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Daily Creativity – Nurturing the Artist Within – Sponges

July 15, 2012

sponge paintingWelcome back to Daily Creativity – a series about little things you can do daily that nurtures the artists with in. From cloud spotting, to cutting, to printing! All activities are open ended to focus on what you are doing and not the outcome. Mainy activities will easily take 5minutes here and there. Others may take a little set up (e.g. anything to do with paint!). But the idea is that you do them over and over again and not just once. A great time filler on a rainy day! Today we have Hands On Momma, Jamie visiting. And she explains how she address that problem of a “blank canvas” (which can be quite daunting)! If you haven’t read Jamie’s blog before Hands On As We Grow, you really should, it is jam packed of easy and fun activities for you and your children:

Asking the kids “Do you want to paint?” has a 50/50 chance of a “Yes!” On those lucky days that I get a yes, creativity is about to explode because the kids get full choice of what they want to paint, what with and even how they want to paint it.ย [Those creative days I look forward to the most, but they don’t always happen, do they?]

However, if I come up with a new way to paint like, “Do you want to paint with sponges and clothespins?”

Sometimes, just by throwing in one of the options for them it takes off the pressure of all the decisions. By giving the kids one of the what they want to paint, what with, or how they want paint, it opens up the creativity for them.ย [You know how you feel when you’re starting a big project and don’t know where to start? Its kind of the same for them at this point!]

By showing them one option, I’ve intrigued them. They jump at the chance to see how we’re going to paint with clothespins and sponges.

I simply set out a tray of washable paintsย [but you could also useย an edible finger paint recipeย for younger kids], cut up sponges and clothespins.

I clipped a couple clothespins onto sponges to show the kids to use them as their handle. But they were free to do as they pleased.

I also had a couple of stencils lying around, so Henry made butterflies by dabbing and smearing sponges of paint across them.

painting with kids

George was more into checking it out. What is this thing we’re painting with?

With and without the clothespin, George explored the paint filled sponged.

art with young children

Jamie of hands on : as we growJamie is the baker’s wife and a stay at home mom. Hands on : as we grow is all about the activities that she does at home with the kids [Henry, 4, and George, 22 months]. Lots of practical, easy activities are shared, and learning opportunities are snuck in whenever possible.

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Filed Under: Art with Kids, Daily Creativity 21 Comments

Comments

  1. JDaniel4's Mom says

    July 15, 2012 at 11:42 am

    I bet he loved the feel of the wet sponge. It has such a wonderful texture!

    Reply
  2. Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum says

    July 15, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    This is brilliant. We haven’t got sponges in our art equipment at the moment but I think it’s something that I have to add to it and clothes pegs as well.

    Reply
  3. Red Ted Art says

    July 15, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    JDaniel4sMom – oooh good point about how painting with sponges FEELS!

    Reply
  4. Red Ted Art says

    July 15, 2012 at 9:58 pm

    Cerys- you can cut up some oldish washing up sponges!

    Reply
  5. Bethany @ No Twiddle Twaddle says

    July 17, 2012 at 6:34 pm

    What a creative idea! I like the point about making things less open ended helping kids too, I need to work on that.

    Reply
  6. Red Ted Art says

    July 17, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    The kids are really enjoying it – though funnily enough, sometimes they need to get used to it? They are so drilled (by me) to be end goal orientated….

    Reply
  7. Isil says

    July 18, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    I love the idea of using pegs to handle the sponges easily!

    Reply
  8. amber says

    July 18, 2012 at 3:17 pm

    Fun idea my guy wants to paint every day so something new to try.

    Reply
  9. mari says

    July 18, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    “nurturing the artist within” is my motto! love it!

    Reply
  10. Red Ted Art says

    July 18, 2012 at 6:27 pm

    Thank you ladies, I think Jamie did a wonderful post!

    Reply
  11. The fairy and the frog says

    July 18, 2012 at 11:32 pm

    Great idea to use a clothes peg

    Reply
  12. Emma @Mummymummymum says

    July 19, 2012 at 7:00 pm

    I am off buy sponges tomorrow ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  13. The Monko says

    July 19, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    I think i might break out the laminator and make some stencils and try this with Goblin. We haven’t been doing any painting recently because he hasn’t been interested. This might reignite the spark. Thanks

    Reply
  14. jaime says

    July 20, 2012 at 1:07 am

    We have been slack on crafts lately, Love this and my son would have a lot of fun. Thanks_FSPDT

    Reply
  15. Debs- Learn with Play says

    July 21, 2012 at 2:01 am

    Using pegs on the sponges is such a good idea. We’ll use that next time! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  16. Allison says

    July 21, 2012 at 5:19 am

    Ooh I love the added clothespins. That’s a new one!

    Reply
  17. crystal @ Growing A Jeweled Rose says

    July 22, 2012 at 3:15 am

    Oh, I love how you used pegs with the sponges. Adds a whole new element

    Reply
  18. Ness @ One Perfect Day says

    July 22, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    We’ve never tried sponges before, this looks like great fun. I also love the peg idea – great fine motor skills practise.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 50 Paint Activities: Tools, Methods & Recipes | hands on : as we grow says:
    July 18, 2012 at 11:00 am

    […] with a sponge! Make a rainbow on the sponge if you’re feeling super creative.Add a stencil to the mix. Sponge paint over it to make instant pictures!Reuse bubble wrap. Paint on it, make prints, whatever […]

    Reply
  2. 50 Paint Activities: Tools, Methods & Recipes on hands on : as we grow says:
    December 18, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    […] Add a stencil to the mix. Sponge paint over it to make instant pictures! […]

    Reply
  3. The Hands on Weekly: Hot Enough? on hands on : as we grow says:
    March 6, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    […] a lot out of me!], but I’m… will be… sometime… over at Red Ted Art sharing a prompt for daily creativity with your kids! I’ll announce it again when I know its […]

    Reply

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