2023 – Year of the Rabbit Printable Activity
Download our free printable pop-up rabbit PDF. Leading up to New Year's Eve, people clean their homes to symbolically sweep or wash away bad luck from the preceding year. On New Year's Eve (this year it's January 22) families eat a big feast and exchange red envelopes with money inside to bring good fortune. Dumplings are always served as they symbolize wealth. Which is a delicious way to bring good luck!
Salt & Watercolor Paint (+Rainbow Salt!)
When you sprinkle salt on wet watercolor paint you’ll see a magical transformation. The salt absorbs the watercolor paint from beneath the salt granules which leaves behind a crystalline texture. If you use a large grains of salt like Epsom salts, it will create a different texture than if you use table salt.
2022 – Year of the Tiger
Leading up to New Year's Eve, people clean their homes to symbolically sweep or wash away bad luck from the preceding year. On New Year's Eve (this year it's January 31) families eat a big feast and exchange red envelopes with money inside to bring good fortune. Dumplings are always served as they symbolize wealth. Which is a delicious way to bring good luck!
Contemporary Artists for Kids: Christine Kim
Layered and mysterious, her work combines hand drawn figures with machine-cut pierced paper. Her work evokes feelings of memory, decay and fragmentation.
Discovery through play is part of her process. She prepares the parts then arranges them until she finds a pleasing configuration. “I think it’s this collage process that is the most exciting for me. It’s a creative puzzle that needs to be solved, and each one is unique in its challenges, and there are some that remain unsolved”. 2
Pinch Pot Pumpkin
Pinch pots are a basic clay technique that's fun and easy to do for kids and grown-ups. In the video you’ll learn how to make a closed pinch pot. Closing a pinch pot so that there is a bubble of air inside stabilizes the form so that you can make additions without collapsing the pot!
Contemporary Artists for Kids: Lori Siebert
Lori Siebert is an artist that radiates positivity and is enthusiastic about creativity. She lives in Kentucky and works in many art mediums including: drawing, painting, collage, stencils, clay and embroidery.
Contemporary Artists for Kids: Mantra
Mantra's enormous murals turn buildings into butterfly and insect specimen cases. The trompe l'oeil insects appear to be behind glass and recessed into the side of the building. Mantra paints the insects and their shadows which heightens the optical illusion.1
Contemporary Artists for Kids: Stephanie Kilgast
Stephanie Kilgast is a contemporary sculptor and painter who depicts the natural world and humankind's effect on our environment. Since 2017, her Discarded Objects series, uses discarded objects, to which she applies sculpted animals, plant life and insects that seem to consume and overtake the trash. "Her work has a cheerful post-apocalyptic feel to it, a reassuring reminder that nature has the capacity to grow back, if we only let it."
Contemporary Artists for Kids: Brian Wildsmith
Wildsmith felt that children should be introduced to art and culture at a young age, and he believed that illustrations were an effective way to bring the world of art to children. Wildsmith's illustrations are lively and colorful. The variety of mark making and mediums breathes life into his animals.
5 Quick & Easy DIY Father’s Day gifts
Here's a roundup of handmade gifts kids can make with a minimum of supplies. There's only a few more days until Father's Day, and if you’re like us finding a the perfect Father's Day gift is always a struggle.
Contemporary Artists for Kids: Kenojuak Ashevak
Kenojuak Ashevak depicted many animals indigenous to the Arctic. The animals are drawn in a simplified manner, often with radiating geometric shapes. Her style is bold and graphic and she often used negative space as part of the composition.
Rainbow Salt Lines
What are rainbow salt lines? Essentially, lines are drawn using liquid glue, salt is sprinkled on top of the wet glue, then wet paint is applied to the salt lines. The paint is absorbed into the salt and it’s mesmerizing to watch the paint travel along the salt line!