Mommy, Monet and Me! Letter P

Puff Paint, Playdough and Purple!

Puff Paint
Materials: Salt, Flour, Water, Food Coloring, Squeeze bottles, Cardstock

Thanks to Ettie Smith for sharing this recipe with me.  It has become one of my favorite art activities and the kids love it.  Making the puff paint can be just as fun as using it.  The recipe is simple and you and your child can experiment making lots of new colors with food coloring.  

RECIPE: Add equal parts flour, salt and water in a bowl.  Mix thoroughly until smooth and shiny.  Divide white dough into smaller containers for color mixing.  Add food coloring and mix until you reach desired color.  Put puff paint in squeeze bottles, use like regular paint or finger paint.


I recommend using the puff paint on cardstock.  It holds up better to the heavy paint and doesn't soak through.  Encourage your little one to see what happens when you put one color on the other, or swirl the puff paint with a toothpick to create a marbled effect.



Play Dough

I like to make my own play dough rather than buying it.  You can make big batches with ingredients you have on hand, and then you can let your kids mix it without being so worried about ruining expensive play dough.  This is my favorite play dough recipe because it is so soft and smells great!

Materials
 • 1 1/4 cup flour
 • 1/4 cup salt
 • 1 pkg unsweetened Kool-aid (just the dry koolaid, don't mix it into juice)
 • 1 cup boiling water
 • 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
 1.  In a bowl, mix flour, salt and kool-aid.
 2.  Stir in water and oil
 3.  Knead with hands for about 5 minutes (careful it's hot!)
 4.  Store in ziploc bag for up to 2 months.

 Purple


More color mixing today!  We made the color purple using red and blue paint.  We used paintbrushes and our fingers to combine the colors.  If you don't have red and blue paint on hand try mixing other things with your toddler or preschooler.  Here are some ideas. 


Koolaid or juice
Water with food coloring.
Crayons
Markers
Remember MMM is every Monday morning from 9:30-10:15am.  Try a class for free when you join our facebook page.   

Also join us this Saturday for our Chinese New Year Art Adventure!  Saturday February 5th from 1:00-2:30 pm.  Advanced registration preferred.  Space is limited.  

Mommy, Monet and Me! Letter O

Oil, Orange, and Ovals

Baby Oil

Materials: crayons or oil pastels, half sheet of white paper, paintbrush, baby oil, paper towels or newspaper.

There are lots of fun ways to use baby oil with toddlers.  Today we used it to make our drawings transparent.  I use a half sheet of paper to help the kids consolidate their drawing to a smaller area.  You should encourage them to press hard with the crayon or oil pastel they are using to create a beautiful picture.  Lay the drawing on newspaper or a paper towel.   Next, flip the page over so you see the back of the paper.  Dip your brush in baby oil and brush lightly over the back of your picture.  The picture will appear like magic as the oil makes the paper transparent.  Blot with paper towel to remove excess oil.  Hold it up to the light and see it shine through!
 
Color Mixing: Orange

Materials: large sheet of white paper, yellow and red paint, paintbrushes, rollers, sponges, anything you can mix paint with. 


Kids are fascinated with color mixing!  Learning to mix colors is a great way to introduce primary and secondary colors and to help them learn the color wheel.  Making a new color is like magic and there are so many fun ways to mix colors.  We used rollers, paintbrushes and sponges to combine our colors on big white papers.  Here are some other mixing ideas.
 
Bag mixing-put one spoonful or red paint, and one spoonful of yellow paint in a ziploc bag, seal the bag and let your toddler move the paint around and watch the colors mix.  When the color is mixed you can lay the bag flat and draw with a finger on the bag.

Hand mixing- help your toddler paint one hand red and one hand yellow then have them rub their hands together to make a new color.  Have a sheet of paper ready to make hand prints in the new color!

Paper blots- fold a paper in half, and then open it again. Have your toddler paint one side red and the other side yellow, then press the two sides together and rub all over.  Open the paper again and see what color you made!

Ovals

Materials: Foam shapes, black or white paper, glue sticks

Sometimes the simplest activities are the most fun.  I love foam shapes because they are colorful, easy to manipulate, and allow for endless creativity.  The best art activities give kids the freedom to explore and create and use their imaginations without too many restrictions or rules. 

I encouraged the kids to find some ovals in the foam shapes and then asked them what some of the other shapes reminded them of.  Just ask your kids questions about what they see and what they want to create and they will amaze you with their answers!

Art Adventure: Chinese New Year! February 5th

Saturday, February 5th
1:00-2:30 pm

$5.00 per child or $13.00 per family.
Kids under 5 need to attend with an adult.

Join us Saturday February 5th to celebrate Chinese New Year.  Make Chinese dragons, craft decorative firecrackers and lanterns, and learn Chinese writing.  Good luck will come your way!

Advanced registration preferred. Sign up over the phone or drop-in and see us! For details or to register contact us 801-491-0825

Get one FREE pass when you join our facebook page!

Mommy, Monet and Me! Letter N

Noodles, Necklaces and Night!

Today in MMM we made sparkly noodles and then made them into necklaces.  We also created beautiful winter night paintings.  

Sparkly Noodles

Materials: Pasta Noodles (any kind with a hole in it), white glue, glitter, plastic spoons, tray or bowl for glitter.

This a fun way to make sparkly beads for a homemade necklace.  Simply take a dry pasta noodle, drop it in some watered down glue, fish it out and let the excess glue drip off and then use a spoon or little fingers to roll it in glitter.  All kids love glitter, but mom's usually don't.  This is a good way to do glitter without making too much of a mess.  You could also put the noodles in a tupperware with a little glitter or a plastic bag, seal it up and let your little ones shake away until the noodles are covered.   Let the sparkly noodles dry before stringing them on a string or pipe cleaners. 

