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CeriBear 06:20 AM 08-02-2020
I think we need a thread where we can share art ideas. I’m a member of the arts and crafts social group but nothing is ever posted there.
Some of my favorites:

Puffy paint: this is my go to art when I’m out of ideas or just need to change the agenda when we can’t play outside in the afternoon. Just mix up glue, shaving cream, and paint and let the kids paint. They love this.

Animal prints: all you need is plastic animal figurines and tempera paint. The kids dip the feet into the paint and stamp on paper.

Tissue paper stain: cut up “bleedable” tissue paper into small pieces of various shapes and colors. Have the kids place the tissue paper on card stock and paint over with water. Allow to dry and then remove tissue paper to reveal colorful design.
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Blackcat31 07:32 AM 08-02-2020
Originally Posted by CeriBear:
I think we need a thread where we can share art ideas. I’m a member of the arts and crafts social group but nothing is ever posted there.
Some of my favorites:

Puffy paint: this is my go to art when I’m out of ideas or just need to change the agenda when we can’t play outside in the afternoon. Just mix up glue, shaving cream, and paint and let the kids paint. They love this.

Animal prints: all you need is plastic animal figurines and tempera paint. The kids dip the feet into the paint and stamp on paper.

Tissue paper stain: cut up “bleedable” tissue paper into small pieces of various shapes and colors. Have the kids place the tissue paper on card stock and paint over with water. Allow to dry and then remove tissue paper to reveal colorful design.
You can always start posting and sharing in that group to “revive” interest in it....

Personally I don’t do many cookie cutter or themed farts and crafts and simply put out supplies for the kids to use as they choose.

I know some providers love doing crafts with their kiddos but it’s just never been my thing. I give them a variety of paper, paints, glue, writing utensils and other trinkets (Pom poms, glitter, stickers etc) and just let them do their thing.

Some kids are super creative and others simply explore the materials.
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CeriBear 07:52 AM 08-02-2020
I don’t do a lot of crafts either. I believe that for 3-4 year olds the process is much better than being told what to make. I work in a large center and we are supposed to limit or not even do product art. Yes, having the kids make bear masks out of paper plates might produce something cute to take home but it doesn’t allow the child to be creative.
Some days my art time is just giving the kids some paper and crayons and having them draw. Right now I have several girls who are getting good at drawing rainbows.
Stickers are also fun.
I’m also not one to get upset when finger painting becomes hand painting. Paint is washable. I once had a child paint his hands green and say. “I’m the Hulk.” He then had me take a picture to send to his parents and we all had a laugh.
My art center is always open for things like coloring and drawing. During free play the kids are free to go get their crayon box and coloring paper.
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Josiegirl 12:14 PM 08-02-2020
Before I retired, they disallowed shaving cream for us. We used to make the most beautiful pictures using shaving cream, marbling food coloring through it, placing card stock upside down in it, patting it down as to collect a lot of different colors, then taking a straight edge and 'shaving' all the extra shaving cream off. They were always so different and made gorgeous cards.

Another thing the dcks used to like to do was marble painting. Sometimes I'd get ambitious and cut the paper into a shape that signified something seasonal.

Sponge painting, stamp painting, potato/apple/celery printing

Then a favorite was supplying lots of different materials with glue and let them create collages.
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Pandaluver21 03:26 PM 08-02-2020
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
You can always start posting and sharing in that group to “revive” interest in it....

Personally I don’t do many cookie cutter or themed farts and crafts and simply put out supplies for the kids to use as they choose.
I guess I'm in the right profession, that was highly entertaining to me...

Originally Posted by CeriBear:
I think we need a thread where we can share art ideas. I’m a member of the arts and crafts social group but nothing is ever posted there.
Some of my favorites:

Puffy paint: this is my go to art when I’m out of ideas or just need to change the agenda when we can’t play outside in the afternoon. Just mix up glue, shaving cream, and paint and let the kids paint. They love this.

Animal prints: all you need is plastic animal figurines and tempera paint. The kids dip the feet into the paint and stamp on paper.

