Home Education Journal: Art

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Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July!

In need of a last-minute Independence Day project for your kiddos? [...like I was...]

Crayola has some fun coloring pages.

Color the flag of the USA.

Color in a picture of fireworks behind the Statue of Liberty while you talk with your kids about why we light fireworks on the 4th of July.

Learn about past and present flags of the United States of America, then color them in.

Learn about and color the Statue of Liberty.

Color the flag and map of the United States of America.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Like Father, Like Son

My son drew me a few pictures today, and naturally, I had to share. :)

I loved how he colored them in.

He is quite a little artist...my favorite is the barnyard.

And I really adore the green monster-guy saying "Mmmmmm" as he eyes the delicious fruits!

He takes after his dad. My husband drew this in high school.

He doesn't draw much anymore...but I hope he picks it up again someday. In the meantime, I am enjoying these sweet pictures from my five-year-old.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Our "Under the Weather" Art Projects

Two of my three kids have been sick this last week.
Keeping them occupied with restful activities has kept me busy. Ironic, isn't it, how that works.

Yesterday we painted.

My 3 year old painted these pictures:

Later, when I asked her what she had painted pictures of, she told me that the first one was a picture of a flower. The second is a picture of "a house that is messy". The third picture is of a house that is "all cleaned up the way it belongs." The final picture is a "puzzle flower".

My 5 year old painted these pictures:

The first is of "a smiling guy with a game...the sun above him, the moon above him, and a dark cloud above him."

The second picture is: a "lion with headphones, listening to the radio...two flowers around the radio and the cords...a little thing that's green, that's kind of like a flower. How I made it was a line down, then I made a down-right line and an up-right line attached to it, and a line across at the end of it and over it. The radio is talking on the phone. And there is a boat on the cord and dots all over it. And then orange and yellow things on the right and left side...snakes. That's all."

You can see the difference in their personalities simply by each one's explanations of their artwork. Ha!
I love to see their creativity.

Here are a few more recent pictures the kids drew:

My 3-year-old's self portrait:

[I think this is super adorable! - She even drew a flower in her hair...and eyelashes.]

My son drew a picture of his favorite game:

Can you guess what he likes to play? ;)

My daughter drew "Larry the Cucumber" [from Veggie Tales].

And this colorful creature...

And my son made me a cat popsicle stick puppet, labeled it "cat" and wrote: "to Heather" on it. Then, he surprised me with my gift.

Being sick is no fun at all...but we are trying to make the most of it around here. :)

*ps...My son likes to play Mario.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

President's Day Coloring Pages

Crayola provides a variety of presidential coloring pages for kids.

Abraham Lincoln:

George Washington:

Also:

Happy Birthday, Presidents!

George Washington

US Presidents

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Valentine's Day Project

In the spirit of loving, my children and I crafted a fun project.

We call it our "prayer chain", but you can call it whatever you would like to.

We wrote down names of people we know on strips of paper and linked them together. Each evening at bedtime the kids tear off the end link of their chain and pray for that person. As they get older, I would like to have them send an encouraging note or thoughtful gift to each person...maybe next year. :)

For this project, you will need:
- strips of scrap paper - any color you choose.
- glue or tape
- pen, pencil or marker to write with

First, cut your paper into strips of similar length and width [no need to be precise for this activity]. I used blue for my son and pink for my daughter.

Then have your child[ren] write out names of people they know on the strips, such as family, friends, classmates or teammates, etc. If you have younger children, you can write out the names for them or enlist your older children to help their younger siblings by writing them down. Each strip should have only one name written on it.

Begin creating your chain by bending one strip of paper so that the two ends meet together. Glue or tape the paper together at the ends, forming a circle. You will continue to form "links" with each piece of paper, by looping the paper through the end link before forming and gluing your paper circle. Once all your paper strips have been chained together, find a fun place to hang your chain. My children have a white board in their room where they can display all their art projects...so this was a perfect place for us to hang our chains.

Spend some time with your kids remembering to love the people who have been placed in your lives.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

A Garden in January

At any given moment, my daughter views life in one of two seasons. It is either a "grass time" or "snow time". Although it is still January, there is not much snow on the ground right now...just patches of accumulated drifts or plow piles here and there that have all but dwindled entirely.

With melting snow comes excitement and anticipation of the looming springtime. [Or "grass time", as my sweet girl would say...] And my children have begun preparing for warmer weather.

This is our paper garden:

Our paper garden, from left to right they planted: apples, watermelon, cauliflower, cantaloupe, bananas, and broccoli.

Complete with a variety of fruits and vegetables, this little plot has yielded many a crop to my imaginative little ones. Occasionally I am offered a half a watermelon, or maybe a head of cauliflower. A tiny hand extends to me what would appear to be nothing, but is indeed a very thoughtful gift, and I bend down and nibble the invisible food "Mmmm"-ing and "Ahhhhh"-ing until those innocent faces are beaming with pride. I can hardly wait to see their excitement when we plant our real seeds this "grass time"!

My son used a ruler to draw rows to plant his harvest in. He chose which plants to sow and cut out his own shapes from construction paper, and then glued his plants in the rows.

After each row was "planted", he created a dimensional label for that row, marking what food had been planted there.

So, if you need a project to keep your little ones busy while they are cooped up in "snow time"...maybe try planting a paper garden and have some fun pretending its "grass time".

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Brilliant!

Kids are brilliant.

At times their ingenuity astonishes me.

Like the other day, when, as I was cleaning up from their coloring project, I stumbled upon this...

What is it?

Why... a carefully rigged dual tone colored pencil, of course. Lovingly designed by my 3 year old; [who by the way, has never used a double sided colored pencil.] then constructed by my 5 year old with a little tape and a bit of precision.