Art inspiration for projects to do with children. See more ideas about art for kids, kids art projects, art activities, folk art and art appreciation.

What are teachers saying about hangman? Is it appropriate? What are some alternatives to hangman teachers can use in the classroom?

We are beginning to move full swing into the holiday season and I have been planning the two weeks we will all be at home. With some down time I thought it would be a great chance to plan a few activities with my little ones, and since I do love all things Waldorf, I

Montessori Worm and Composting Activities for Kids with Free Printable

Watercolour paper, salt and watercolour paint come together to create some incredible results. What makes the best results? That's what you'll need to explore! My clever friend, Asia, from Fun at Home with Kids has been at it again and produced her 2nd fabulous children's book, "The Curious Kid's Science Book." We were thrilled to receive our copy and began pouring over it immediately. The book is set out beautifully with bright, bold imagery, just waiting to entice you and the kids into creating, exploring and experimenting. Whilst specific recipes and experiments will lay out all the step-by-step instructions that you need, I love that much of the book encourages you to actually do the experimenting and exploring yourself, which is so important! We were drawn to the beautiful salt and watercolour exploration and decided it would be our first activity from the book. With this style of activity, we had the material list and a basic idea of what to do. As for an exact method, well, that bit was up to us and required us to actually think about the different ways and amounts of water and salt, in order to achieve different results. It also allowed us to talk about and reflect upon our observations whilst creating and formulate our own conclusions. All very scientific and more interesting than being told exactly what to do to create an exact result. Here's what we came up with. Materials: Squares of watercolour paper, salt, watercolour paint (we used liquid watercolour here), brushes. "Where to start Mum?" "Just go for it! Use the materials, see what happens." Should you put the watercolour/water down first or the salt? My kids discovered the answer to that pretty quickly. What if you use barely any water? Why do you think it doesn't work? What is happening to the salt? My kids remembered the word "absorption" here! Yes, it is absorbing the liquid. Can you use the salt to draw certain colours across your pattern? What colour changes do you see occurring? What is happening? How will they look when they dry? Beautiful! Time to reflect on what gave our favourite results and what method we used to obtain them. The Curious Kid's Science Book. 100+ Creative Hands-on Activities for Ages 4-8, would make a fabulous gift (especially if you combine it with a few goodies required for creating and exploring some of the scientific concepts covered in the book). It's available worldwide and you can get it with free delivery here from the Book Depository. (Or look out quality bookshops near you). Check out the fun we had this awesome activity from Asia's first book, "150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids." Happy playing, Debs :) Disclosure: I was sent a complimentary copy of this book to review. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own. This post contains affiliate links. (Book Depository) Thanks for your support. Look where else we are. Are you following along? :)

Inside: Find top pics of Waldorf books for kids that make a wonderful gift any season and explore seasonal changes through lovely stories. Life around us is amazing and the more child sees the beauty in it, the stronger connection to nature will be. I invite you to explore the rhythm of the year and

What is Tinkering? Tinkering is the first step in the Experiential Learning continuum. Experiential Learning is the process of learning through experience but can be more specifically defined as "learning through reflection on doing". ... Beginning in t

Are you interested in teaching your child in a way that creates energy and excitement for learning? The unschooling method encourages your child to learn.

Day sixteen of our Stay at Home, Screen Free Activities Programme is all about cool things to do with a big roll of paper. Cool things to do with a big roll of paper One of my daughters favourite things to do is roll out a BIG sheet of paper. There’s something about the scale which […]

The Empowered Educator - A Week of Play Based Learning – Ideas, Activities and Inspiration

Should you let your child play? This infographic shows the benefits of letting your kids play in their learning.

Take a look at these inspirational play based learning experiences for your classroom - and they're curriculum aligned to boot!

5 easy first piano lessons that you can do at home with your child, to introduce them to the piano, and build a strong foundation to learn the instrument.

Easy rainbow salt circuit experiment for kids. Create a gorgeous circuit that lights up an LED bulb. Inspired by the book STEAM Play & Learn.

