Mola Art

The girls and I have been traveling around the world.  The latest country that we visited was Panama.  The girls learned about mola art.  A mola is part of the traditional costume of a Kuna woman.  The Kuna women will use two mola panels to create their blouses.  Over the years, they have taken the mola panels and created many different uses for them, such as framed art, pillows, place mats,wall hangings, or quilting projects.  

Image from Wikipedia

Recently, they have begun to depict flowers, sea animals, and birds onto the molas, instead of just geometric designs.  The girls and a few of their friends created their own interpretation of mola art by using the outline of an animal and geometric designs. 

End of Year Art Show

This year at our weekly co-op, Izzie participated in an art class, Meet the Masters.  She absolutely LOVED it!  She learned a great deal of information about each artist and was able to recreate their techniques, while creating her own masterpieces.  

Thankfully, she was able to get back into this art class for next year and will be learning about different artists.  I'm not sure who's more excited!

Jasper Johns Abstract Names

I teach a preschool class in our coop and got a little adventurous with this art project, Jasper Johns Abstract Names.  I folded heavy watercolor paper into 16 equal squares, then had each child write their name with oil pastel crayons, one letter per square.  They could write their name in any sequence.  The only "rule" was they could only use the letters in their name.  Afterward, they painted the entire surface with watercolor paints. 

Dhurrie Rugs Art Project

We've been traveling around the world and learning about different cultures.  This particular week, the girls were introduced to India and dhurrie rugs.  After learning about the history of the dhurrie rug, they created their own!  

I love the way each dhurrie rug turned out completely different, even though everyone used the same geometric shapes! 

Inspiration from The Elementary Art Room!  

Back To School Crafts

This summer we spent a lot of time at Michael's, participating in their Passport To Fun activities. So, when I heard they were doing back to school crafts, I was thrilled to take the girls!

Cute little bug to hold their crayons and pencils!

Working so hard on decorating their duck tape folder...

Did you notice their duck tape bracelet? The sweet employee made the bracelets for them, which they loved!

The next back to school event is on Sunday. Really wished it was on Saturday, again.

Water Painting

We've been participating in Michael's Passport To Fun activities each week. If you haven't tried it, I would really encourage you to do so! It doesn't end until July 30th. The girls have really enjoyed making crafts from the different countries and I love that they can make a mess there and I don't have to clean it up (I know, that is probably wrong to say, but it is so true!).

During our last trip, we stumbled on this really neat painting booklet for just a buck! Not sure how many total pages (since, they've completed several already), but I would guess at least 20. It's great...add water and paint with no mess...fantastic!

stART: Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is one of Izzie's favorite books! And, since she is working on the sight-word "see" this week, it was a perfect choice for her stART project.

I gave Izzie several different sizes of circles for her to create a brown. I was totally impress that her created bear really looked like a bear! However, she did laugh when she put the ears on the side of the bear's head and told me that the bear now looked like a monkey!

Then, she painted her bear...brown, of course!

I was so excited when she made the bear a face...this was her FIRST time making a "face"! She included eyes, nose, mouth, and a chin!! I was jumping up in delight, so she then continued...as she painted, she informed me that she was making cheeks, eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair...so, her bear ended up looking faceless....maybe, she has been creating "faces" all along and I just didn't know it!!

To see more stART projects, visit A Mommy's Adventures.

stART: How To Build A Snowman

For our stART project, we read How To Build A Snowman. It's a cute, simple book with different textures on each page. It's an excellent book to use for Izzie's "speech therapy" and Mac loved the touchy feel parts.

Izzie created an adorable little snowman (printable) while reciting the book.

This week, she also completed several other Snowman activities, including...

Number Sequencing (printable) (1-10)

1:1 Correspondence (printable) with snowflake stickers

Fine Motor Skills: Matching clothespins to correct color

Dot Art (printable)

Simple Patterns (AB and ABB) printable

Snowman Game: Matching Hats

Writing Practice (printable) I decided to turn this into a File Folder activity (laminated), so she can easily wipe off the washable marker and try again. She's doing well with straight lines, the curvy lines are still a little tricky!


Scissor Skills printable


Izzie has been having the hardest time learning how to use scissors and we have been practicing for months with several different types of scissors. Well, I finally found a Melissa and Doug scissor set that she can easily manipulate! She is so excited to be cutting....everything! So, this snowman scissor skill page was a huge hit, even though she is nowhere near cutting the dotted lines, she still had fun "just cutting"! (No idea why I didn't get a picture of her using her new scissors...the blue pair is her favorite.)

For more stART projects, please visit A Mommy's Adventures!

*Please note the PDF Snowman Printables were created by Confessions Of A Homeschooler*

Snowflakes

To celebrate our 31 inches of snow, Izzie created these cute snowflakes for our Christmas tree!

I love homemade Christmas ornaments!

Materials needed: Popsicle sticks, glue, paint, and glitter.

Christmas Gift Reviews: Art and Crafts

It's that time of year again, when I start researching for Christmas gifts. I'm always curious to know what other parents are buying for their children. I read countless reviews on toys that I'm considering to buy because I want to know the pros and cons for each toy. The best way to really discover a toy is to ask other parents and children too. I would love to know what your children favorite toys are. So, each week, I will have a different category to review. Click here for the category list and dates. Please feel free to share your views about toys in each category too.

This week's theme is Art and Crafts.

We normally make most of our crafts from recycled materials around the house. Izzie art supplies mostly consists of crayons, markers, and washable finger paints.

Izzie's favorite markers are the Do-A-Dot Art Markers.


Pros: These markers are large and easy to hold. They are non-toxic and will not dry out when the lid is accidentally left off. In addition, these markers are great to use on magnet pages for pre-writing skills.

Cons: Expensive at $14.99 for a pack of six. I buy them at Michael's with a 50% off coupon.


I've been looking for a wooden art easel for Izzie. I found this one at Ikea that she'll be receiving for Christmas.

Pros: It's inexpensive ($14.99) and it's made out of renewable wood. It has 2 sides (one with a magnetic dry-erase board and the other side is a chalkboard), a place for the drawing paper roll, and a tray to hold materials.

Cons: Not available to be ordered on-line and shipped. I had to travel to pick it up at our nearest Ikea store, which is 3 hours away! Luckily, we made it a weekend trip.

Disclaimer: I did not contact or receive any products from the above companies. These are my opinions, which may vary from your experience with these products.

Please link your child's favorite Art and Craft items too!

stART: Fall Leaves Fall

For our stART project this week, we read Fall Leaves Fall.

I found this really neat game at My Montessori Journey. Izzie had a lot of fun playing.

Object of game: roll die to determine what corresponding leaves to put on tree and first you must roll a 6 to get your tree! In addition, after all the leaves were on the tree, Izzie rolled the die to see which leaves were "falling off the tree". Very fun!

Izzie created tissue paper leaves for the back door. They add a nice touch of autumn!

I had planned on taking Izzie and Mac on a nature walk...to look at (jump in) leaves, but the raining weather made it impossible.

For more weekly stART projects, click here!