Paper Punching Push Pins...Perfect!

An old mousepad gives them a soft surface for pin punching

I found these really cool maple and oak leaf outlines over at abcteach.com under their "Montessori Materials" category and decided to let our little homeschoolers try their hands at pin punching. I learned somewhere that wooden puzzles with pegs are great for pre-writing development. I'm thinking the push pin gives them the same grasp, but requires even better hand/eye coordination as they punch their way around the shape.

Both kids, ages 4 and nearly 7, thoroughly enjoyed this challenge. They were both so proud of their beautiful leaves as I held them up to the sun to see them sparkle!

We will be using pin punching with KID 1 as he creates a map of the world with the seven continents, then he can go back and punch out each country as we study it. He loves to do very careful work, so I'm betting cartography will be right up his alley.

Have preschoolers at home?

You might be interested in this book:

Rainy Day Art: Stained-Glass Masterpieces

Contact paper, colored tissue and a permanent marker were all we needed to make these beautiful stained-glass creations:





Even without the sun shining through, they sure brightened up our dining room window on this stormy day!

A Little Art

One Little, Two Little Budding Artists

The Hands of an Artiste!

Her Marvelous Mix-Up!

Just a little window into our creative morning...I can't wait to show you what he created! When he finished, he said, "Oh, Mommy! I'm just so impressed with myself!" Nothing like a little confidence, huh? ;-D

Painting with Magnets

Continuing on with our exploration of letter Mm, we tried a new "Mark-Making" art activity: Magnet Painting.

We have a set of Magnetix ($3 at a children's consignment sale) that works perfectly for this activity. I cut some of our easel paper to fit a cookie sheet and taped it in place. If you have strong enough magnets, you could just use the tabletop. KID 1 used two metal balls and two magnetic posts, one for each hand.

He really enjoyed sliding his magnets around the bottom of his tray and watching the effects as the little metal balls rolled through magenta paint.

Special Note: The "stand" for the cookie sheet is actually a tv table turned upside down! Whatever works, right? The links below show three different sizes available in these magnetic building sets. The smaller sets have smaller balls that could be a choking hazard for little ones. Any of these sets would work for this art project, plus add a science toy to your playroom. What a great way to learn cause and effect!




For more tips and tricks, head on over to Works-For-Me Wednesday.

Musical Murals

We're learning about letter "Mm" this week, and I'm anxious to share one of our very cool activities!

On Monday, I cut a big, long piece of easel paper and taped it to the floor. I gave both kids their own set of crayons (we used Colorations Silky Sticks, which are soft and glide over the paper).

To prepare them for the activity, I told them to just listen to the music and draw what they feel. I didn't say much more than that, and they didn't really need to know more. After a questioning look from KID 1 (What are we supposed to do?), I reassured him that he would know how to draw the music once he heard it.

The first piece of music I selected for them to "draw" was "Moonlight Sonata," which has lots of repetitions. It's very smooth music, and my 4-year-old really reflected the feel of the music as he drew, using large, sweeping movements of his arm in concentric circles. My toddler tapped, dabbed, and pounded her crayon to the beat, raising her crayon over her head with a flourish as she looked up to see if we were watching.

I tried to melt into the background and just observe, occasionally reminding them with a hand signal to just listen. I didn't want them to feel their art time was a performance, but it sure was fascinating to watch!

The second piece was my husband's choice (he was home from work by then and thoroughly fascinated by this little experiment) and we moved this new mural up to the table so the kids could really move their whole bodies. He chose "Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing)" from the Swing Kids soundtrack. Oh, my goodness, it was so funny to watch! And what a difference between the two pieces of art! Fast, jaunty scribbles took up the center of the page as his feet flew beneath him! Watch our video...it's too funny!

Combining our love of art and music really works for us!

Making Their Marks: Straw Painting

We recently tried using straws as paint applicators. I demonstrated the technique first, putting one end of the straw into the paint and my finger over the other end of the straw. Then I brought the straw over the paper and released the paint where I wanted it. Now I could blow the paint across the paper using the straw. My son couldn't wait to try it. He really enjoyed this new method!

Our 1 1/2 year-old had more trouble with this technique, of course, but she enjoyed dragging the straw across the paper, making her own unique marks!

Both kids worked on the same paper, and the finished product was later presented to Aunt Beth for her birthday. She loved it, of course!

Special Note: Even though I used wide, shallow bowls for the paint, we still ended up with a spill (they will always find a way!). We had to turn the big brown spill in the corner into "intentional art!"

Making Their Marks: Toothbrush Paintings

Why throw away an old toothbrush when you can paint with it? This one was fun for both kids. Just make sure it doesn't go in the mouth!

Check out more of our fun art ideas! Or check out Crystal's blog for more Frugal Friday links.

Making Their Marks: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!

This is the first in our Preschool Art series Making Their Marks.

A fun art session that BOTH our kids enjoyed on Monday was an easy prep and required something we have in abundance around here: little cars and trucks.

I picked out some cars and trucks ahead of time that had different kinds and sizes of wheels. The little jeep had a chunky tread, the tractor had a wide tread, etc.

The kiddos like to help with the color-choosing, of course, and we ended up with pink and turquoise blue. Our 4 1/2 year-old son's FAVORITE color is pink, and he has stayed true to this preference for the past couple of years! At birthday parties, he really, really, really wants the pink party favors (usually princess-themed, but he doesn't care), not the blue ones (this has come up a couple of times, believe it or not!!!).

Anyway, we don't make a big deal about it...if pink is his favorite, he gets pink, by golly! No gender-stereotyping here!

We put each paint color on its own flat plate with several cars and trucks to roll through. Kid 2 (age 1 1/2) really enjoyed rolling one color over the other on her paper, making purple, of course!

What fun! And I can't help mentioning one of our favorite books around here: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!

Preschool Art: Making Their Marks

When it comes to "art," babies and toddlers really take a scientific approach. They want to experiment with their materials: color, different sizes and shapes of paper, and things that make interesting marks: markers, pens, crayons, colored pencils, and paint.

Just look in the art supply aisle of any store and you'll find the options are almost overwhelming. I find that some basic tempera paint really goes a long way for art time here. Just be sure that whatever you buy, it needs to be non-toxic.

When we use paintbrushes, they are the fat-handled kind for little kids. Our son (age 4 1/2) is ready to use the skinny kind, but he still enjoys the thick bristled ones that make a big, wide mark.

We try to think outside the box when it comes to paint tools and applicators. We'll try anything! In the next few weeks, we'll be posting some of our art experiments. Mostly because it's fun for us, but perhaps you'll find inspiration here as well!

So get some paint and some nice thick paper and get ready to try some fun things with your little ones! See some of our recommendations below.

Have fun!