DIY Clubhouse Watercolors

One of our favorite things to do around here is make paint. From coffee paint to epsom salt paint. From petroleum jelly paint to dirt paint. You name it, we've tried it. Puffy paint? Yes, we did that one too. Providing the Clubhouse Kids with materials they can use to artistically create is always a priority, allowing them to make those materials themselves is always an experience.

Clubhouse Tray: 3D Art

This activity is a perfect example of what happens when I set out a simple invitation to engage in an activity, and the Clubhouse Kids decide to pick it up and take off running.

Not literally. 

There was no running involved. 

Actually, there was a lot of sitting still involved. 

Bonus.

Clubhouse Spiderwebs

"She was very busy spinning her web..."

"The Very Busy Spider" spins her web to catch the fly.

"At my house we use the fly swatter to catch flies..."

Hmmmm...

Another Clubhouse Kid comment that inspires an activity...

Clubhouse Painting: 23 Ways to Create and Explore with Paint

I remember as a child I painted. With paint. And a paintbrush. On paper. That just about sums it up for my early childhood Art Adventures.

Then when I was 7 my Mother married an Artist, and everything changed. He showed me how to explore mixing colors, incorporating different paints and textures. How to actually make my own paint. He even provided me with,*gasp*, a blank canvas. A variety of canvases actually, all made from different materials. You mean I can paint without having to put a certain color inside of a certain number? Thrilling!

The options, the colors, the textures, the process... it was amazing to think outside of the paint by number book.

That's exactly what I want the Clubhouse Kids to explore. No lines to be colored within, no matching colors to numbers, and no limits on how many different types of materials can be used in one work of Art.

Water Bead Paint, Petroleum Jelly Paint, Puffy Paint,
Corn Syrup Paint, Epsom Salt Paint, and
Toilet Paper Roll Stamps all make up this
Art Display at the Clubhouse.

That being said, I decided to do a little exploring online. The amazing ideas I found, coupled with some of our more recent paint creations here at the Clubhouse, leads us to this list. Together, let's see what kind of Adventures in Art we can have!

Clubhouse Paint: Cotton Balls Required

Sometimes I spot something in the kitchen/pantry/closet, and I remember a craft/activity/project I used to do back in my Preschool teaching days in Phoenix. When that happens I usually get pretty excited to bring the fun to the Clubhouse Classroom!

That's what happened in the kitchen the other day when I was unrolling aluminum foil. I couldn't believe I hadn't done this one with the Clubhouse Kids yet!

Vaseline (a.k.a. petroleum jelly) and aluminum foil.

I laid the foil out on the table, and put some globs of Vaseline everywhere.

"We're going to paint on shiny stuff with gucky stuff, yayy!"

They were excited already.

Clubhouse Flowers: Try, Fail, Adjust

We are working on special treats for Moms this week, and today we decided to pull a page right out of Parents Magazine and make some flowers from toilet paper rolls. I love making anything from toilet paper rolls since I never throw them away and we only have so much storage space for all of our soon to be upcycled materials.

The article, Recycled Blooms, in which they give you the details on this activity, simply gives you a list of what you need and a few very brief instructions. Then they post this picture as the end result:

I'm working with Preschoolers here and was expecting no such perfection. I mean, really, are they actually saying children cut those perfectly straight lines in the cardboard tubes? Even aside from those perfectly straight lines, that is one picture perfect paint job. I'm still trying to figure out how they did that.

Here's the Clubhouse Kids take on these flowers.

We cut the tubes. No pictures of this since when I have the "sharp" scissors out, I put the camera down. Basically, they cut strips into the roll on both sides while leaving a space in the middle. Then we bent the strips down. Voila, a flower. On to the painting part.


First, let me begin by explaining that  the kids decided they needed to wear sunglasses for this activity. That wasn't in the original list of  'What You'll Need', but who am I to argue with creative genius? 


Next, look at his lips (there, in the picture above). That's his this is not eeeeeven working face. Paint all over his fingers, the "flower" flopping everywhere, he was not having it, and he wasn't the only one.

Clubhouse Painting: No Paper Required

Sometimes it really is so simple.

Ever since we made our shaving cream Earths, the Clubhouse Kids have been asking to paint with shaving cream. Or so I thought they wanted to paint...

We started with shaving cream (at this point we were actually using paper).

Added a little color, a few drops here and there and let them swirl it all around.


Trust me, just a few drops of food coloring go a long way in an activity like this.

The Clubhouse Kids stayed on the paper (and paper plates) for a little while...

Swirling, pressing paper on top, creating their shaving cream art.


















Then they got feisty.

Clubhouse Worm Diary, Day 4

Tired of Diary of a Worm yet? The Clubhouse Kids sure aren't!

