Summer Craft Camp for Kids!

I've developed two series of Summer Craft Camps for Kids--one for ages 1 to 3, and one for ages 4 to 7, and we had our first workshop for each series this past week.

My husband came home from work early to find me up to the elbows in kids and paint!

I met first with the 4- to 7-year-old crew to play with paint for an hour on a Thursday afternoon.  If you've read my blog for awhile, or know me personally, you may know that I can be a little squeamish about pulling out the paints and risking a nightmare mess in the house.  Somehow, someway, over the years, I seem to have mellowed!  Here I was, inviting children in addition to my own to scoop, pour, drip and dribble paint all over in the name of creative play! 

Yes, I'm a little proud of my evolution.

We made Spin Art by dribbling washable poster paints into a salad spinner and letting it rip.  Amazingly simple and fun!  The best part is inviting the kids to take the lid off the salad spinner and get their first peek at what they've created.

We made Squoosh Art (or Symmetrical Art Prints, if you prefer) by scooping spoonsful of paint onto a folded piece of paper, and then closing, pressing the paper, and re-opening it to see the symmetrical design that results.  We did this on a simple card, and on cut-out shapes, including rocket ships, butterflies, and angels.

Finally, we used all kinds of crazy materials for getting paint onto our papers--toothpicks, q-tips, bubble wrap, feathers, sponge brushes, and plastic gift cards.  The kids clearly had their favorites; one girl delighted in simply pouring her cups of paint onto the paper!

Don't all these supplies make you want to dive right into some paint?!

By the end of our hour together, the kids had some wonderful art to show for themselves.  I think their big smiles show how they felt about our workshop!

The kids display their handiwork at the end of our workshop together.

The next morning, "the littles" came for our first workshop together.  Our theme was Father's Day, and we read a library story book called My Dad.  Then we made musical instruments with chenille stems (you probably know them as pipe cleaners) and jingle bells.  We learned some fun Father's Day songs to the tunes of Row, Row, Row Your Boat and Frere Jacques.  Then it was craft table time, where the children decorated golden crowns (made from yellow construction paper) with stickers for Daddy, and made a "stained glass" handprint craft using tissue paper squares and contact paper.

The mommies get a big "thank you" for their help with the little ones during this workshop!  This group needs a little more support to work on their craft projects. One little girl especially loved the song-singing and wasn't so sure about the craft, while a few of the kids were raring to get to craft time while I was reading the story.  Stickers are pretty much a universal hit with this age group!

Overall, I am so pleased with the first sessions of my Summer Craft Camp for Kids, and am looking forward to our next workshops in July.  It's very rewarding to share my love for art and crafting with a new generation of creative spirits!