. Yes, they are a pain to clean up, but they are such a fun experience for the children because they never get to do stuff like this at home, and it’s always a new way to experience the materials that you’re using. As for the cleaning part, the children are usually just as excited to help me clean up as they are to actually do the activity. Toothbrush painting can be done in a variety of ways – the most simple being to brush the bristles along the paper like you would with a traditional…