Although we have yet to discover an actual worm, they are still excited to be going along with the pages in the book and making their own fun as we go.

Today's Clubhouse Kid idea...

"Worms live under the grass, under the dirt, inside their tunnels. Let's dig holes!"


Sure we could do a little digging of our own, and see what we come up with.

Another feeble attempt at worm hunting in the desert which I knew would turn up dry. Pun intended. The desert is definitely DRY right now. Kids like to dig though, right?

Plus we are going to start our new garden this week, so that's a perfect place to start the hole digging.

We have Clubhouse Kid sized shovels, rakes and gardening gloves, so they got right to work digging...

Clubhouse Worm Diary, Day 2

Working our way through "Diary of a Worm", it was time to talk tunneling.

Where to begin?

Dirt Paint.

It was simple.

1 cup Flour.
1 cup Salt.
1 cup Water.
A few tablespoons of Black tempera paint.

They mixed it all up, and were pleased.

"We made dirt!"





I had another ingredient on hold,
but first it was time to start making our "worm village".

Clubhouse Worm Diary, Day 1

When we read in the classroom, I always let the Clubhouse Kids pick the books that are read. Sometimes this means I am reading certain books every day for weeks. I love when that happens. It means it's the perfect time to expand upon the book, and bring pages to life. The most recent book that has become a Clubhouse favorite:

It's an adorable book, written by a worm.

Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

He talks about his life, his family, his best friend (a spider), what he likes and dislikes about being a worm, and more.

They love it. Every page.

So today when it was chosen for reading again, as I knew it would be, it was easy to lead into our first "Diary of a Worm" activity... which, lucky for me, didn't involve touching an actual worm at all.

Page 1: 

"Mom says there are three things I should always remember: 

1. The Earth gives us everything we need."

Perfect place to start, especially considering all of the fun we recently had with Earth Day activities. We did everything but make an Earth, which I was saving for today.

Clubhouse Mandala, One Month Later

Back in March I saw this Rainbow Mandala idea on The Golden Gleam and fell in love with the colors, the concept, and how much fun I knew it would be for the Clubhouse Kids. What I didn't anticipate is how it would become an over a month long process. To some that may be a downside. Obviously, I didn't get the post out during the time rainbows were everywhere. What I did get though was a lot of focus, dedication and time spent on one project.

Plus, in the end, we got this:

We started back in March with our Rainbow Scavenger Hunt, which the kids totally loved. I must admit, we are still finding all of the colors of the rainbow hidden throughout the great outdoors. That may be part of the reason this project lasted so long. First, the kids simply just wanted to continue to collect colors. We had baskets in the classroom, one for each color, and for days they just kept adding things to the baskets, sorting through the colors, discussing rainbows.

When I introduced the poster board for the actual Rainbow Mandala, they were excited. Gluing is always popular around here! They started with red, and then they stopped.


"Can we work on this more tomorrow?"


"Next time should be orange day!"

Sure. Who I am to argue with Preschoolers who want to take their time?

When they were at orange, they decided they needed more for that ring so that led to a macaroni coloring activity. Squirting paint into baggies, squishing the macaroni around, putting it out to dry.


"This will sure look good in our Mandala!"


On a day they were working on yellow, they decided they wanted to add paper. They spent a good 15 minutes just cutting up scraps of yellow paper to add to the basket.

This went on for a few weeks.

Every class someone went over to the mandala with a basket of colors and added to a color ring.

Sometimes it was a group working on it together. The baskets and glue were readily available, so they became very independent with this entire activity.

"We gotta make sure all the colors get filled up."

That's how I watched the rainbow mandala grow over time. It simply became part of the classroom.

Then I noticed something this past week.

Could it be?! Were they going to complete this after all?

Today, it happened.

*Cue the choir*...

They had reached the inner circle!

Seeing as how they had such little space left, they now rushed through to get it done.



They worked meticulously finishing up the last colors, filling in little white spaces they found in the other colors. Finally, I heard it...

"Ms. Liz, we DID it!"

"It's a Mandalaaaaa!!!"

"We got every color!"

It was almost an emotional moment in the Clubhouse Classroom. Their work of Art was finally complete, and they were thrilled.

They high fived. They hooted. They reminisced over their hard work.

"Remember when I put that Orange dinosaur on there?"

So there you have it. The Fit Kids Clubhouse Rainbow Mandala. Once it is completely dried it will make it's way to the wall. In the meantime, the Clubhouse Kids noticed we have a lot of colors left in our baskets.

"Can we make another one?"

