Let's Paint!

Spring break here is just around the corner and as a parent I am always on the search of new ways to have fun with my children.  I was recently shopping at our local craft store looking for ways to incorporate a little painting into our weekends, I found these cute wooden bird houses that are sold for $1.00!

I began to think of ways we could decorate them as a fun project to keep the kids entertained and allow their creative juices to flow. They had little wooden shapes such as bees, letters, picket fences, butterflies and more that could be glued to the birdhouse however I decided to go with simple painting to start us off in a fun way and playing with colors. I was there to supervise the entire time and enjoyed watching them paint.

I went with acrylic paint since the bottles were under $1.00 and got a couple of sponges and paint brushes. I prepped the dining table with some card stock so they wouldn't stain our furniture and found some paper plates to use for the paint to be easier to access.

The kids had so much fun painting and enjoyed it for a good hour, they enjoyed it so much that they keep asking for more birdhouses.

Fun Art Project With Toddlers

This week I thought we'd do something different and have Adrianne from Happy Hour Projects share with us a very cute way to do art with kids. 

Adrianne and I have been bloggy friends for a while and both of us have toddlers, I love reading her blog she is very creative. 

My favorite tutorial from her is from the jewelry section and she teaches how to make a Glass Map Necklace, which I hope to make soon!

Here's Adrianne:

Hello, readers here at Stroller Adventures! I'm Adrianne, a mom-and-wife who blogs over at Happy Hour Projects. I love sharing projects of all kinds that you can finish in an hour or less, and I'm so glad that Maribel invited me to be here today to share a kid-friendly project with you! Today's art project is suitable for kids of every age, but especially your little ones! 

My daughter Raya made some nursery art (with some prep from me, but surprisingly minimal assistance). This technique allows your kids to have free reign with the paint, so depending on how messy your kiddos like to be - prepare yourself appropriately and use paints that work for their age. This might be a better outdoor project if you are in a warmer climate. :)

What you'll need:

 Paper - any size for your project is fine!
Adhesive craft vinyl and punches
Scissors or a cutting machine for making kid-friendly shapes
Age-appropriate paint

Optional:

Brushes
Sponges or stamps
Damp paper towel

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the elephant and Raya's name, but you do not need a special machine for this project. You can use scrapbook punches or even sketch or trace a design onto the paper side of your vinyl, and cut it out with scissors or a utility knife. (If you are tracing out letters, be sure to reverse them - they need to be backward since you're tracing onto the back side of your vinyl).  I cut my white vinyl and stuck it onto a piece of white paper. You don't have to use white - any color will work, I just liked the color combination.

Then, I just let Miss Raya do her thing. Now, a famous quirk of my daughter's is that she *hates* to get messy. She won't touch fingerpaints! So since I was giving her a brush and supervising - and I was confident she wouldn't try to eat the paint or anything - I let her use acrylic paints. Just keep in mind that might not be appropriate for all kids. You know your kids best!

She loved painting! In fact, once she finished her sheet, the only way she would give it up is if I gave her a new piece of paper. So maybe be prepared for some enthusaism. ;)

When her paper was done, I let it dry a little first. Not totally, just enough that it wasn't dripping wet anymore.

Then, I took a dampened paper towel, and gently wiped away the paint from the vinyl areas.

And now, I have a piece of nursery art that actually resembles something, but my kiddo still painted it all by herself. :)

Do your kids love art, too?   What kinds of projects do you like to do together?

Spring is here... well sort of.

Spring has arrived, though it might not feel like Spring for us in SoCal with all this (much needed) rain we are getting to enjoy it. Have you noticed how we have colorful flowers sprouting alongside the 805 and 5? have you noticed birds chirping and flying around?

We've had a very different winter to what we are used to, but we got a little taste of what our friends and family in the East Coast feel when it is cold, windy and rainy.

Our 5 year old was developing a case of  "cabin fever" a week ago and felt like she was bouncing off the walls with energy so I decided a new approach to calm her down a bit and allow our toddler to have a peaceful afternoon nap. Back when I was in First grade I remember the teacher would play classical music and hand out a pencil or black crayon and a blank sheet of paper. We were to follow the rhythm of the music and just let our hand lead the way while scribbling lines all around the paper that intertwined with one another.

After about 10 minutes we were asked to color each little "Circle" with a different color so that no two colors were the same next to each other. In the end we would have a completed an abstract work of art and were very calm at the same time. If you'd like to try this at home here is a list of what you'll need:

Blank sheets of paper (one for each drawing)
Box of crayons or markers or wooden color pencils
Instrumental -soothing- music playing in the background

Now allow your child to his work his/her work of art! Here is what ours looked like:

Soothing art.

Make sure to share yours... we'd love to see the different colors and designs you can come up with.