Learn about the Reggio Emilia approach, what it means for your classroom and how to get started with our list of easy, fun activity ideas...

In the context of art education, Surrealist games can be a useful tool to disinhibit students and unlock their creativity.More so, they are a valuable component of any open-ended art exploration and a wonderful addition to project-based curriculums.

Building activities for kids. Open-ended play for little engineers.

Tinkering is about playing, exploring, experimenting and setting imaginations on fire! Build a tinker space and ignite a passion for learning.

Enjoy the Ten Commandments for Kids filled with easy-to-understand explanations, fun activities, and crafty ideas. Turn learning into a blast in a world where ancient wisdom meets playful learning!

Montessori-inspired insect themed learning activities and free printables aimed at children ages 3-6.

Personal space activities and teaching boundaries for kids are important (but tricky) topics to cover. These playful learning activities will help.

We enjoy getting outdoors with the kids. In fact, this week I said something about being excited to find trails near our new home, and my ten-year-old said "Because you love hiking, Momma." And I

Our Science Lab theme continues with light and electricity activities. We learned about rainbows, played a "shine the flashlight" game, played with color paddles, how to make a flashlight work, about Thomas Edison.

Learn about fingerprinting for kids & play detective! Fun ideas for a CSI or spy party or science activity for preschool & elementary ages!

Whether your child has sensory sensitivities, struggles with fine, gross, and/or visual motor skills, or needs help with handwriting, these occupational therapy activities will not disappoint!

The Montessori Peace Corner: inspiration for home and the classroom as well as resources.

Self-Regulation Strategies Posters Bulletin Board with Nervous System Tips for Teaching Students: The techniques included in this nervous system regulation file: are brain-based techniques that have been tried and tested engage the vagus nerve in the brain activate the parasympathetic nervous system are fast, easy, and effective This file includes: teacher Tips 4 pages that breakdown the brain science behind each technique (they are meant for teacher use, but can absolutely be shared with students) 10 full-color posters 10 black-and-white posters card-sized versions of each poster in full color and in black-and-white a digital version in Google Slides NOTE: THIS FILE INCLUDES A DIGITAL DISTANCE LEARNING OPTION! This product includes a digital option (as well as the no-prep printable option). The instructions for utilizing the digital portion appear at the end of the packet. The digital option is in GOOGLE SLIDES. Thank you for taking the time to check out this nervous system regulation product. Please direct questions to me PRIOR to purchasing this product. You may also be interested in these corners: Conflict Resolution Corner for Upper Elementary Calm Down Corner for Upper Elementary (People Clipart) Self-Care Corner for Upper Elementary You may also be interested in these posters: GROWTH MINDSET AFFIRMATIONS Need growth mindset bell ringers? Choose your grade here: GROWTH MINDSET ACTIVITIES: Daily Warm-Ups for Kinder-1st Grade GROWTH MINDSET ACTIVITIES: Daily Warm-Ups for 2ND-3RD Grade GROWTH MINDSET ACTIVITIES: Daily Warm-Ups for 4th Grade and Up

Playdough is always a favourite in my classroom. It's ideal to use that interest for reinforcing educational skills and concepts. That’s the beauty of a play-based classroom. You can teach phonics and consolidate phonemic skills through the provocations and learning invitations you provide. Playdou

If you're looking for interoception activities for kids to improve internal body awareness and self-regulation, these ideas will inspire you!

Try out our Do 3 Things listening game.This quick play idea is great for working on listening skills and practicing following multi-step directions.

