Art Class #1

I've been busy dyeing yarn and haven't had much time for blogging. The art class went well on monday. Some of the kids painted the whole time and others were more interested in the toys. It was really fun to see who did what ... we definitely have a couple of little van Gogh's in the group. :)

I think my set-up was pretty good considering we don't have easels yet (working on that). There are a few things i'm going to do a little differently next time but all in all it went really well. I'm using cat food & water bowls for no-spill paint trays. They worked really well. I laid out about eight different stations with sheets in the grass. I spread them out a little thinking the kids might be less distracted with fewer kids right there next to them. This is something i'm going to change though. I think it may have been a little too spread out for some of the kids. Next time i'm going to make one long line across the yard with the sheets to make more of a concentrated "art area" and see how that works. I think it might lure some of the younger kids in to what's going on and they might want to participate a little more.

The kids seemed to have fun and all the moms were really appreciative and supportive and very generous with art supply donations. I can hardly wait to take another trip to Gainesville to buy more supplies for the next two classes. We're also working on buying and having donated materials needed to build easels. Here's what I have planned for those ...


Class #2: Fabric Art Collage - the kids will each have a rigid piece of felt (so they can move it around without it going all floppy on them) and a plate of glue. i will have cut out of different colors and textures of fabric a whole bunch of basic shapes ... circles, squares, triangles, etc as well as feathers and pom pom balls and pieces of yarn (of course). they will dip these items in the glue and stick it to their piece of felt. i plan on testing this one out with my kids first as usual to see if i need to tweak anything. i'm really looking forward to this project. i think it's going to be really fun.


Class #3: Sock Painting - i loved sock painting as a kid. i remember watching my dad paint with socks when i was younger. you wouldn't believe the cool stuff you can paint with a sock! this is going to be a blast! i'm going to cover my shed with a big roll of art paper and all the kids will have tube socks on their hands and will all paint the shed together. i can't wait to see how this class goes.



The hand washing station was a big hit.




These were the first two painters of the morning. You can see the other stations set up here in the background waiting for the kids to arrive.

Everyone's invited so if you want to join in the fun send me an email so I can add you to the mailing list. I email the details to everyone before each class.