Teaching And Home Schooling Ideas

We had some bits of paint left over after we painted our wooden birdbox. We decided to make some painted paper.  Paint sheets of paper using the left over paint.  Once the painted paper is dry you can save the coloured paper and use it for other art projects and card making. We always make our own cards do we can cut out numbers, letters or objects to make personalised cards. 

If like us you have lots of boxes lying around then why not use them for making some painted paper you can use as gift wrap or making into cards. What you need.  A box Paper Milk bottle tops, corks, marbles or baby food pouch tops.  Paint Cellotape What to do.  1) Line the box with white paper.  2) Squeeze different coloured paint in patches all over the box.  3) Add in bottle tops or small objects that will roll about and you don't mind getting covered in paint.  4) Close the lid on the box and Cellotape up.  5) This is the fun part. Shake the box from side to side so the loose parts spread the blobs of paint about.  6) Open up to have a look at the results. You can always add more blobs of paint and repeat the shaking of the box.  7) When you are happy with the results, leave to dry.  8) Use the painted paper to wrap a present for a family member or cut the paper up into squar...

We have printed flower designs onto egg shaped card that we are sticking onto coloured card to make Easter cards. What you need.  Cotton buds - at least 7 buds White card or paper cut into an egg shape  Elastic bands Paint Glue Coloured card What to do. Put the 7 cotton buds together so they form a flower pattern at the end with one bud in the middle surrounded by the rest. Join together with an elastic band at either end. Cut out an egg shape on white card or paper. Dip one end of the cotton buds into a paint colour and print onto the card. Dip the other end of the cotton bud into another paint colour and print a pattern on the card. You can use more than one group of cotton buds, depending on his many colours you want. When the paint is dry. Glue the egg shape onto card to make the Easter card. 

If your child enjoys art and drawing. Why not enter the York Walls in Spring competition by Little Vikings. Here is the picture I did whilst my son and some of his friends on zoom had a go at drawing, colouring and painting their pictures. Send a photo of your child's art work to hello@little-vikings.co.uk. Include their name and age.  The competition will close on Sunday 21st March 2021. Visit the Little Viking's website for more information. 

Mandala art uses dots in circular patterns which have a spiritual and religious connection as the circular patterns can  represent the cyclical nature of life. You will need...  Black paper Paint or acrylic pens Cotton buds Cocktail sticks/ pencils Starting in the centre of the pages, make patterns using dots and colours working outwards.  Cotton buds make larger dots and cocktail sticks or pencil point make smaller dots. You can also create smaller pictures which can be turned into cards with mandala dots. We look forward to seeing your mandala art. 

On a Saturday we like to do a family painting session and this week we did a video call with family in Australia so we could all paint at the same time. My husband is friend's with Ed Sumner and so we love to paint along with Ed. This week we did David Hockney's Wheat fields a painting from our local area. It's a great way to have fun with the family and get creative so why not take a look at the free videos Ed has on his Cheese and Wine Painting Club page. Grab your paints, paper and paint a masterpiece with Ed. 

Make personal initial letter homemade cards for birthdays or Christmas. You will need...  A4 white paper Paint Glitter glue tubes/pens Coloured card Scissors What to do...  Paint A4 paper in desired colours.  Then add dabs and swirls of glitter glue.  When dry cut out initial letter.  Fold A4 coloured card in half, then half again to make 2 cards.  Glue initial letter to front of the card.  We love these simple, personal handmade cards. 

We have made a simple robin thumb print Christmas card this weekend. You need: A4 white paper.  Black felt tip pen.  Glue.  A4 Coloured card.  Red paint.  Envelopes.  Gold, silver or white glitter pen.  What to do...  Cut up white A4 paper into six squares.  Draw different robin outlines. The children can then trace the different outlines onto the paper squares or draw their own. Dab thumb into red paint and make a red thumb print for the robin's red breast.  When the paint is dry, glue the square onto folded coloured card.  Write Happy Christmas on the front.  Write message inside.  We stuck some sequin snowflakes on the front.  We love these simple Christmas cards. 

We enjoy painting along with Ed and Daisy and when Ed said we could use our fingers for the next painting, I knew Thomas would enjoy it. Create your own Van Gogh masterpiece by watching Ed's video on the cheese and wine painting Facebook page.

Yesterday was World Ocean Day and we wanted to create a water effect picture. Use cartridge paper and paint water onto the paper so the whole paper is wet. Choose tubes of water colour paints in different blues and greens and mix each one with water then add the colours to the wet paper. Paint the whole sheet. Once happy withe the painting cover the paper with clingfilm making sure the plastic is wrinkled up in places and not flat. Leave to dry and then peel off. The cling film gives a rippled effect. I am loving this effect.

Paint drip a plant pot as a present or to cheer up your patio. Paint a terracotta plant pot white and leave to dry. From the base drip different coloured paints down the sides. Leave to dry. Seal with varnish or modge podge. Plant up the pot. We are planting a sunflower so we can give to grandparents so they can think of their grandson when they look at the sunflower. We'll share a picture when we've planted it.

Make kitchen roll paint patterns. Fold up a piece of kitchen roll. Dip the corners into watery paint. We dipped each corner into a different colour. The paint will run along the paper. You can talk about how the paper absorbs the watery paint and you can see where it travels. Fold out and let dry. (We did this a few years ago.) We stuck the patterns to card to make birthday cards.

Make a wax crayon scratch picture. Colour in your paper with wax crayons. Then you can either paint over the crayon in black paint. (Picture is below.) Or draw over in black wax crayon. I did this on my first attempt but the black wax crayon didn't cover all the coloured wax. Then scratch a pattern/ picture in the black wax or paint. (1 is black wax crayon, 2 is black paint.) Let us which method you tried/preferred.