Unit 10.2 Ideas for art experiences
Ocean in a bottle
You need: Use rinsed and cleaned clear plastic bottles with a screw top cap (approx. 300 – 500ml bottles) – 1 empty bottle per child
Fill just under half of the bottle with cooking oil, the other half with water, leaving space to add glitter, sparkle, little stars and food colour.
Make sure you help closing the bottle tight. You could even close the screw top shut by taping duct tape around it.
Shake it all up and watch your ocean.
Make your own Magnet Story/ Landscape
You need: free magnets, like those, which are available from pizza delivery services or stores or anything similar. They are usually thin and not too strong.
Cut the magnets into the shapes you need for your story (or land scape) – your characters
Glue felt or other items on your shape to represent, what that shape is. (e.g. cut out ladybug shapes, use red felt to cover the magnet and use a black felt pen to draw on the eyes, nose and spots of the lady bug.)
Buy inexpensive cookie sheets or use an old cookie tin. Paint the background of your story on the sheet or tin. (e.g. a field with tall grass and flowers.)
You could even use old magazine pictures to create your background. After the paint or glue has dried the picture needs to be sealed by washing over it with watered down white glue, which will dry clear.
Enjoy placing the ladybugs on the beautiful scene of tall grass in flowers. If you used a tin, the scene is all around the tin and even on the lid, once finished playing with the ladybugs they can all be stored inside of the tin for tidy up.
Ice Block Designs
In this science activity children observe how salt melts ice and create colorful designs in large blocks of ice
You need:
Large ice blocks (You can make them by freezing water in empty milk cartons. When the water is completely frozen, tear off the cardboard container.) Coarse salt
Food coloring
Eye droppers
Place ice blocks on trays covered with several layers of newspaper. Allow children to sprinkle coarse salt on top of the ice blocks. Children drip various colors of food coloring on top of the ice block. Tunnels of color are created as the salt melts through the ice block.
Put the colorful ice blocks outside. If it’s cold enough, they should stay frozen for several days. Children can continue to examine the melting process during outdoor play. If possible, give each child his or her own block of ice. They love watching the changes that occur as the blocks melt away!
Corn Syrup Designs
You need: paper plates, clear corn syrup, eyedroppers and food colouring
Brush transparent corn syrup on a paper plate.
With eyedroppers, drop food colouring mixed with water on to the plate. Turn the plate to see how the colours travel and mix.
It looks glossy when it dries
Note: Allow 3 days to dry.
Artistic Ice Crystals
You need: Epsom Salts, measuring cup, mixing spoon, water, paint brush, paint or markers, bowl, drawing paper
First encourage your child to paint or draw a winter scene. Once the picture is drawn, help the child mix a solution of one cup of Epsom salts and 1⁄2 cup of water. Mix well. Next use the solution to paint over the picture, where it should look like there could be ice crystals or frost.
Let the picture dry.
Using different materials/textures for printing
Tape a large piece of paper on the floor.
Make pantyhose sacks by cutting the 2 legs off a pair of pantyhose, filling them with sand, and tying a knot at the top.
Place the pantyhose sacks on shallow containers with paint and let the children stand or kneel to make their prints (tape the paint container to the floor, as the sack might get stuck on the plate.)
Provide variations of this activity using fly swatters, dusters and plungers.