The Letter A

There is no escaping art in my house!  As an artist and teacher, my daughter, S,  is constantly subjected to learning through art.  Although, I don't think she has many complaints... any mention of paint or glue and she is already riffling through the art bins.  After much pressure from my Facebook friends, I am finally making the art that my daughter and I do public.  As my daughter gets a little bit older, I have been trying to focus on letters and numbers through art. 

I rarely do my art projects in isolation because, if you recall, I am a teacher.  These little art projects are a part of a larger learning that I provide for my daughter.  Which means I seek out books, use ABC mouse, and find other little things that compliment our art.  However, this blog will focus solely on the art... I will leave the rest up to you!   

Our first adventure was with the letter A.  I tried to pick things that S liked and recognized.  The three projects that we did for the letter A were apple, ant, and alligator.  We completed the projects over the course of the week (because we all know how long a two year old's attention span is!)

Project #1:  "A is for Apple"

Materials:
Apple
Paper
Paper plates
Paint - we used red and green

Now here comes the fun part!  If your child is impatient like mine... you may want to get set up while they are playing or napping.  Cut the apple in half; make a handle in your apple by cutting quarter slices from the top.  Leave the middle in tact for a handy, dandy handle.  Pour the paints on the paper plates.  If you want to avoid mixing the paints, put one color per plate.  Okay, now it is time to step back and let your little do the rest.  You can demonstrate on another piece of paper how to make the print by dipping the apple into the paint.  But, let them explore, think, and create in their own way.  I am a firm believer that it is the process in which art takes and not always the final product.  Enjoy watching your child use the materials and have fun.  The final product may be messy, sloppy, and not at all what you envisioned... but isn't that the beauty of it?

You can reinforce the concept of "A is for Apple" by talking about it, reflecting on the process, and discussing what their favorite part was.  I am not looking for an in-depth conversation here, but you'd be surprised what your little is capable of in terms of an art critique. 

Project #2:  "A if for Ants"


Materials:
Paint
Paper
Toilet paper roll or other round object
Paper plates
Black marker or black crayon

If your child is anything like my daughter, then they are fascinated by those little bugs that seem to be everywhere!  Ants inhabit a larger portion of our backyard despite our best efforts to get rid of them.  My daughter loves to watch them, torture them, and squash them.  Thus my inspiration for our next project.  

This little project will need to be done in two sessions to allow the paint to dry in between steps.  Let your child choose 3 or 4 colors of paint that they would like to work with.  Pour the paints onto a paper plate (I didn't really care about mixing this time).  I demonstrated for S on a separate piece of paper how to dip the toilet paper roll into the paint that then to press it onto the paper.  Once she had the idea, there was no stopping her, soon her paper was filled with circles of all colors.  I gave her a few more pieces of paper because she still wanted to paint.  This worked out perfect because it allowed for the other one to dry.  

Fast forward to after drying time... 

Now if you remember this project was supposed to be about ants.  I placed the first piece of paper with all of the beautiful circles on it and told my daughter we were going on an ant hunt.  We looked for where three circles met up and traced them with the black marker.  Depending on your child and your willingness to put a marker in their hands, you may want to draw the circles for them.  Find as many little ants as you can.  My daughter is an expert face drawer, so I put her in charge of giving all of the little ants a face.  We also added antennae and legs to our little insect friends.

 
 
Project #3:  "A is for Alligator" 

Materials:
Green colored paper
Assorted small green "things"
Glue
Scissors

This project became the perfect example of things not going exactly as I had planned, but I just rolled with it and I actually was quite pleased with the final product.  S is very much an artist in her own right.  She had a vision for how she wanted her art to look, so who was I to argue?  

You'll probably want to prep this part ahead of time... First collect some small green things for your child to glue onto the alligator.  Your things can be torn up tissue paper, sequins, pom-poms, bottle caps, yarn, etc.  Next, you'll want to cut out the letter A with teeth from the green paper.  I drew out the letter A first (think bubble letters) and then added triangles all along the inside portion of the A.  The negative space at the top of the A will be the alligator's eye.  Once you turn it sideways you'll see it take shape.  

Invite your little to join in on the fun now.  Again, I reinforced the letter, and told S that we were going to make an alligator.  She could already see the alligator with the teeth.  I placed the materials in front of her and told her she could glue whatever she wanted to the alligator.  Now in hindsight, I wish I would have separated out only green things (that's where it didn't go according to plan).  However, it still turned out great.  I only helped minimally with the glue... making sure there wasn't one large glob of glue all over the entire alligator.  

  
Stayed tuned for more art projects for wee little artists... Up next:  The Letter B!