Goopy, Slimy, Messy Things

Today, we tried different combinations of ingredients to make goopy concoctions.

We mixed shampoo and corn starch, glue and starch, paint and slime solution, as well as corn starch and water.  

Fine Motor Activities- Part 2

Here are some other things we have done in the art room this year

lacing on skewers

lacing pipe cleaners and beads on colanders

I sprayed a pumpkin with chalkboard paint and the children used chalk on it

Fall card decorating-fall papers, stickers, buttons, hole punches

Googly eyes glued to small pieces of paper.  The children used colored pencils to create faces

The toddlers hammered golf tees into Styrofoam

We used crayons on all different textures as a sensory activity

Light Table Activities

Here is what was on the light table in the art room:

Halloween table scatter and letters

many, many materials to sort

plastic ice cube shapes and colored bins

simple mandala, flat marbles, and mosaic pieces

plexiglass samples and critters

plastic bags filled with hair gel, beans, table scatter,and plastic spiders

art patterns and flat marbles

lots of buttons, spoons, and a plastic tray

Canvas Work-Preschool and Pre-K

Here are some canvas pieces we worked on this year:

Summer canvas using colored sand, shells, sea glass, and flat marbles

glue, salt, watercolors

three panels together

pour painting

another angle

drip painting over a black canvas with recycled materials glued to it

recycled tiles and tissue paper squares in plaster of paris 

background is book pages.  We did stamping with various art room objects to make flowers

mosaic tiles

shaved crayons that we melted in the sun

my favorite piece.  recycled materials

more recycled materials and shiny paint

collage materials and glue paint

Canvas Work-Infants and Toddlers

Here are some canvas pieces we have done this year:

Cool Colors Collage-Toddlers 

We used only green, blue and purple.  Some materials used were paint, bottle caps, buttons, foam pieces, tissue paper, pompoms, straws

Finger painting over tape-Infants

I taped the canvases previous to painting.  The infants finger painted all over the canvases and I removed the tape later

Colored pasta-Toddlers

Our first step was to glue the pasta to the canvas

We then used liquid watercolor and eyedroppers to add color

Colored Pasta 2-Toddlers

We added already colored pasta that I had colored with liquid watercolor and rubbing alcohol to canvases

Printmaking and stamping-Toddlers

The children painted on the canvas and, when it dried, we used bubble wrap and cups to stamp on the canvas

Foam stickers-Toddlers

We painted over foam stickers which were later removed

Glue and colored sand-Infants

I added the glue so the infants could have glue-free hands for the sand.  We added the sand with shakers

Glue and fabric samples-Infants

Washi and duct tape-Toddlers

The toddlers practiced using scissors to cut the tape as they added it to the canvas

Finger paints-toddlers

Sensory Tables

Occasionally, I'll have a sensory table or bin in the art room.  Here is a couple I did this fall:

Halloween- dollar store trinkets, black beans and red lentils

Fall-apple scented rice, apple table scatter, funnels, scoops, and buckets

Fine Motor Activity- Tiny Clothespins on the Weave Board

Here is a new way I've found to use the Weave Board in the art room. 

I cut out little clothes from felt and found these little clothespins at the dollar store.  It is a challenge for some of the children to pinch the clothes pin as well as to attach the clothes to the line with the clothes pin.  It's turning out to be a great fine motor activity.

Color Wheel part 2

We did color wheels last year but we used art materials to add to the wheel.  This year, I thought we'd do it differently.

The children mixed the colors on the color wheel so that one color would blend into another.  We were careful to keep the colors in the area they came from so we would have varying colors

The children added photographs from an old calendar I had.  It had some beautiful, bright photographs of places and people from all over the world.  

We practiced cutting as we went and enjoyed finding a place for all the beautiful photos. 

Graph Paper Art

I saw this great activity on Picklebums.com.

The kids had so much fun creating little pictures but also making patterns and designs. 

These are all the various graph papers I printed out from Incomptech.com

Fall Play Dough

I love making play dough.  I especially love making different scents for the seasons.  

This week, I made apple and pumpkin scented play dough.  I also offered the children tools, pipe cleaners, and beans to explore the play dough. 

Sensory Activities for Infants

Here's what the infants have been up to in the art room:

colored spaghetti noodle

bubble wrap filled with tiny trinkets

pumpkin scented oobleck and gourds

shiny sticky paper and textured paper squares

finger paints and flower sponges

color mixing on contact paper

colored instant potatoes

giant texture board for infants to touch, crawl on, and walk on