Halloween Art

It’s getting close to Halloween and I haven’t yet blogged about our Halloween art! Excuse the bad pictures as today I am being lazy.

This first one is a spider in a web. Incredibly simple, all the child does is put a black handprint on a piece of white paper. Then the adult draws the web, adds some google eyes and shades in around the web if you wish.

Witch: For this one we used a paper plate and I squirted a few shades of washable green paint on it. Everlyn finger painted it. While it dried I made the eyes out of white paper and black marker. The hat was cut out of black construction paper and I glued on a small orange strip. Once it was dry I glued on the eyes, drew the nose and mouth with black marker and used tape to attach the hat as I find it easier than gluing on the ribbed edges of the plate.

Pumpkin Patch: I painted each Everlyn’s hands orange and put them onto white paper. Once it was dry I just used marker to draw some leaves on top, grass on the bottom and jack-o-lantern faces. Easy as pumpkin pie.

Ghost: I cut out a ghost shape on white paper and used a paint brush to brush elmers glue all over it (the cotton balls stick to elmers better than a glue stick). I gave Everlyn a pile of cotton balls and let her stick them wherever she wanted on the paper. I cut out black eyes and mouth from construction paper and glued those onto the cotton balls.

Pumpkin: We used a paper plate and I let Everlyn finger paint with orange all over it. I used construction paper to make the stem and vine. You can also cut out jack-o-lantern eyes, nose and mouth and let the child glue them wherever they want on the pumpkin.

Witches: I think these footprint witches are my favorite. I painted Everlyns feet green, and placed them onto white paper. When they were dry I just drew feet, arms, faces, hats and brooms with marker.

These are all the ones we’ve done so far this year, I am planning on doing some more next week, the week of Halloween. But I will also share the art we made last year for Halloween.

This is one we made last year with ghost footprints and a handprint tree. I traced her hand and up her arm on brown paper and cut it out to look like a tree. I glued that onto black construction paper. On a separate sheet of black paper I put her footprints covered in white paint. I cut those out and glued them onto the other black paper. Because she was so young and wiggled a lot doing art, I used the separate paper, older kids could probably do it on the same paper. Yellow construction paper made a moon and you have a Halloween night.

This is similar to the one we did this year just a small variation. Instead of the spider being in the web, it is hanging from it. You can’t even tell from these pictures but her handprint was so tiny!!

I will try to post the rest of our projects next week!

Art Display

A lot of people ask me what I do with all Everlyn’s artwork. I used to just hang the most recent ones on the refrigerator and then put the ones I want to save for her into an art binder but my fridge was filling up too quickly so I created an art wall in her play area. Yeah, I rearranged my house to give her a play room.

This is her playroom and her art wall. I just used double-sided tape to attach some clothespins to the wall and wrote “Everlyn’s Art” above it. Her wall can hold 6 small pieces of art or 3 large ones.

The art in the picture is one of her most recent projects, her color rainbow. I used blue painters tape to spell out each color and had her finger paint each one the appropriate color. I like this one because even though she can’t read yet, it is subconscious word/color association.

While I was setting up this project I was calling her over to the table like, “Everlyn! Everlyn come here! Come on Everlyn!” and she was just ignoring me until finally I said, “Everlyn do you want to color?” and she came running over and tried climbing up into her high chair where she does her art. To her “color” means paint, color, stamp, etc. I think I have created a little art monster.

We did do another art project but I can’t post about it yet because we made it for someone and they haven’t received it yet so I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

As I’m writing this she has brought me over crayons, markers and painters tape… I can tell what she wants to do instead of taking her nap.

Finger Paint Designs

Adding a name or a design onto a finger painting project is so simple. For this project, I used a large canvas and washable tempura finger paints. I cut some blue painters tape and used the strips to write out Everlyn with tape on the canvas. I squeezed on some paint and let her get to it. Once the project was dry I pulled off the painters tape and voila, there was her name on her own finger painting project.

You can do this with anything. For Christmas I cut out small hearts on the painters tape and placed them onto computer paper. I then used a stamp pad to cover Everlyn’s hand in ink and placed her handprint over each heart. When I pulled the tape off (yes it came off computer paper without ripping it) there was a small heart in the middle of her handprint. I cut these out and made them into ornaments for the family.

This was Everlyn’s first finger painting project and is hanging on her wall in her bedroom. Who knew all you needed was some painters tape to make projects extra special?

Edible Finger Painting

Edible finger painting is such an amazing activity to do with a little one and it is so easy! Trust me, I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t easy. The edible finger paint is thicker than normal paint so the project becomes a sensory project with taste and touch. It is safe, non-toxic and you don’t need to worry about the little one sticking paint in his or her mouth.

Edible finger paint only lasts about a week so the activity is more for a fun sensory project rather than an art project. For something you want to keep forever and ever, use regular finger paint.

There are tons of different recipes out there to make homemade finger paint. I chose the recipe I did over some of the others because I had all the ingredients in my cabinet already. I didn’t have to buy anything for this project.

You will need:
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Flour
2 Cups of Water
Food Coloring

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat. Stir continuously until the paint thickens to the texture you like. You can make it thicker or more watery depending on your own preference. Let it cool and then separate into small containers. Add food coloring to your liking (you can make light pastels or bright vibrant colors) to each container and then you’re done!

Don’t worry if your little one doesn’t seem interested right away. I had to smash Everlyn’s hands into it for a while before she got the hang of it. However, with the edible finger paint, sometimes she focuses more on the eating rather than the painting!

For this project I used watercolor paper since it is thick and won’t rip easily. I taped it onto her high chair try and let her get to it.

The more you do projects like these, the more your child will understand it and enjoy it.

Don’t forget to keep baby wipes on hand to clean up. The food coloring I used did wash out of her clothes when I washed them the same day. But you may want to let your little one paint in his or her diaper if you are worried about ruining her clothes.