There is a short list of items every teacher considers essential to running his preschool classroom and on mine, right near the top, is white glue – gallons of the stuff. Typically we order 6 gallons to start the year, knowing that we’ll likely have to place a second order sometime around late winter. While most of us think of glue as a means to an artistic end, un-indoctrinated preschoolers approach white glue as an art medium all by itself (much the way they do tape). We do dozens of collage projects in class using all sorts of exciting materials (e.g., carpet squares, feathers, spare marker caps, small metal parts from machines we’ve disemboweled) but inevitably there are a half-dozen or more finished pieces that are nothing more than a pool of glue overrunning a piece of cardboard. Usually, these pieces are stuck so firmly to our drying shelves that I have to use a screwdriver to pry them off. Often they’ve dripped through onto the art of others. Sometimes they take the whole week to fully dry. Man, that drove me crazy as a beginning teacher. “Don’t you want to put something in all that glue?” I’d ask, but as I’ve learned to give up my agenda in favor of the children’s, I’ve just started ordering more glue. And why not? As an art medium it costs less than half of what tempera paint costs, and while clean up is a bit more of a challenge than paint, it’s still water soluble, at least while it’s wet. Where I once saw waste, I now see beauty. And it’s the greatest beauty of all; it’s that look of meditation or concentration that settles over the face of a child as she systematically empties bottle after bottle of glue onto a target of some kind. It's clearly a scientific exploration into the physics of viscosity, gravity, and squirt bottles. Or maybe it's part of a spiritual journey, judging from the look of tranquility on some of their faces. It doesn't really matter. All I know is that some kids are driven to it and far be it from me to tell them when to stop. I love how earnestly they hold up their empty bottle to declare, “I need more glue.” And I love even more that we hand him another full bottle. An adult could stand there over a child’s shoulder, I suppose, and give instructions on the “proper” use of glue, stopping him after those few essential drops, but I’ve found it far more satisfying to just let kids get there on their own – and they always do, eventually. But first we have to let them get it out of their systems. One way we do this are our ongoing group, glue collage projects. Parents have come to refer to this as the “glue table,” although it is technically our Do-It-Yourself Table. I have an enormous collection of what was formerly referred to as garbage that we use for these projects. Here is one we are working on right now: We’ve been adding to this piece since the second week of school; not every day, but frequently enough that the glue bottle emptiers among us are getting their fill. As you can see, we’ve decided to start adding glitter – you know, for the holidays – and it will take a ton of glue if we’re going to encase the whole thing. We usually keep these projects around for several months, bringing them out until they attract no customers, then they get pitched. Although, here’s one that’s been hanging on our wall for the last 3 years: That particular class of kids really grew to treasure their group project and were one day talking about wanting to paint the whole thing gold. That evening I gave it a coat of metallic gold spray paint and put it by the front door for the kids to see as they entered. As they arrived, each and every one of them said, “Look mom! It turned gold!” (Note: Many of you have asked for a photo of our volcano. I'll try to remember to take one today and post it here tomorrow.) -->

Simple creative activities are some of the building blocks of child development, including cognitive, social and emotional skills. Here are seven ways participation in the Arts positively affects your child.

Explore the amazing power of mathematics and art with these math art books. The book list includes activities, project books, picture books and more.

Marble runs make the perfect STEM activity for kids, whether it be at home or in the classroom. Here are 10 super awesome homemade marble runs to get you started! Follow our STEM and STEAM Pinterest board! (This post contains affiliate links.) Now that we’re on summer vacation, we have tons of time to really get …

Try these preschool physics experiments and activities with your kids!

Explore the new Atelier of Light, a Reggio Emilia-inspired interactive learning space in Pittsburgh until November 15.

Do you want to get started with project based learning, but you’re not sure how? Maybe project based learning sounds too complicated, in-depth, and overwhelming to you? That’s how I felt when I first delved into PBL. But now I know there is nothing to be afraid of! In this post, I will give a quick explanation of project-based learning and then give you some tips and ideas to begin to implement it in your own classroom. What is Project Based Learning? Project based learning, simply stated, is an authentic learning experience

Learn about 5 common preschool philosophies: Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, Play-Based, and Forest. Print our free infographic.

Fun photographer dramatic play activity for preschoolers! Turn your playroom into a pretend play photo studio and explore taking photos with kids!

Check out these creative movement activities for kids that can help improve behavior, attention, and alertness for learning!