Summer Art Projects

Summer is a season characterized by extras:  Extra hours of daylight allow us to watch the sunset at 9:30pm!  We enjoy extra varieties of fruit; strawberries, blueberries and, raspberries in abundance.  We spend extra time outdoors camping, hiking, canoeing and swimming.  Our freezer has extra frozen treats; banana, root beer, watermelon and cantaloupe flavored popsicles. And if your neighborhood is like mine, extra kids abound– which explains the extra popsicles too.

Having extra kids around can require extra patience, unless you plan ahead!  Simple art activities keep kids out of trouble and keep you from going nuts.  But more importantly, great summer memories are made. When kids need a break from the pool or soccer field, art activities offer a welcome change of pace.  A simple art project can redeem a rainy day.  An art project done outside is twice the fun.

The following project ideas came from on old, dog-eared art book I bought at garage sale from a retiring, veteran school teacher.  These classics are simple and fun for a variety of ages.  They require only household items.  If you’re averse to mess, wait for a sunny day to spread out your dollar store plastic cloth and go for it.   If not, any time will do.

WAX PAPER TISSUE CUTOUTS
Materials: 
1.  Two pieces of wax paper, any size
2.  Tissue paper scraps
3.  Liquid starch in a small container
4.  Paint brush
5.  Scissors
6.  Paper punch and string

Steps:
1.  Tear the tissue scraps into small pieces. Make a solid collage on the wax paper.  First paint the wax paper with starch, lay on pieces of tissue and cover with starch.  Be sure to cover completely with tissue and starch.
2. When the tissue and starch are completely dry, carefully peel away the wax paper. The tissue collage will stick together making one sheet of paper.
3. Cut shapes out of the tissue collage such a bird, flower, rocket or animal.
4. Punch a hole in the top of each shape and tie a string through it.  Use the string to hang the shape in a window or a space where the light will show through the tissue collage.

OCEAN RESIST
Materials:
1. (1) 12” x 18” white paper
2.  Crayons
3.  Blue and green tempera paint (very, very thin) or water color paints
4.  Paint brush, wide bristle
5.  Container of water

Steps:
1.  With the crayons, draw and color an underwater ocean scene with all the sea life you can think of. Be sure to color very dark.
2. Paint over the picture with alternate lines of green and blue paint.  Make sure the paint is very thin and that you do not go over the picture too many times.  If you do, this will break down the crayon wax resist.

CHALK OVER WHITE GLUE
Materials:
1.  White glue in a squeeze bottle
2.  (1) 9” x 12” white construction paper of light-weight tag board
3.  Colored chalk
4.  A pencil
5.  Piece of Kleenex or cotton

Steps:
1. Draw a design or picture on the white paper with a pencil. Squeeze white glue on all the pencil lines, fairly thick. Let it dry thoroughly.
2. Smear or smudge different colors of chalk over the picture or design with fingertips, piece of Kleenex or cotton. The white glue will resist the chalk, showing through clear and white. This technique creates a misty, delicate picture.While you’re enjoying summer’s extras, plan to do a few of these art projects for extra memory making and fun.

-posted by Donna Detweiler, whose artist mother set up a table in the basement for kids to do art projects year round.