Sure, why not? I'm thinking it will be done around the 4th of July ;)

Ms. Liz

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Clubhouse Paint, Just add Leche

There are certain words in my home that are almost always said in Spanish. There are also certain words in my home that are almost always said 150 times a day. Leche falls into both of those categories. It is Milk, and it is my Son's absolute favorite thing to drink, above all, bar none. He asks for it all day, all the time. He has even been known to ask for it in his sleep, which leads me to believe he dreams about it. Yes, it is a hot commodity in this house. I have often contemplated purchasing a cow.

So today when I brought some tins full of leche into the Clubhouse Classroom, he was ready to lap it up like a kitten and get on with his day. 

When I explained we would be making rainbows in the milk, he just wanted to know if he could drink it when we were done. Not this time buddy.

I used whole milk, food coloring, dish soap and toothpicks. This was so incredibly simple, and the results were quite impressive.

First, let the kids squeeze drops of food coloring into their milk.

Then, let them dip the end of the "rainbow maker" into the milk.

(That's really just a toothpick that has been dipped in the dish soap, 

but why call it that when you can make this magical?)

Now, watch the magic...

The colors seem to instantly run away from the toothpick...

"Rainbows in my leche!!!"

Everyone dipped,

and swirled,

and made rainbows.

The kids wanted to try "normal toothpicks" to see if they worked the same.

They didn't.

So they went back to their "rainbow makers" and kept creating magic :)

It was quite beautiful, as you can see...

and we successfully made it through the entire activity without my Son sticking his face in the tin and drinking up.


Milk, it does a body good... and you can make rainbows in it!

Ms. Liz

**Our inspiration was found here, at another blog name I adore... Modern Parents Messy Kids. 

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Clubhouse Goop, It's MAGIC!!

When I taught in a Preschool in Phoenix, making Goop was always a favorite activity. We made it in the sensory table, we made it outside, we made it with glitter, put it in ziploc bags and even used it in dramatic play, can anyone say Goop Soup Kitchen?

The Clubhouse kids hadn't done Goop yet though... until now.

The ingredients are simple.

Water.
Cornstarch.
Food Coloring.



So where does the magic come from?

Honestly, the kids add that part.

Pour corn starch in.

Start with 1 cup of Corn Starch.

FitKid Tip: (*These tips are from the kids, because they know how to do it all, don't they?) "Pat the cup, more stuff comes out."

Next, add food coloring to 1 cup of water.
FitKid Tip: "Add lots of colors!"

Add food coloring to Water.

Sure, why not? We add Red, then we add Blue.. and *presto*, we made Purple water. Whenever using color, be it paint or food coloring or watercolors, there is always room for color blending. Why just use the color Green, when you can have the kids mix Yellow and Blue and see what happens?

Add water to Corn Starch.

Add the water to the corn starch, and then let little hands mix it all together.
FitKid Tip: "I can do it myself!"

This is where all of the Scientific evaluations come in:

"It's slimy!"

"It's soft!"

"It's stuck!!"

Doesn't take long before they start to realize the consistency of Goop. It will flow like liquid when pouring slowly, and yet you can still roll it into a ball. A ball that will "melt" away as soon as you stop rolling. It can get so hard you can crack it, yet it will still flow through your fingertips. Little hands may get sticky, but little brains are processing the way polymers work. Yes, I said polymers.. and I totally looked that up. I don't remember a thing from Chemistry class. The kids had a much better explanation than the Scientific one though,

"This is MAGIC!!"

Wasn't long before we got another FitKid Tip: "Add more colors!" 

So, we do.

                                         
A few drops of food coloring, and you can actually "paint" designs right into the Goop. Our Goop went from Purple, to Blue, to Green.. as fingers swirled around.


The consistency and texture changes that occur as it is touched, along with the changes in color, and the ability to create their own free flowing Art, made this whole process exciting for the kids.

Quite beautiful as well.

Once we added so many colors, and little fingers were done creating their works of Art, we decided to pour the Goop and see if that would mix all of the colors together. Although the Goop had gotten pretty firm while sitting in the container, it still poured freely... to the Oohs and Ahhs of
"We made a Rainbow!"


Once in the cup the kids continued to observe how the colors were still separate and how the Goop they had just poured, was now firm in the cup.

We continued to pour from cup to the original container and then back again, watching colors dance and Goop change. This was one activity that kept everyone's attention for awhile, and although hands may have gotten a little sticky and temporarily color tainted... it was definitely worth the mess.

Speaking of mess, Goop is actually quite easy to clean up. Let the splashes all over your work area dry, and then it will all flake right off in a powdery substance. I left the Goop out all night so the kids could observe the changes in it the next day.

We were left with something you could crack and smash into a powdery substance. Another activity that kept the kids busy for awhile. All I had to do in the end was dust and vacuum.

Now isn't that worth this face?












Here's to making Magic and creating Rainbows,

Ms. Liz