Art Night at School

Yay! I love it when schools do family art nights! Some things my kids' schools have done:
Tape rolls of paper to the bottom of long tables and let the kids draw with markers upside down like Michelangelo on the Sistine chapel ceiling.
Paint mason jars. My kids loved their creations and we still use them to contain a variety of things at home.
Art gallery fundraiser. Each child had 3 pieces of artwork hanging in the halls. The parents bought stickers ($1 each for up to 3 stickers) and could "buy" their kids artwork by putting a sticker on it. It really boosted the kids' pride in their own artwork and was actually pretty fun.
Containers such as large cereal boxes and cardboard oatmeal cans were in one area with a bunch of markers and instructions on the wall saying the kids could decorate and build with the items.

How about a fun collage or mobile?! Collages can be created out of anything.

Mobiles are fun, b/c the kids can use whatever materials you have, make them into shapes, paint them and tie them to a stick/hanger/embroidery hoop or whatever with yarn/string/fishing line.... It's a good way to use leftover or random donated and recyclable supplies too. Mobiles using natural elements, like leaves, shells, small sticks, feathers can also be quite pretty and educational. Kids can gather materials as well.

LOTS of adorable mobile ideas here:

http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2009/10/mobile-finery-...

Coffee filters make good watercolor butterflies, flower pom poms, trees, garlands, wreaths, globes... https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&amp...

We did a whole day of art when my kids were in elementary school.

Try linking illustrations from children's books to an art project. We had snowmen die cut, then the families donated bits and pieces and the kids glued it on the snowman. There is a book with that kind of pictures but I can't think of what it is called. Ask your librarian.

Do Eric Carle type colleges. The kids can paint papers-any old way, just fill up the large page, during class time the week before the art night then cut and glue that night. Veggie prints are awesome. Collect donated veggies to cut up and dip in paint then print on paper.
Ask your local libraian for help in finding great books for this and while you are there they have great children's books on art projects.

Link up with the art guild in your area. Artists will come and teach real art to the older kids like shadowing and proportion. they will also have ideas. Ask a local art studio for their help in exchange for handing out their flyers.

Ask your local high school for their student body government to help with the projects. Ask the HS art department for students to help.

Try to have your children be the guinea pigs for every project. Parents typically over estimate what little kids can do. The instructions need to be filtered through the kids also. If changes need to be made or clarified do it then.

One thing I do beg of you is not to make it all about crafts. Crafts are expensive, art is not. If you teach the kids what real art is about they won't have to wait till someone buys them a kit!

Bring Art back to schools and we will have smarter kids who are able to think on their feet and find solutions to tomorrow's problems!

I really like the collage idea! That way, you don't have to plan for anything specific . . . just use whatever you bought or was donated, and scraps of whatever!

So fun!!!!!

Here are my ideas...
I like the collage idea. You could get parents to donate some family friendly magazines and let kids cut out pictures of stuff. You could pick a theme like tell them to pick a color and only cut out things that color, or an object, or natural things like trees, flowers, etc.

Paper "roller coasters"....take a ton of one inch strips of construction paper (just stack em up and slice em on the paper cutter) and have kids glue down one end to a bigger paper and loop the other side in like an arch, then glue down the other side. They can take more strips and loop and glue all around the paper, going over, under, and through the other arches. Older kids can even glue some together to make them longer or fold them and bend them.

Rubbings...this is good for kids of all ages, but especially little kids because it's easy! Get a bunch of flat-ish stuff like combs, spoons, fabrics, etc. and set out a bunch of paper (even school grade paper towels that come on a roll work well for this) with naked crayons.

Melted crayon art. You can keep some crayons on a hot plate and the kids can draw with melted crayons. Also Crayola makes a water color pencil that looks really cool if you dip it in water and then draw with it. My daughter's school also uses this for face painting.

Styrofoam peanut scupltures....I'm sure if you contact a local shipping place they will probably donate a whole bunch of them for free! If you get them just a little bit wet they will stick to each other, no glue needed. You can stack them in all kinds of ways and it looks really cool! All you need is a base of some sort (paper plate maybe) and a tiny bit of water. Be careful not to dip the whole thing in the water or else it will get soggy and gross!

Pony beads are also pretty cheap in bulk and the kids can make jewelry. The older kids can use thread or yarn and the younger kids can use a pipe cleaner and just string them and twist them around a wrist or even a finger!

Grocery sack hats...also, contact a store for donations. Take a paper grocery sack and simply roll the open end down until it's got a nice thick brim and a big puffy top. Have the kids add stickers, glitter, pom-poms, streamers, etc. and it's a festive hat!

Thumbprint animals...I'm sure you've seen the book that shows you how to make thumbprints into little animal pictures, I think it's by Ed Embrly. You can check out the book from the library and just photo copy tons of the pages to spread around the table. You'll need stamp pads (which I'm sure you can rustle up throughout the school) and fine point Sharpies. You can do the prints on paper or on little pieces of recycled wood or something to make necklace pendants. You could even just precut a bunch of stock paper (or maybe even foam if the ink wouldn't smudge) ovals and have yarn available so the kids can make a necklace like that.

There are a ton of crafts you can do with coffee filters. If you just google it you'll come up with a million I'm sure! My daughter has done butterflies with them and they are cute! You can use a clothes pin and some water colors (or markers).

You could also do shaving cream art...just spray it out and let kids draw pictures and write in it. It's a load of fun just a bit messy.

Anyway, it appears I have a lot of ideas...LOL! I hope some of them are useful to you!

Paint and stamp T shirts. Each student brings his/her own and you can ask for donations or get the cheap 3 packs from walmart. Use potatoes and fabric paint for stamps.

Make "stepping stones" for the garden by pressing shells, beads, buttons and pretty rocks face down in a layer of sand and pour wet cement over it. You can use a mold or a pie pan and should be able to find recipes for the cement online.

Recycled art competition.
Duct tape creations.
Bird houses made from milk containers.
Painting beach pebbles.
Cake and cookie decorating.
Make masks by gluing colored paper onto large paper grocery sacks fit over the head with the eyes cut out.
Lanyard keychains for the older kids.
Bead jewelry.

Have a large poster of roll of paper with an assortment of markers, paints, glitter pens that everyone can add a drawing or signature to. You can start it off by outlining the name of the school in large bold letters so students can fill them in with colors and patterns, then hang it up for everyone to admire after the art fair.