Blow Paint Monsters

Picture & idea from mayamade.blogspot.com

When I saw this craft in a magazine I thought, "This would be easy, different & fun to do with my 2 year old." So I gathered all the supplies needed and took them outside (anything relatively messy, especially paint is done outside in our house!) to our patio table. I pour the paint on the paper and give her a straw so she can "blow" the paint. I thought she'd love that part since she loves straws, but no!! All she wanted to do was this:

PLAY WITH A BUCKET OF WATER!

The age for this craft is 2 1/2 & up and my daughter is not quite 2 1/2 so maybe in a few months we can try again. I'm sure if you children are older and aren't quite as active as my little one they will love this craft! Lesson learned: sometimes the simplest things can keep a toddler entertained, don't over think it!

 

           Materials

• Tempera paint in multiple colors
• Plastic containers or paper cups (one for each paint color)
• Water
• Card stock

• Drinking straw, cut in half
• Glue stick
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Scissors

          Instructions

1. Pour a small amount of each paint color into a separate container. Thin the paint with water, stirring in a spoonful at a time until it's the consistency of heavy cream.
2. Help your child put a few spoonfuls of paint in one or more colors onto the card stock. Next, have her blow gently through the straw to spread the paint and create little monster limbs and tentacles.
3. Let the paint dry, then glue on googly eyes or you can color some on. Cut out the monster, if desired, and mount it on another piece of paper.
   
   Age: 2 1/2+

Mixing Colors in a Bag

For young children, art is about the tactility of the materials, what they feel.  Sometimes that means messy.  Here is a no mess activity that will provide a tactile experience as well as show how you can blend primary colors together to create new colors.  Another bonus,  it  can help build small hand muscles.  


Materials:
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups cold water
Food coloring -red, blue and yellow
 3 Ziploc bags, gallon size
Duct tape

Instructions:
Over medium heat, combine the cornstarch, sugar, and water in a saucepan, stirring continuously. Once the mixture begins to thicken, remove the pan from the heat and stir for another minute or so until it thickens to a pudding like consistency. Let it cool for 30 minutes.

Spoon the mixture into 3 bowls, stir a few drops of food coloring into each bowl, creating 3 colors -  blue, red and yellow. Then place 1/2 of the red and 1/2 of the yellow in a Ziploc bag. In a separate bag, place 1/2 of the blue and 1/2 of the yellow.  Make a third bag with the remainder of the blue and red.  Seal the bags with duct tape and let your child mix and mash the colors.  Let them discover the new colors they make.  The mixture should keep for about 1 week.

Alternative: For an interesting light-table effect, tape a bag to a low window and let your child use his fingers to draw patterns while the sun shines through.


Idea and photo from Family Fun magazine