Cute Art Projects

Art projects allow a child to experiment with his own ability to create.

Art projects allow children to explore with different art mediums and techniques. Encourage your child to use a few household materials to create artwork showcasing her creative ability. Be sure to proudly display her work in a public area for all to see and admire.

Sticky Designs

Use a few household items to create a masterpiece.

Cover your child's work surface with newspaper. Set out a piece of white construction paper. Instruct your child to drizzle a line of white, liquid glue all over the construction paper. Sprinkle table salt over the glue design. Shake off the excess salt onto a rimmed cookie sheet. Combine one tablespoon of water with five drops of food coloring in a container. Make three or four containers of colored water using various colors. Supervise as your child uses an eyedropper to pick up the colored water and places water drops throughout the design. Watch as the salt absorbs the colored water and moves the colors along the lines of glue. Allow the design to dry. Hang the design in a public area for all to admire.

Melted Crayon

Melted crayons create vibrant splashes of color.

Cover a work surface with newspaper. Peel the paper labels off the crayons of a variety of colors. Supervise as your child uses a vegetable peeler to peel away crayon shavings of each color into a container. Lay out a sheet of wax paper. Sprinkle the crayon shavings evenly over the wax paper sheet. Cover with another layer of wax paper. Warm an iron on the low setting. Iron over the wax paper layers. Watch as the colors melt and blend together. Allow the wax paper to cool. Encourage your child to trace a leaf, draw a flower or cut a design on the wax paper. Hang the colorful creation on the window to catch the sunlight.

Dried Flowers and Leaves

Turn flowers and weeds from a nature walk into a keepsake.

Take a walk in the yard or a nature trail where it is permissible to pick flowers, weeds and greens. Choose weeds and flowers that are thin such as a daisy or buttercup rather than a bulky clover. Lay an old phone book in an area where it will not be disturbed for about a week to ten days. Prepare the flower petals and leaves by flattening a bit with your fingers. Lay each flower or weed in the phone book and close the pages. Check back after a week to see that the leaves and petals are dry. Supervise as your child paints a thin layer of white, liquid glue over a piece of card stock. Help her set the flowers and weeds in an attractive arrangement and gently push onto the glue. Allow the glue to dry. Hang the flowers in a public area to add a little nature to the walls.

Paper Butterfly

Fold the butterfly's wings with an accordion fold, similar to a Chinese fan.

Instruct your child to look through magazines and tear out two brightly colored pages. Cut out one five-inch by five-inch square from one page and another square that is four inches by four inches from the second page. Help your child accordion fold the paper, like a Chinese fan, beginning in one corner and working diagonally through the square. Repeat with the other square. Fold a pipe cleaner in half twisting at the fold line creating the tail of the butterfly. Set the folded squares on top of each other gathering them in the middle. Twist the pipe cleaner around the center of the folded squares creating the butterfly's wings. Curl the ends of the pipe cleaners to create the tips of the antennae. Suspend your child's butterfly in front of an open window to twirl in the breeze.

References

• Family fun: Absorbing Artwork
• Crayola.com: Ironing Crayon
• Allcrafts.com: Flower and Leaf Press