Imagine That

Another rainy day, so the kids begged to pull out the paints again.  Ciera would paint every day if she could.  Well, maybe then she would get bored of it.

Comb Painting

Camden and Ciera were painting, when Camden wanted to use combs again.  He had used them when he was younger, but Ciera never has.  She started oohing and ahhing, which Camden thought quite funny.  I love how simple things can create such entertainment.

The Mayflower

After reading about the Mayflower, the kids did a very simple painting.  Camden doesn't like getting paint on his hand, so he wasn't too keen on the handprint.  I think their favorite part was painting the ocean.  Camden said Ciera's Mayflower was in a storm, and his was in calm water.

 

We also made some pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.  They pulled chairs up to the counter and wouldn't leave until I finished making the frosting.  They wanted to make sure they were there to lick the beaters.  Later, when I asked Ciera what the Mayflower was, she replied, "It's a cupcake!"  I tried explaining again that it was the ship the Pilgrims came over on, but she was adamant, "No, it's a cupcake!"  I think we'll have to try reading her board book again sometime.

Leaf Animals

Camden and Ciera both like the book Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.  They wanted to make animals out of leaves just like the book did.  We tried it between conference sessions with the rest of the leaves we pressed from one of our hikes.

Leaf Rubbings

This is one of our fall traditions, until they get too old for it.  It's something easy that both Camden and Ciera can do.  They enjoyed watching the veins show up as they colored.  It was a good way for them to learn the different parts of a leaf.

Perseid Meteor Shower

Today was recommended as one of the best nights to view the Perseids, with one to two visible a minute.  We got the kids up in the middle of the night and drove to a spot with less city lights.  Then we had fun trying to spot all the meteors.  I was surprised by how many larger ones we were able to view.  It was hard to leave, because each time we would say, "After the next big one."  We weren't able to get any pictures, though.  Later that day, we also did a couple art projects to correlate with our experience.  The first one was just crayons with a paint wash and some glitter paint.

 

Since the Perseids' point from which they appear to come is located in the constellation Perseus, we did an easy constellation project.  On some of the papers, I had already placed stars on the paper, and they connected the stars to form a letter, shape, or picture.  On others, I had already drawn a letter or picture, so they got to place the stars on them.  I also let them draw their own constellations and then place stars on them.  I got this idea from No Time for Flash Cards.

 

Rain Art

We've been waiting for another raining day in which we would be home to do rain art.  The first time we tried this, we left the art in the rain too long.  By the time they dried, all the colors were pretty much washed out.  This time it worked much better for us.  I got the idea from FamilyFun.  We just used washable markers on white card stock, then stuck them out in the rain for a little while to transform them into "Impressionist" art.  The kids liked watching their art get rained on.  Ciera wanted to go out and get "rained on" too.

  

 

Sidewalk Chalk

Since both Camden and Ciera had so much fun with this at the Arful Afternoon for Families, I finally go out our sidewalk chalk for them to use again.  I was glad to see that it showed up just fine on our dark, stamped-concrete patio.

Artful Afternoon

We went to the free Artful Afternoon for Families at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.  Camden and Ciera both liked the sidewalk chalk activity the best.  Camden also learned how to make a spirograph.  Then Ciera made a ribbon wand.  While we were there, we were also able to observe a modern dance performance.  At first Camden asked with uncertainty, "Are they dancing?"  As he continued to watch he began to find it intriguing and didn't want to do any other activities until it was over.  There was also a drum performance outside with dancers that Ciera found fascinating.

Ciera's favorite piece of art in the museum was the following, because she thought it looked like a moose.

In the Style of Wassily Kandinsky

We got the idea for this art project from this video on youtube.  It was a wax resist watercolor painting that was inspired by Kandinsky's Squares With Concentric Rings.  We watched a little youtube video on his paintings and then discussed warm and cool colors.  Each square has either warm or cool circles drawn with crayons that was then painted over with a wash in the opposite colors.

5 Blocks

After Camden's soccer game and lunch, we went up to enjoy the free day at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.  One of the exhibits they had on display was 5 Blocks.  It showed how high school students from Granger High worked in collaboration with UMFA educators to show "how we shape the spaces we live in and how those spaces shape us."  They explored 5 blocks around their school and created wire sculptures of their neighborhood.

There was also a free art activity for families inspired by 5 Blocks that Camden tried.  He drew a picture, made a wire sculpture from that picture, and then placed it on top.  He shaped the wire, but I ended up doing almost all of the twisting.  It was rough on the fingers!

When I asked  him which painting was his favorite, he guided us back through the museum and pointed to this one from the Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West exhibit.  He told me hid didn't touch the painting, just got really close to it. 

Parables and Teachings

Since today would have been when Jesus taught people in the temple and on the nearby hill, the Mount of Olives, we learned about a couple of parables.  We read a story on the parable of the ten virgins and then lit a lamp that used oil and a wick so they could see how that worked.  Maybe when they are older we will try making our own clay lamps that are a little more authentic.

We also read a story on the parable of the lost sheep.  I thought it would be an easy one to learn for the kids, even though He didn't teach this particular parable that day.  Then we used part of an egg carton to paint the lost sheep.  We obviously helped Ciera with her drawing before she painted it and Camden put the eyes on for her.

Ciera really wanted to paint something else with more colors. She asks to paint almost every day.

In the style of Piet Mondrian

I got this idea from Putti's World website.  I thought the kids would enjoy it, since they both love playing with tape.  Ciera also loves finding shapes everywhere.  We read a very short summary of Piet Mondrian's life and then looked at some of his paintings online before starting this project.  Ciera didn't want to stop painting.  Her masterpiece included a really big, watery puddle on part of her paper.  It was HUGE and would never have dried, so I tried to soak some of it up with a paper towel and she got mad, "Nooo!  Stop it!"  That was the way she wanted it!

 

  

 

Color Swirl

Both Camden and Ciera liked watching the colors run together, blend, and swirl as they turned their plate around.  It was so easy since it was just corn syrup with food coloring, but the kids loved it.  We used red and yellow on one and blue and yellow on the other.  They both like feeling how smooth they are once they have dried and hardened.

   

Then Camden wanted to make one with all the colors, so it would turn black.