Tissue paper stain: cut up “bleedable” tissue paper into small pieces of various shapes and colors. Have the kids place the tissue paper on card stock and paint over with water. Allow to dry and then remove tissue paper to reveal colorful design.
I teach preschool, so we do projects for the theme we are learning about. I love open ended crafts, as well as crafts that create something the child can use later (car, mask, wind sock, shakers, etc)






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Blackcat31 08:17 AM 08-03-2020
Originally Posted by Pandaluver21:
I guess I'm in the right profession, that was highly entertaining to me...
Haha! Clearly having a house full of boys is getting to me....
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Mariposa 12:11 PM 08-03-2020
Process Art: creating your own art and having no end result. It is about the process.
Product Art: having a finish product (think: Pinterest)


I do both. I think children need to be creative, learn skill (age-appropriate) and follow directions.

I do activities such as leave a variety of items for whatever, give supplies for an open project such as a marble, paint, and a tray or cardboard box (bottom and sides) where the only product-aspect is using the themed-colors that week. Or provide glue and salt for salt paint. Or a sponge for sponge painting.

I also do hybrid- like today, for space week I glued two bowls together that each had foil, and put in some beans inside for spaceship shakers. They decorated how they wanted. See image.

Seldom I will do product art. Example, two weeks ago was Flying week and I really loved these pop bottle airplanes. I realized it needed lots of directions and I meant it for school agers, but ended up getting more preschoolers. What I did was prep all the pieces-using their favorite color as the airplane. For the rest of the pieces I made a variety of colors and let them choose. I worked in small groups and told them this was a direction-following activity.
They assembled step by step and did amazingly. They taped their construction paper around to make it colorful, attached wings, a propeller, vertical stablizer, and foil windows with glue. See image.
In the back is puffy paint over a cloud cut out and I attached the rain streamers, for water & ice week-hybrid, but i did the product part, they did process.

I have a 3 yr old, 4, 5, 6, and 7 year old.
Attached: IMG_20200720_150150.jpg (3.86 MB) 
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Ariana 12:18 PM 08-03-2020
I don’t typically do product art or adult lead art unless it is Christmas or during craft week in the summer. My go to is always collages. Glue and any and all types of materials. Kids love glue! We also do playdoh and any and all types of materials, could be popsicle sticks, pine cones, sticks, buttons anything! The kids love both of these. My art table gets set up and it is kids choice to participate in these special activities. Markers, crayons and paper are always availabke if they ask.
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My3cents 05:40 AM 08-07-2020
I think it depends on the group of kiddo's you have. Some kids can't get enough of the arts and crafts and others could care less.

I do both types.

Would love ideas of what everyone is doing for projects.

Fun ones we have done....

tissue paper- glue tissue paper to shapes
marble painting- put a marble in a box with a few drops of paint and let the kiddos move, shake the box
Shaving cream- drops of paint or food coloring on the shaving cream, swirl around with a tooth pick, place paper on top then scrape off shaving cream- leaves a beautiful design
colored shapes of paper glue onto any shape
stamping- you can cut sponges or use cookie cutters
Use a straw dip in paint water and then blow bubbles on paper
I also just put random things out and let them go at it and do whatever they want with the materials
A simple shape and one color of crayon is often fun

I love ideas/sharing of things to do with the littles. Helps spark everyones creativity.
3Cents~
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flying_babyb 06:48 AM 08-08-2020
my "these kids are making me phyco" art go tos:
Golf ball art: we put a golf ball (ect) in a clear shoe box sized container with paper and paint. Then the kids shake. Our current shoe box came from dollar tree

Tin foil art: Ball up foil, or crinkle and uncrinkle and tape to somthing. My kids love this

Stickers: Large for the littles, small for the bigs. Peel and stick!
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CeriBear 10:48 AM 08-08-2020
I once had the kids draw on sandpaper with crayons and then placed the drawing down on a piece of white paper and used a warm iron to have the design transfer to the white paper. If you are working with school age kids you can let them press the iron themselves. When I did this with my 3-4 year olds I didn’t let them touch the iron.

Having children paint using toilet paper rolls is also fun.
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Josiegirl 03:18 AM 08-09-2020
I've let kids paint with Legos, bath buffs, fly swatters, marshmallows, cotton balls; if you look through your house there is a whole variety of things you can use. Or check our your local dollar store in the beauty aids or household goods depts.; that's where I found tons of stuff to use for painting and crafts.
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