Summer Art Camp

Collage Name Cards

So this summer I decided to embark on an adventure into art with my children. Randy has been asking me for years to teach the children art, but I've always felt they were too small (some excuse, eh?). So, when Naomi asked to go to art camp this summer, I thought, why not do an art camp myself? She was super excited, and we invited a few friends. With our three children, that made 9 children.

I might be an artist by trade, but I am not a certified teacher. So, I needed to get some ideas for this camp that were age-appropriate for the 7-10 age group. I found a ton of them on http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/. Lots of great ideas for which I cannot take credit. Having a minor in Art History, I really enjoyed bringing in the history about art with the projects. I love abstract art, so I introduced the kids to a lot of artists of which they had never heard. I thought that was fun, and made for an interesting learning experience.

Camp went from 9-12 each day for a week.  Here's what we did:

Collage Name Bowls and Burlap Weaving Bookmarks

Monday - Recycling Day!

• Recycled Magazine Bowl
• Collage Name Book 

This was a super busy day, as the bowls took a lot of time. The kids did a great job. The collage name book was a combination of collage, crayon rubbing, and watercolor. They looked beautiful. 

Batik Japanese Windsocks

Day Two - 3-D Day! We created: 

• Kandinsky shrinky dink jewelry
• Metal Tooling
• Burlap Weaving
• Japanese Windsocks

Metal Tooling

Kandinsky Shrinky Dinks

There was so much information packed into this day! We learned about how colors interact when placed next to one another; about Batik painting (ours was a simplified version using glue and acrylic); embossing; and simple weaving. For our metal tooling project, the children interpreted Van Gogh's Starry Night and/or Sunflowers to create their piece. Our windsocks took three days to complete - one for the drawing, one for the glue layer, and one for the painting. Then I had to rinse and sew them all. I definitely took on a lot with this project, but it was worth it!

Mondrian Watercolor

Wednesday Was Abstract Day - I think my favorite day. 

Rothko Oil Pastels

• Mark Rothko  - who often invoked strong feelings with his oversized canvases with soft, rectangular forms. We learned that art isn't just about color and composition, but that it can be an expression of emotion. The children were asked to think about an emotion as they were selecting their colors. 
• Piet Mondrian - a master of geometric shapes, who was influenced by the rhythms of modern music. We learned how sounds can influence your art, as well as the balance of colors within a page.
• Laurel Birch - a folk artist who is known for her brightly-colored cats. We learned about using colors creatively.

  

  Laurel Birch Cats

  

  Glue and Pastel Landscapes

  Thursday was Living Things Day. 

• Glue and Pastel Landscape
• Watercolor sheep

Watercolor Sheep

Some of our budding artists

We learned how glue, when it dries, can create interesting outlines on a page. We used black paper, and pastels once the glue dried. For the watercolor sheep, we learned about crayon resist with watercolor. The sheep were drawn with white crayon, then the children used watercolor to create the background. They turned out so cute!

Art Show!

On Friday, we spent the morning finishing our projects and preparing for the big art show. All the parents came, and we had a great show. We created so much artwork in one week - I was so proud of the children!