Well the Toddler Art Studio is in full use! I have hosted a few Art Groups but mainly have spent time getting acclimated with Big Sis M and Lil S. M really loves to be in there and often tugs on my arm and says, “Come Mama, paint!” I love that she is enjoying it! Lil S loves it too, although she mainly just loves finding things she can chew on!
We recently did a few fun things in the studio. First we decided to try a fun project/technique which I learned about from my favorite Art Blog. We did Spin Art. It’s basically an easy and fun project using Tempera Paint and a Salad Spinner. We cut out heart shapes and other odd shapes in paper and then we had the toddlers squeeze in a bit of each color paint. Once they were done picking their paint colors then they pushed on the salad spinner and made it spin. Of course, their favorite part was hitting the stop button!
Here is a picture of my friend’s daughter, enjoying Spin Art. (She was my most loyal student!) She loved it so much she made 3 of them!!
Here is a view of them drying. I will definitely use thicker paper next time or paper plates as recommended by The Artful Parent. The thin paper moved around a bit.
Here is a picture of the finished product, I popped the color a bit with some fun construction paper!
Another day in the Studio. I picked up Mary Ann Kohl’s, Art Experiences for Toddler’s and Two’s also recommended by The Artful Parent. There are so many great and fun ideas in this book. The book’s philosophy is pretty simple, it’s the process not the product! I love this concept, certainly perfect for my 1 and 2 y.o. olds! Today we decided to try and do a bit of exploring. She recommends that you just put out a list of items: tools, markers, collage items and then let the toddler’s explore. Although we have pretty much been doing this, M has free reign of the markers, glues, crayons, etc. (Always with adult supervision). I decided to try and add a few more: glitter glue, pom poms, scrap paper, scissors, chalk, etc.
I am glad we are sticking with the philosophy of PROCESS and not PRODUCT!
She had a blast and I look forward to letting her explore with more fun things!! Thanks again Jean for the inspiration!