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 Let’s Get Creative!

At-Home Art Activities for kids

Thank-you for doing your part for yourself, your neighbours and your healthcare workers by practicing social distancing and staying home. We know that all the unexpected time at home brings extra challenges for parents – this is not easy!

Sophie, one of Camp Kerry’s awesome art therapists, has put together some at-home art activity ideas for you and your family. Most activities use common household items. You can easily improvise and substitute with whatever items you have available to you. Have fun!

Activity #1

Salty Puff Paint

What you’ll need:

  • Equal parts flour, water, salt to make the paint
  • Food colouring (can substitute tempra paint or liquid watercolour). You can even use sidewalk chalk to colour the salt before you mix it in with the other ingredients – this will result in pastel colour
  • Mixing bowl and spoon
  • Paper, cardboard, or any surface to paint on
  • Squeeze bottle (you can use empty water bottles or plastic bottles and poke a hole in the lid, you can even put paint in a ziplock bag and cut a small hole in one corner).

Instructions:

  • Mix together flour, salt, and water. Add in colouring and continue to mix
  • Once the paint is well mixed, transfer to a squeeze bottle. Ensure the lid is on tight. If you have made multiple colours, put each colour in it’s own bottle.
  • Use the squeeze bottles to create your designs and drawings on paper, cardboard, plate, or whatever other surface you would like to use More ideas:
  • Have salt, water, and flour? You could also make salt dough!
  • Use the salt dough to make ornaments or small sculptures
  • Allow to air-dry, or bake in the oven until fully dried. Acrylic paint works very well to decorate dried salt dough.

Activity #2

Leaf Tracing/Nature Art

What you’ll need:

  • Go for a walk outside and collect leaves and other interesting artifacts from nature
  • White paper
  • Crayons or pencil crayons

Instructions:

  • Collect dry leaves and arrange on flat surface – place your paper overtop of the leaves
  • Gently use crayons to colour over the paper (it’s best to peel back the label so you can use the length of the crayon to shade over the leaves).
  • If you found other nature items that you would like to use – give it a try and see if you can get a transfer from it the same way you did with the leaves! If that doesn’t work – try using the materials to make a sculpture, a monster, a mini machine, rock paintings, etc.

Activity #3

Bird Feeders

What you’ll need:

  • Empty toilet paper/paper towel roll
  • Peanut butter, honey, or another sticky substance
  • Seeds and oats
  • String

Instructions:

  • Take an empty paper roll and punch two holes close to the top of the roll. Be mindful not to punch the holes too close to the top – aim for about an inch below the edge.
  • Next you will cover the roll in peanut butter. Then cover the peanut butter in seeds/oats.
  • Once your bird feeder is complete, feed some string through the two holes at the top and tie string in a knot.
  • Find a place to hang your bird feeder – maybe you can find a spot to hang it where you can also see it from inside?

Activity #4

Hearts In The Window

What you’ll need:

  • Coloured paper
  • Scissors
  • Markers, pens or crayons
  • Masking tape

Instructions:

  • Cut heart shapes out of coloured paper
  • Add bright drawing and messages of hope and inspiration
  • Tape them up in your front window

 

Communities across Canada and around the world have been inspired to place paper hearts in their windows as a message of hope to each other and encouragement to those who are fighting COVID-19 on the front lines. You can check out the Facebook group “​ Hearts in the Window”​ for more details.