more celebrating...

happy birthday, joe! (only one exclamation point, just for you...)
we love you.

doodlebugs flashback, 1.29.10, printmaking

well, in case you haven't noticed, i visit this blog a lot! so many wonderful ideas there. she'd used plastic box frames for her printmaking, but i didn't have those. so we made do with what we had...the bottoms of plastic plates, then glass & metal pans (the hardness/strength of the pans stood up better to pressing down on them, giving a much better printed image). brayers would be nice, too, but don't have those either, so we used sponge brushes instead. they worked fine, i just asked the kids to use a light coating. they used q-tips and fingers to make their designs. first, we did a trial-run at home.

this was the after-math.

then we were ready to go for art group. after the kids make their design in the paint, they lay a piece of white paper on top of the paint, press all around, and voila! they turned out awesome. i cut black paper slightly larger than the white paper to make a backing that gave it a little frame effect.

yes, that is batman leaning over to fetch more supplies.

the book we read, "bread and honey", didn't address printmaking specifically, but addressed a bigger art concept...being yourself, doing work you love, and not worrying about what other people say. the boys cracked up laughing the first time we read it. go get it...you'll see why. love it.

doodlebugs flashback, 1.22.10, collage

we love, love, love collage. i love collage because i save everything. they love collage because it's so fun, interesting, and can really help them build a story. for this art group, i remember being inspired to gather up the collage goodies by all the action i saw going on here. i forgot to write down the book we used (argh...no writey, no rememberey). anything about shapes, colors, collections, etc. would be great. we used felt pieces, little puff balls, string, and shaped buttons.

lately, leif's collages have been heading toward realistic-land, where there are buildings and places he's been. hotels and denver top the list. eric's are often factories of some kind. i don't have photos of the boys' work that day, but i remember leif finding a bear shaped button, which he used to create a build-a-bear store (he'd recently visited one). eric's was a cemetary-playground (doesn't that sound like a great combination?). i remember a teeter totter he'd created with a button leaning against a puff ball. we did some more collage work today (no photos i can post yet). eric's was a sandwich factory. i loved hearing him count all the stations where various things happened to create the sandwich. it must have triggered a memory of a previous noodle collage he'd done because he started to explain how the sandwich factory wasn't as complicated. leif used marker to add some "roads with guardrails" weaving around his buildings. i just love the stories they tell as they create their masterpieces.

the celebration continues...

can't get enough of celebrating this little one's first birthday! yesterday, we extended the celebration with a few friends. we headed to the nearby park for a little lunchtime snacking, some cake & ice-cream, and some happily received warm weather.

attempted some henna tattoos to mark the celebration...

and made a mango-orange mousse cake (oranges are one of sam's favorites)...yum!

sweet.

doodlebugs 5.14.10 brush motion

for this art group, we used the bold illustrations of "like likes like" by chris raschka to inspire the motion of our brushes. this book is full of painty goodness, as well as a nice message about feeling included and finding companions with whom we feel comfortable.


we noticed marks that seemed to have been made by "side to side",


"round and round",


and "up and down" movements of the brush & decided to give it a try. great directional language & cause and effect practice for our little artists!

first, we folded a piece of printer paper into thirds, so we could practice saying the words and moving the brush each of the different ways. then, following the lead of the book, we chose colored construction paper to work on, putting our new moves into action.

of course, everyone knew just what they wanted to do from there, modifying as they saw fit to suit their artistic impulses. :-) this was a nice activity to focus on process, but we all ended up loving our products, too.

doodlebugs flashback, 4.16.10, shadows & sidewalk chalk

this project was soooo fun and very special because our moody spring weather actually cooperated with us! we've been drenched in rain, snow, hail, sleet, and wind this spring with a few warm days here and there to tease us. we really needed sun for this one, and we got it (it clouded over later, making us feel even luckier)! we read i have a friend (bummer, amazon's listing has no image...i'll have to get a picture asap) by keiko narahashi. a beautifully illustrated, dreamy book about a boy whose shadow follows him through the day.

the kiddos posed themselves and then parents traced their shadows on the sidewalk. then they decorated themselves, making all kinds of cool creations, both realistic and fantastic. very, very fun.

doodlebugs flashback, 1.15.10, string painting

painting with string...a fun way to work with line, i thought. we read art, by patrick mcdonnell. a wonderful book about a little boy, art, who loves to draw and dream. perfect. it talked about lines that zig, zag, and really get wild.

well, our little artists got wild, too...never afraid to try anything. and once they discovered the paintbrushes i meant to hide, well...forget about that silly string.

they discovered what happens when you drive your finger through the paint...

what happens when you splatter the paint from your brush, and...

what happens when you fold the paper in the middle and squish the paint together.

one of my favorite moments: one of our little ones leading the big kids in her rendition of our "open shut them" song that gets us ready for story time. oh, the places these kids take us!

doodlebugs 5.7.10, fantastic birdies

sequins, feathers, markers, and imaginations were all a-flutter this morning, as we decorated paperboard (old cereal & pizza boxes) birdies. we've been bird crazy around here these days: watching & identifying birds at the feeder and in the yard, drawing birds galore, and making this little favorite animal of sam's the theme of his birthday.


we had this book from the library, and it seemed like the perfect partner for a doodlebugs bird extravaganza. this one kept the kids (the small, chubby-cheeked ones and the taller, hairy-armed ones) quite engaged for a while, even continuing to play with them and fly them around afterward. when we got home, the boys stuck crackers in the trees for their birds to eat (those crackers disappeared so fast with a little help from the artists!).