Noodle Necklace

Materials: Sparkly Noodles, Pipe Cleaners, other beads

Making a necklace is a great way for toddlers to work on those fine motor skills.  I have found that it can be really difficult and frustrating for little fingers to work with string or yarn for necklaces, especially when the string is dropped and beads scatter everywhere, so I use pipe cleaners.  Pipe cleaners are great for a few reasons...they come in so many colors, they can be twisted together, they are rigid and easier for little ones to manipulate, and they have enough friction to keep beads... or noodles in place.

Winter Night Painting

Materials: Watercolor paper (or cardstock), Masking Tape, blue or black paint, crayons or oil pastels, salt (optional)

This lesson is adapted from the blog Art Projects for Kids. 

For our night time painting we started with half sheet of watercolor paper and some masking tape.  Tear medium length pieces of tape for your toddler.  I like to tear the tape down the middle to get a wavy edge.  Then use smaller strips of tape to make branches off of the main trunk until you have a beautiful masking tape tree.  Encourage your little one to rub the tape down so the edges are flat. 

Next, use a crayon or oil pastel to make stars or snow in the sky.  They can just tap the crayon randomly all over the paper and it looks great!  You could also draw a moon in the corner. 

Apply the paint.  I use blue tempra paint that is pretty watered down, any watery blue paint would work.  Blue from a watercolor tray would work, but the other colors on the tray often prove too tempting for toddlers.  Paint all over the whole picture, even on top of the masking tape. 

While the paint is still wet sprinkle a little salt over the top of your picture.  The salt soaks up some of the water and leaves a cool winter texture behind.  It kind of makes it look like it is snowing. It's amazing how exciting the prospect of sprinkling salt is to a 3 year old

When your picture is dry, carefully remove the tape and check out the cool trees left behind on your paper.  Remember it is the process not the product that matters.  Every tree is different and your toddlers should not look perfect, let them create freely!

Winter Art Classes! Now Enrolling

Styrofoam Plate Print by Emily

Sign up for art classes starting this February!

After taking a semester off to get used to motherhood Julie Hall is back to teach new and exciting art classes.  Space is limited so sign up early!

Junior Artists (5 and Up)
Tuesdays 4:00-5:00pm. (February 1-April 5)
Cost: $85.00 for 10 weeks.  

Cost can be prorated.  Advanced registration required.
In this exciting class students draw, paint, sculpt and discover the fundamental art elements: line, shape, texture, color, value and space. At the end of 10 weeks students display their work in a special gallery night for friends and family! Instructor: Julie Hall

Art Adventures
(Children 5 and under need to be accompanied by an adult)
Cost: $5.00 per child or $13.00 per family
Special Saturdays: 1:00-2:30pm

February 5    Chinese New Year!
March 12      Annual St. Patrick's Day Party (10:00-Noon) FREE
March 26      Wonderful Wizards
May 7           Under the Sea

Bring your friends and family for our Saturday art adventures. Participate in 3 different art activities, scavenger hunts, games, and riddles.  In the past we have gone on  a safari, traveled to space, and searched for dinosaurs!  Check out pictures from our art adventures.  Advanced registration preferred.

Mommy, Monet and Me! Letter M

Check here each Monday afternoon to see what fun projects we did in Mommy, Monet and Me! MMM is every monday morning (except for holidays) from 9:30-10:15 am at Hobble Creek Learning Center.

Today in Mommy, Monet and Me our letter of the day was M. So we had three M related toddler friendly projects: Marble Painting, Marker Magic, and Monoprints! All three activities are so fun with kids of any age.




Marble Painting

Materials: Paint, Marbles, Spoon, Box Lid (or something like it)

For marble painting I get an old box lid that will fit a piece of paper. Tape the paper down to the inside of the lid so it won't shift when you start painting. Get a few marbles and place one or two in each paint color (I water down the paint a little so the marble will roll easily). Have your child use the spoon to drop one or two marbles in the box lid, and start moving the box so the painted marbles roll all over your paper! A box lid with high sides is best so that you don't lose your marbles! I like to use red, yellow and blue paint so when the colors mix they make new colors!


Marker Magic

Materials: Constructions paper, scissors, dry erase markers, old sock or rag (to erase with)

I cut out some simple frames out of construction paper and taped them to the window. This serves two purposes. First, it makes drawing on the window even more special and fancy, and second it will give your toddler and natural boundary for their artwork. They are usually pretty good at staying in the frame. I always preface this activity by reminding our little artists that these are special markers and we can't use regular markers to draw on the windows and we never draw on the walls:) Let your toddler use dry erase markers to draw on the window, and a rag or old sock to erase and start again. They will have so much fun creating their masterpieces, and when they are all done the picture is framed and on display!

Monoprint

Materials: Baking tray or other flat smooth surface, paint, small paint roller or paintbrushes, q-tips, scrap paper

This activity was the favorite of the day! The kids stayed at this station the longest and loved printing new pictures over and over again. This is a basic printing technique to create one of a kind prints. Simply apply paint thinly to the inside of the baking tray (I use small paint rollers like this). You can also use a paintbrush to apply the paint. Then let your little one use a q-tip, or their fingers to make lines and designs in the paint. When they are satisfied with their creation press a piece of paper onto the tray and voila! A beautiful monoprint! I love this activity because the mess is contained within the tray and the results are beautiful. I also recommend using primary colors for this activity so the mixing paint creates beautiful new colors!

Remember moms: creativity takes courage! Don't be afraid to get a little messy, your kids will love it!