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Artist Creates Art From Shadows Of Everyday Objects

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Today's art project for kids doubles as a wonderful STEAM challenge: Ask kids to make DIY Paint Brushes. The sky is truly the limit with this project, all you need are some clothespins and some creative ideas for what might make an interesting paintbrush. So if you are ready to make some DIY Paint Brushes let's get started!

When I was planning projects here on Babble Dabble Do I remembered seeing some homemade paint brushes on Fantastic Fun and Learning. Given that clothespins can hold just about anything I decided to make this an art experiment for my kids.

My daughter and I collected materials, made brushes, and then decided which brush was the most fun to use. And guess what? We both picked the same brush as our favorite. I'll let you know our hands down winner at the end of this post.

Materials

Brush Ideas:

Instructions

Step One Gather your materials and cut larger materials down to size. We cut strips of the fabric and foam to fold into brushes.

Step Two Use the clothespins to clip in each material and make a brush

That's it! I mean it! Read my lips: YOU.ARE.DONE.

Get some paint and paper together and ask your child to start testing out the different brushes. We tried both painting and stamping with them. Some of them made great homemade stamps. My daughter and I had a blast testing each of the brushes out.

You may also want to keep brush materials handy to make new brushes once you see how they are working. My daughter made an awesome pipe cleaner brush shaped like a "Y" that made two lines. What a great idea!

Looks Like

Fabienne Verdier. One thing I love about writing this blog is researching artists, designers, and scientists to tie into each post. I had never heard of Fabienne Verdier until I researched artists who use unusual brushes and now I am completely awestruck by her work.

Ms. Verdier is inspired by calligraphy and uses enormous brushes to make calligraphic type paintings. And when I say enormous, I mean gigantic! Google her, you'll see! She needs a special steering device to control these brushes which hang from the ceiling of her studio. She is an inspiration!

More

So which of the DIY Paint Brushes did Clara and I decide was our favorite after trying all of them out? Drum roll please..... the cosmetic wedge! It can be used like a stamp or a brush and nicely absorbs just enough paint to make it useful and controllable. Plus it makes a super squishy sound!

What I love most about this art project for kids is that it was all about the process, not the product. It truly is an art experiment and a great way to show your kids how to be resourceful and imaginative when it comes to art. So the next time you run out of paintbrushes, stop and scour your house for some materials and make your own brushes from scratch!

If you enjoyed making paintbrushes you'll surely love making a homemade stamp! And for more ideas on DIY art materials be sure to visit a super popular post here on Babble Dabble Do: 40 Art Materials You Can Make At Home.

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STEAM Challenge For Kids: Make DIY Paint Brushes

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Try this STEAM Challenge For Kids: Make DIY paint brushes out of clothespins and found materials. Then test out your brushes with paint!

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Do you have quiet time at your house? Looking for a little activity to keep the kids entertained, but also quiet?? This little activity for the kids is so simple, but my girls enjoyed playing with these sponge blocks for a good part of the day! Added bonus - very quiet!

While we were making sponge bombs, Clara started to build and play with the strips of sponges, and Emily joined right in!

I used ordinary dry household sponges and a pair of kitchen scissors to cut them up into interested shapes. The girls loved playing with these and built many exciting structures! I think they would be a great addition to our water table too. You know, to go along with the sponge bombs.

Have fun!!

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Make Your Own Sponge Blocks - Inner Child Fun

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Do you have quiet time at your house? Looking for a little activity to keep the kids entertained, but also quiet?? This little activity for the kids is so simple, but my girls enjoyed playing with these sponge blocks for a good part of the day! Added bonus - very quiet!

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Hand-Sewing | Basic Stitches and Techniques

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Running Stitch How To - Basic Sewing (Hand Embroidery & Hand Sewing)

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How to Make a Mini Sketch Book from a sheet of paper (EASY)

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Art For Kids Hub - Art Lessons - How To Draw For Kids

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Welcome to Art For Kids Hub! Here you’ll find all kinds of art lessons for kids, including how to draw for kids, even painting and origami for kids.

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Hand embroidery for beginners - Part 1 |  HandiWorks #51

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Painting with COFFEE | Easy coffee painting for beginners

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Hand Embroidery for Beginners - Part 2 | 10 Basic Stitches | HandiWorks #52

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DIY: WATERCOLOR PAINT with MARKERS. How to make WATERCOLOR paint + DECORATIVE PAPER IDEAS

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Portrait Drawing (There is no sound so you may want to watch it a couple of times before you start drawing)

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Portrait Drawing (There is no sound so you may want to watch it a couple of times before you start drawing)

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How To Draw a Quick, Simple, and Easy Self-Portrait

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How to sew a Button (Craft Basic Sewing)

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MOVING FLEXAGON from Paper | Fun & Easy Origami

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How To Make an EASY Paper Rabbit that JUMPS- Origami

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Accordion books make for great displays! Children can fill the pages with funny cartoons, fun drawings, or even paste in photos of friends and family. Then stand them up and view all the pages at once!

