School holidays are here!
Are you looking for easy art activity ideas for your children to do at home? Then you're in the right place! I've got 6 simple art ideas coming up!
But, before I tell you about those, I'm going tell you about how we came to use them. I don't know about you, but my kids do not like sitting down at the table to eat. They're up and down like yoyos wiggling and jiggling and doing anything other than sitting or eating.
What on earth?? Isn't it just a fact of life that everyone sits at the table for dinner?
Why don't they sit? Are we terrible parents?!
It's been a journey! But along the way I found what works (having a toy at the table to feed too!) and what doesn't (telling them to sit down repeatedly.) I also found an activity that could be used again and again, with add ons and takeaways and very little prep! We started with that one and along the way found a few more things we liked. This is what I'm going to share with you here.
Here goes!
FYI these activities can be done sitting on chairs or on the table...my kids preference is on or under the table, because why would they use chairs?!
So what do you need?
Butchers paper - We use white and brown (kraft) paper rolls but any paper that fills the table will work!
Masking tape or table cloth clips
Pencils and pens
Stickers and stamps
Stencils or cookie cutters
Paint, glue, gems, glitter
Cardboard box
Anything goes!
It requires a minimum of 5 minutes of adult participation for maximum rewards = drinking a hot cuppa all in one go. Trust me, I've tried it!
These activities can be done anytime of day - setting up ready for the morning works a treat though, I use it to give me time to get everything ready for day (and of course at meal times!). I like to leave the paper or boxes out as my kids come back and add to them throughout the week.
So here are our 6 art play ideas you can do at home...
1. Start small. Pencils and pens
Roll out the butchers paper so that it covers your whole table.
Now, with the pens and pencils think variety. If you put all of the same pencils and pens out this will be a very short activity. If you put biros, highlighters, textas, pencil crayons and lead pencils you'll keep their interest for longer. Sometimes all I say is "please can you test out if my new pens work? And that gets them engaged. Rulers and stencils are also handy to have nearby to add in if you need to extend the playtime.
Join in. Do a bit of doodling and chat about what you're drawing. I like to do lines or simple shapes as these are familiar to the kids and they can copy.
Play a guessing game. Ask the kids to draw something and you guess what it is. Often this leads to very silly pictures but ... a picture is a picture! After guessing, ask someone to colour yours in and you colour theirs. Repeat.
Play with patterns. Ask kids to draw the simplest pattern they can, then extend to more complicated ones. Sometimes I start a few patterns for them to finish to get them going. Can they fill the whole page with patterns? Can they colour the patterns in a pattern?
Top tip: Once you've started the play and they're into it, step away and take some me time!
2. Use stickers and stamps.
Do you have half used sticker sheets or partly finished sticker books? Use them here!
You could talk about their favourites, order them from smallest to largest, make a story out of them. We play a game where the sticker is the start of a drawing. One person sticks, the other draws something around the sticker eg. a scene or extension of the sticker. A bit like the "consequences" game but you can see it.
Grab some cardboard boxes of all sizes next time you're in Bunnings - I like the small ones as they can be used afterwards to hold all of those little non-decsript knick-knacky toys that somehow always seem to live where I'm about to step!
3. Have a crafternoon!
This one doesn't have to be messy. Promise! With boundaries and really clear instructions you can have mess free craft. Also with things like paint stix, dot pens, stamp pens and washi tape no mess craft can be a reality! These things work well on paper and cardboard. I usually tell my kids we are going to use the paper for wrapping presents afterwards and it makes them take extra care (and time!) over their creations.
Other things you could include for craft:
glue - PVA can be messy, glue sticks work fine just for paper craft.
glitter
sequins
collage paper
scissors
one handed hole punch
4. Make a mini world
These are just too cute. Using any size boxes you can create a mini version of your house, a little place for a pet rock to live, a bedroom for mini figurines, there's so many options! We cover ours in collage paper and washi tape. You will probably need some PVA glue for this as it helps everything stick better, and you can add in other crafty items too like:
googly eyes
feathers
pipe cleaners
pom poms
beads
But whatever you choose to use, if you sit down and join in, the kids are sure to be engaged. Also, if you let them choose the items they want to use (even if they seem completely obscure!) they will love it even more.
5. Create a collaborative collage
Have you got old magazines gathering dust? We use them to create collages on butchers paper or cardboard of our likes and dislikes or how we are feeling at the moment. We include our own drawings, coloured paper, newspaper letters and wrapping paper! All you need to do is have different papers and scissors at hand to cut, tear and stick. This one is so much more about the process than the end result and can be an ongoing project for a few days, giving you more time to gather up some interesting papers to use!
6. Go Under The Table
Have you ever used under the table as a canvas? *put some paper there first unless you want to decorate the underside your table forever!
Kids love this. Actually, so do I! It gives children a totally different perspective to draw from and is great for their hand eye co-ordination and concentration. Depending on the height of your table you could also put some pillows or yoga mats down to make it comfy and also for you all to lie on to admire the finished product!
And that's it!
I would spread these ideas out over a few days and in between have some free doodling time. It's amazing what conversations crop up from just sitting and drawing together. And if, like my 4 year old, they just make up a game where the pens jump over the pencils and smash into the tub, that's ok! All play is ok as long as it gives you 5 minutes peace!
Let me know in the comments if these work for you, and happy holidays!
Comments