Mommy, Monet and Me! Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today in MMM we did three Valentine's Day art activities!  Foam Printing, Heart Stencils, and Mixing Pink.

Styrofoam Printing

Materials: Styrofoam plate, dull pencils, paint, paint rollers, tray, paper.

1. First draw your design on the back of a piece of styrofoam with a dull pencil.  Use the pencil to gently carve into the styrofoam leaving an indentation.  I like to use a plate because the lip of the plate gives the kids a handle when they are printing, but you could use any flat piece of styrofoam.  Save and reuse packing materials for this project.

2. When your design is complete roll a thin layer of paint out on a tray or cookie sheet.  Help your little one make it really thin.

3. Then turn your plate over and press your design into the plate (make sure to press each part of the plate down to get good contact with the paint).

4. Pull the styrofoam up and press firmly down onto the paper (again make sure to get good contact on the whole piece of foam).

5. Remove the plate and see your beautiful design on paper. 

This is a great way to make unique Valentine's because you can reuse the plate and make multiple prints of the same design.  Try mixing colors of paint or printing on different kinds of paper.  The possibilities are endless.  Print on card stock to make a beautiful one of a kind card for teachers or grandparents!

Homemade Heart Stencils

Materials: Paper, scissors, paint or bingo markers

1. First cut out heart stencils by folding paper in half and cutting half of a heart from the fold.  Cut a variety of hearts in different shapes and sizes.  Make sure to leave a border, don't cut your heart all the way to the edge of the paper.

2. Now you should have a positive and negative heart shape.  In other words a heart shaped piece of paper, and a heart shaped hole in the other piece of paper.

3. Place your heart stencils on a large piece of paper and use bingo markers to stamp around the edge of the heart shapes, and to fill in the heart stencils.   You could also use markers, crayons, or paint for this step.

This is a great lesson to help your child understand the difference between positive and negative space.  
 
Mixing Pink

Materials: Heart shaped paper, white paint, red paint, paintbrushes

Today we used red and white paint to make beautiful pink paint.  Simply give your child a dish or cup with each color of paint and one paintbrush and let them experiment with color.  They can mix the color on their heart or in the cups.

Each child's shade of pink was a little bit different, but we ended up with so many beautiful pink hearts to decorate our room for valentine's day!

No class next monday because of President's Day!  We will see you again on February 28th, 9:30-10:15 am for the letter R!