Another Fun and Easy Art Project for Kids

This week we’re going to use straws to make Crazy Critters and so much more–combining a little drawing with straw painting to make:

Fuzzy hair for a Happy Clown, Fabulous Feathers for a Peacock, a Lion’s Colorful Mane

Supplies

Construction-type paper, pencils, scissors, etc.
Runny paint, either watercolors (add lots of pigment) or add some water to tempera paints
Containers, brushes, spoons, paper towels, etc.
STRAWS

Let’s get started with Crazy Critters

Use a spoon or loaded brush to put a puddle of paint on your paper
Use your straw to blow the paint in different directions Note: It works best if you get down and blow ACROSS the paint puddles
Add more paint as needed
You can add different colors and let them blend
Let dry and add details to make creatures

Now draw a Happy Clown and give him or her Fuzzy Hair!

Draw a circle for the clown’s face
Use smaller circles and curvy lines to finish his face
Use straight lines and another circle shape to draw his hat
Apply paint puddles around the sides of the clown’s head Note: it’s best to apply the paint on just one side at a time as paint dries quickly. This applies to the peacock and lion, too. Apply the paint and blow it outward in small sections at a time.
Use a straw to blow the paint outward to create Fuzzy Hair for your Happy Clown!
Let dry and color the clown’s face and hat

Now draw a Peacock and add Fabulous Feathers

Draw a small circle for the peacock’s head
A little below the head draw a larger circle for its body
Connect the head and body with curvy lines for a skinny neck
Use curvy lines to make small wings on each side of the body
Use straight lines to draw long legs and some toes
Working gradually around the body and head, and sometimes changing colors, apply paint puddles and blow these outward to create the Peacock’s Fabulous Tail!
Let dry and color your peacock’s body

Now draw a Lion’s head and give him a Colorful Mane

Draw a longish, curvy circle for the lion’s head
Draw 2 small circles and dots for eyes
For its nose draw 2 straight lines down from the eyes
A ways below the eyes connect these 2 lines with a roundish nose
On each side of the nose draw a circle for the lion’s cheeks
Finish the lion off with curvy eyebrows and ears
Working gradually around the body and head, and sometimes changing colors, apply paint puddles and blow these outward to create the Lion’s Colorful Mane!
Let dry and color your lion

For this last picture I went back and added more yellow paint to the lion’s mane and only blew it out a little to create a fuller mane than the original one.

Molly and I are sure you can think of other creatures to draw and add paint to with your straw. How about the blowing mane of a running horse, or wings for a butterfly?

It’s lots of fun to experiment with Straw Painting! And you can use any left over paint to make more crazy critters!

Molly and I hope to see you right back here next Friday for Another Fun and Easy Art Project for Kids!

Meanwhile, go back and try this Mother’s Day project from a post on May 11, 2019, for a great Mother’s Day project titled Children’s Art Project for Mother’s Day, Inspired by Monet’s Love of Flowers

Did you know you can use cardboard to paint with? You can, and you can make lots of Easy and Fun things, like:

Mama and baby pigs in the straw. Flowers and butterflies. Fuzzy yellow chicks.

Spring was a favorite time on our small farm in Maine. We’d have baby pigs and goats out in the barn, and in the kitchen there was always a box of baby chicks or ducks warming up by the wood stove. Spring refreshes us with returning color and creatures, and this year we all certainly need some refreshment, so I hope these easy projects will brighten your day this coming week!

Supplies:

tempera paints in various colors ( I lightened my red and purple to pink and lilac with white)
pieces of cardboard cut to various sizes
paper to paint on and scraps to finish the chick
pencils, scissors, crayons, and/or markers

Painting Technique:

There are just two techniques used to make these creatures and flowers. After dipping the edge of your cardboard into some paint,

Make straight lines by touching the cardboard up and down onto the paper
While holding the cardboard edge against the paper, you swirl or push it around, while holding one corner in place. It takes a little practice, but you can even make a complete circle this way. Try turning the paper as you hold the cardboard in place.

Note: The size of your creation will depend on the size of your cardboard. And after a while you may need to switch to a new piece as the paint will gradually make it less stiff.

Butterflies and Flowers

These use both techniques: up and down for the spikey flowers, grass, and butterfly body. A swirl for the other flowers and the butterfly wings. On one flower I had both pink and lilac on the cardboard, without mixing themand I think it produced an interesting effect. Maybe you can try more of that.

Fuzzy Chick

The chick just uses lots of up and down lines around and around in a circle. I put a small pencil dot to mark the middle so I had a reference point to keep going in a circle. Use paper scraps and crayons or markers to finish your chick. Try making different sizes and colors of chicks.

Mama Pig and Her Babies

Steps for the piggies:

Use your drawing skills to draw a circle for Mamma and 2 small ovals for the babies.Just as you did in the last drawing lesson!
Inside each pig, draw a small oval for its snout
Use curving lines to draw ears and tail
Use straight lines that turn sharp corners to make the feet.
Color the pigs using light and dark shades of pink markers or crayons
Use the up and down technique to ad straw all around the mamma pig and her babies

Here are two more ideas:

Use orange paint and the swirl technique to make a bunch of carrots. Add feathery green tops with crayon or marker.
Or how about baby birds in a nest of brown twigs?

Molly is enjoying the garden we now have in Colorado. It’s much smaller than the one we had in Maine!! The bright pink flowers in the front are very spikey, while the daisies and cone flowers have much broader petals and could be done with the swirling method.

Mollye and I are sure you can think of lots more creative creatures and pictures to make with your cardboard paintbrush! Have Fun and be sure to come back here next Friday for more Easy and Fun Art for Kids !