Painting art activity
According to the organization Americans for the Arts, National Arts Education Public Awareness Campaign, engaging children in art projects and activities can greatly help to boost academic achievement. Parents can find ideas for an art project in many places such as websites or craft resource books. These projects range from simple process-based explorations such as clay play to more elaborate themed crafts.
Process Art
In her book "Preschool Art: It's the Process, Not the Product," MaryAnn Kohl describes process art as an exploration-based activity in which children should delight in the experience. Process art projects can generally be viewed as more of an experimentation with materials and media. Ideas for process-based art projects include free-painting exercises in which children can explore brushstroke movements or color mixing, clay play activities that encourage kids to manipulate the clay with their hands or simple tools, drawing or scribbling with crayons, or cutting and pasting with differently textured papers. For a more elaborate process-based art project, combine two or more of these activities into a mixed media masterpiece.
Holiday Art
Holiday projects include art activities that are inspired by a theme such as Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's day or other special day. These may be religious or secular themed projects. Holiday art projects may include the use of specific themed colors such as red and green for Christmas, characters (e.g., the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus), or associated symbols. One fun and useful holiday art project is a card making craft. Fold a piece of card stock in half (either horizontally or vertically) and decorate with markers or paint to match the specific holiday theme.
Children's Book Art Projects
Children's books provide a wealth of subject matter for developing quality art projects. Look for titles that have colorful illustrations that appeal to kids such as the work of Lois Ehlert or Eric Carle. Use either the narrative (story) or pictures as a starting point for the project. For example, Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" can be turned into a mixed-media collage using construction paper, glue and tempera paints.
Other Sources of Art Project Ideas
Given the vast number of both process- and theme-based art projects available for kids, parents can consult specific activity resource sites or books for more information. Select a resource based on the child's age, available art materials, and interests. Kinder Art's website has a variety of art project lessons and activities that are grouped according to themes such as recycled art, printmaking, painting, multicultural art, folk art, seasonal, and much more. Other online resources include the National Gallery of Art kid's site, Disney's Family Fun, and Enchanted Learning.