What You'll Need :

White cardstock

Scissors

Glue

2 pieces of cardboard measuring 3 x 4.5 inches each
(cereal boxes work great)

Scrapbook paper, construction paper, or your own artwork

What to Do :

Step 1: Cut a piece of white cardstock in half lengthwise to make two long, skinny rectangles.

Step 2: Fold the cardstock in half widthwise.

Step 3: Fold the top flap in half again, aligning the bottom edge to the top crease.

Step 4: Flip the cardstock over and do the same to the other side. Your cardstock should resemble a W when finished.

Step 5: Make another set so you have 4 W's total.

Step 6: Glue your W's together to make an accordion. You may want to press the accordion under something heavy (like another book) for a few minutes.

Step 7: Take your two pieces of 3" x 4.5" cardboard and cut out two pieces of scrapbook paper a little larger than your cardboard. Glue the cardboard into the center of the scrapbook paper.

Step 8: Cut off the corners of your scrapbook paper.

Step 9: Fold down the flaps of excess paper and glue them into place.

Step 10: If you want to add any embellishments that wrap around the cover, or that stick up from behind it, add these now. I added a ribbon and glued it into place.

Step 11: Glue your covers to each end of the paper accordion. You may need to press your book underneath another book for a few minutes.

All done! Now you have a beautiful book that you can decorate with photos, rhinestones, glitter, markers, ribbon, or anything else you can think of. Turn your cover into a silly face, a collection of leaves, or a smattering of stickers. Make it sparkly, make it colorful, or make it crazy. It's your book, so have fun and see what you can come up with.

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How to Make an Accordion Book | Brightly

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DIY accordion books make for great displays! Children can fill the pages with funny cartoons, fun drawings, or even paste in photos of friends and family.

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Want your kids to focus on the real world and less on the imaginary worlds in their video games?

Looking for a fun outdoor activity that doesn't take a lot of time to plan?

Hand your kids a camera and head outside for an outdoor activity you can do together. Give it a shot-you may find that your kids like to play with your camera almost as much as their electronic games and gadgets.

In this article I'll show you how quick and easy it is to plan an A to Z photo scavenger hunt that will get your family outside exploring your neighborhood or park and begging to stay out longer.

Why an A to Z Scavenger Hunt?

Scavenger hunts are a great way to engage with your kids, but the thought of all the intensive preparation-the maps, checklists and other considerations-can be enough to stop you before you begin. My Kids' Adventures makes scavenger hunts and treasure hunts easy. And this A to Z scavenger hunt is the easiest one yet! For most families, the school year is busy! There are so many things to get done: homework, reading, car pools and after-school activities all go by in a blur, leaving not much time for fun family activities. An outdoor letter scavenger hunt helped our family get outside doing something fun together without any preparation or mess. I wanted to share it with your family, too. Does this scenario sound familiar?

Son: "Mom, I'm bored."

Me: "Go outside."

Son: "There's nothing to do outside."

In my youth long ago and far away, I remember spending full days outside, but it seems my son hasn't yet mastered that skill. Son: "If you would buy me a DS I wouldn't be bored." Kids these days. Why don't they think they can have fun without pressing buttons? Like any good mom, I have a board on Pinterest where I have catalogued experiments that look like fun to do on days like these. I boot up my computer and take a look, but all of the projects on Pinterest seem to involve big messes and copious amounts of cornstarch. In the back of my mind, I remembered seeing a poster at a home store that spelled the word "welcome" using everyday objects as letters. Suddenly, I had an idea for an outdoor activity that wouldn't be messy or take any preparation. You can see in this screenshot from Great BIG Canvas what a fun project you can make.

An outdoor letter scavenger hunt is the perfect boredom buster because it gets you and your kids outside, it requires no prep and involves no messy ingredients. I was happy because I was outside with my kids, and my kids were happy because they got to press a button-the one on my camera.
You Will Need

A digital camera or phone equipped with a camera

A computer connected to the Internet (optional)

Alphabet checklist (optional)

Preparation Time None Activity Time 1-3 hours Location Varies-we went to a local park, but you can be creative depending on where you live. Select a location where you can walk around and see a variety of objects.

Your family will enjoy an A to Z scavenger hunt, too. Read on for some tips and tricks.

#1: Explain Your Objective

As you start your walk, explain to your kids that the purpose of the scavenger hunt is to find as many objects that look like letters as possible and take pictures of them.

