Looking for art project ideas to do with DS. Anyone have any you like?

[kokoro]

D is now 6 1/2 and really starting to be into arts and crafts. When he was younger his sensory issues kept him from doing art. We have been having fun with art stuff together but I'd love some new ideas. Thanks!

[Bonny]

http://www.magicalchildhood.com/ -- where I look once in a while for inspiration.

I like to do messy stuff (outside) in the summer - paper mache, tie dye, flubber, silly putty, uh ... the stuff w borax and glue and water, and the stuff with corn starch and water and food coloring that's fun to do with the doctor suess book whose title I cannot recall, shaving cream marble painting ... stuff like that.

[kokoro]

..

[skyra]

D is now 6 1/2 and really starting to be into arts and crafts. When he was younger his sensory issues kept him from doing art. We have been having fun with art stuff together but I'd love some new ideas. Thanks!

welllllllllll....
my kids have the craziest craft room EVER, but the things that they are most drawn to...

clay and clay tools.

paper, embellishments, glue, tape, cardboard, scissors etc. Seriously, just a random free for all. I keep LOTS of these supplies for them for using at any time. I have about 4 different types of tape, white glue, glue sticks, random cardboard, variety of scissors, stickers, feathers, pompoms, pasta, sparkles, wood bits, leather bits, pipecleaners...anything you can imagine. IMO, these are the most important 'art' supplies as they are fun and give them complete open creativity to do what they want. While I like honing in on specific things, such as sculpting and painting and drawing, I find that the true creativity is brought out by having a wide variety of supplies to use their imagination with. I don't do ANY leading with these supplies.

paint and paper...depends on their mood. Sometimes just plain tempra paints on plain paper will do it. Leif loves this for abstract. He just plops it down and what comes of it is what comes of it. I think that in this case it is just playing with colors. On days where he is feeling like doing a scene of some sort, he really likes watercolors on a nice paper. I have canvasses for my kids, but they haven't really used them yet. Both of them are waiting for the right inspiration.

a variety of different pens, pencils and papers. Raine really likes drawing cartoons, so he has cartooning books, cartooning paper and a good set of pencils and charcoal.

If he can stand the feel of it, paper mache is a lot of fun.

paper making

pressing flowers

oh, we made reallly cool mobiles a couple of years ago...found a cool stick, drilled holes in the top and then strung fishing line down the holes with seashells at the top to keep them from going through. Then we used 'found' objects to complete the mobile. Nuts, bolts, random metal bits, cutlery, shells, rocks etc. I have mine hanging in our front window still and LOVE it. We had such a great time with this.

make a birdhouse or bathouse (I think we are going to make a bathouse soon :))

masks...you can do this as intricately or simply as you want.

good luck :) arts and crafts are FUN!

[Sue]

D is now 6 1/2 and really starting to be into arts and crafts. When he was younger his sensory issues kept him from doing art. We have been having fun with art stuff together but I'd love some new ideas. Thanks!

Off the top of my head..

string painting (http://www.dotolearn.com/activities/artprojects/stringart.htm) is always fun!

Mixing crayons and watercolors is FUN! The girls did a castle by drawing all the lines and painting the paper gray.

You can draw a picture with pencil on good art paper, then squeeze white glue over the lines and watercolor inside.

Some things I did when I was subbing for art, I really enjoyed.

Take a piece of white paper or card stock draw a 2x2 3x3 6x6 squares(how ever big you wan to make it) grid, then colorful paper (origami or scrapbook paper works) make sure the squares are the same size as your gride lines, have D cut a simple shape out of the middle of two squares while holding them together. Then you glue the out side shapes in your grid, then swap the insides and glue those down.

We drew a map of our neighborhoods, and since I am very much into letting the kids imaginations go wild, I told them they could live ANYWHERE they wanted. And could have anything in their neighborhood.

Something you, DH (if he's up to it, if not a friend) and D can do. Cut 3 pieces of paper into a rectangle, fold them in thirds, each person picks a animal or mythical creature they are going to draw, on their own paper you draw the head, then pass your paper with outnletting the person see your head, the next person draws the body of what *they* are drawing in the middle, the it gets passed one more time for the end. You just have to make sure it gets passes the way your are drawing, for instance a penguin will be different that a horse.

I really like to tie art into learning something (Like symmetry with string art, or looking us an artist, and doing something like what they do.) I always find it a good way to get inspiration.

[Sue]

http://www.magicalchildhood.com/ -- where I look once in a while for inspiration.

and the stuff with corn starch and water and food coloring that's fun to do with the doctor suess book whose title I cannot recall, .

Bartholomew and the Oobleck we did this with our Daisies. :-)

[Bonny]

THANK YOU that's been driving me crazy. (nt)

[kokoro]

I don't think I have near the variety of things you do but I also have all his various art supplies just out for him to use whenever and however he likes and I agree that is very good for his creativity. He makes all kinds of things just with tape and paper and markers and glue and various things he glues on things.


What are the 4 different types of tape you have? He goes through scotch tape like crazy.

My mother was very creative and sounds like she was a lot like you. She would take us to this place in my hometown where you could buy odds and ends donated by various companies. She would let us choose whatever we liked--buttons, round cardboard things, and whatever odds and ends we chose and then we would go home and make things. It was so fun. We don't have a place like that around here but D does have fun making things with what we have on hand.

Your mobiles sound very cool!

D doesn't mind getting his hands messy now. He used to freak if even a a bit of paint got on him. He had a great art teacher this past year in school and she got him to do all these things he used to refuse to do. :)

I like your philosophy. Thanks for your reply. :)

[kokoro]

Off the top of my head..

string painting (http://www.dotolearn.com/activities/artprojects/stringart.htm) is always fun!

Mixing crayons and watercolors is FUN! The girls did a castle by drawing all the lines and painting the paper gray.

You can draw a picture with pencil on good art paper, then squeeze white glue over the lines and watercolor inside.

Some things I did when I was subbing for art, I really enjoyed.

Take a piece of white paper or card stock draw a 2x2 3x3 6x6 squares(how ever big you wan to make it) grid, then colorful paper (origami or scrapbook paper works) make sure the squares are the same size as your gride lines, have D cut a simple shape out of the middle of two squares while holding them together. Then you glue the out side shapes in your grid, then swap the insides and glue those down.

We drew a map of our neighborhoods, and since I am very much into letting the kids imaginations go wild, I told them they could live ANYWHERE they wanted. And could have anything in their neighborhood.

Something you, DH (if he's up to it, if not a friend) and D can do. Cut 3 pieces of paper into a rectangle, fold them in thirds, each person picks a animal or mythical creature they are going to draw, on their own paper you draw the head, then pass your paper with outnletting the person see your head, the next person draws the body of what *they* are drawing in the middle, the it gets passed one more time for the end. You just have to make sure it gets passes the way your are drawing, for instance a penguin will be different that a horse.

I really like to tie art into learning something (Like symmetry with string art, or looking us an artist, and doing something like what they do.) I always find it a good way to get inspiration...