Upper case or lower case, block vs. cursive, things found in nature or manmade objects-it's all fine. Just look for letters, however you can find them. This may be a little hard for young kids to grasp. It's easier to show than to tell.

Once you find your first letter, you'll start to see them everywhere.

Our first find was the letter 'W' formed out of tree branches. We saw a lot of 'O's, a couple of 'T's, and what my 2-year-old insisted was a letter 'A' (but we all suspect it was a ploy to use the camera just like big brother).

Your kids may like the challenge of searching for letters, or they may just like getting to use your camera. What's the big draw that keeps your kids interested? Either one is fine. The important thing is that you're outside doing something fun together.

#2: Decide What to Search for

Keep it simple at the beginning. Start your scavenger hunt just looking for random letters. Once you've had a chance to observe your kids' interest levels and gauge how easy or difficult it is to find letters in the place you're exploring, then you can announce a more specific objective. Here are some ideas:

Find 3 (or 5, or 10) letters each time you go for a walk

Find all the vowels

Spell your child's name

Spell a pet's name

Spell your city or town's name

Spell a word or phrase (like 'Welcome' or 'Happy Birthday')

Spell your family's last name

Find the whole alphabet

Find the whole alphabet-upper case and lower case

Find numbers (it's harder than you may think!)

Be flexible and attentive. Simply looking for letters in nature and architecture may be enough for a 5-year-old. A 10-year-old may be driven to find the whole alphabet.

I set out with the idea that we would find the letters in my son's name, but it was too much for him. And that's ok. Quit when they're tired and keep it fun for everyone. You can look for a few more letters on your next walk. If you're going to look for specific letters or words, it's a good idea to make a checklist to take along on your walk. You can print an alphabet page or jot down the letters you need on a note or in your phone. This will help keep track of letters you've found and what you still need to look for. The point is to have fun and get outside, so be creative!

#3: Take Better Pictures

There are a few tricks you can learn (and teach your kids) to take better photos of the letters you find. Fill your frame with the letter. A close up draws the eye right to the letter.

Hold the camera in the same orientation. Take all the photos in either horizontal/landscape or in vertical/portrait. This will make it easier to create artwork and words with your photos later.

Remove distracting backgrounds. Zoom in, take the photo from another angle or move the letter onto a neutral background so the letter stands out.

Don't expect perfection, but if you practice these suggestions, your letter photos will improve.

#4: Letter-Finding Tips

If you're having trouble finding certain letters, these tips may help.

Look everywhere: up, down, at small things and large things, at things that are nearby or far away.

Sometimes you'll see a letter you didn't notice before when you look at something from a different perspective.

If you find more than one thing that looks like a particular letter, take pictures of them both. Decide later which one is best to use.

You may be able to use the spare as a different letter.

Take another walk in another place to look for letters you couldn't find the first time.

Keep in mind that photos can be cropped. Something may look more like a letter when you crop away the distracting details that surround it.

As a last resort, you can turn or flip photos around in your photo editing software.

#5: What to Do With Your Letter Pictures

Okay, you had lots of fun together on your scavenger hunt and now you have all these pictures of letters. What's next? Take a few minutes to look through them on the screen of your digital camera or on your computer, but don't stop there. There are many creative things you can do with your pictures once you've taken them. With the help of free photo editing sites such as PicMonkey, you can work with your kids to edit and crop your photos into words or names. You can then use the photo collages or individual letter photos for artwork or as graphics on thank-you and holiday cards. You can make alphabet flash cards or a framed print or a sign of a name. Use someone's initials to make gift tags.

Check out the items that can be made out of your pictures on photo printing sites like Shutterfly or Costco Photo Center. They offer a lot more than just photo albums and coffee mugs. You're only limited by your imagination (and Pinterest can help with that). Some Final Thoughts... It's easy to spend your busy days rushing from one activity to the next. Despite the obstacles, kids and adults alike will benefit from time spent together. A letter scavenger hunt is a great way to get outside, spend time with your kids and let them practice their photography skills. And you'll end up with some photo memories and unique gifts to give, too. What do you think? Do you have any ideas for other simple scavenger hunts? Have you ever found letters in unexpected places? I'd love to see your pictures or read your stories in the comments.

Tags: alphabet game, alphabet scavenger hunt, family photo adventure, jillian kay, outdoor activity, outdoor game, outdoor photo adventure, outdoor scavenger hunt, photo adventure, photo scavenger hunt, photo scavenger hunt list, scavenger hunt, scavenger hunt idea

About the Author, Jillian Kay

Jillian Kay is an office worker by day, and at night and on weekends you can find her working in the garden, or cooking from scratch in the kitchen. Other posts by Jillian Kay "

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