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Rubbing Plates

Have you ever seen rubbing plates? My students love them! They think it's magic when the picture appears just by scribbling. I love the ABC and number ones that I bought from Lakeshore because the pictures are very kid-friendly. (I know, I sound like a rep for Lakeshore, but I'm not! I just really like their products.) 

Watercolor Paint

Just a different medium for painting. 

  • Day one: watercolor and blank paper

  • Day two: watercolor and four pictures to paint

  • Day three: watercolor and four new picures to paint. 

  • Day four: Coffee filters, pie tins, and eye droppers. Put the coffee filter in the pie tin, kids squeeze small drops of paint on the coffee filter and watch the colors blur. This gets REALLY messy. You have to tell the kids not to put too many drops of paint on their coffee filter, or else it will just turn into a brown, ugly mess. You also need to clean out the pie tin after each use. But if you're up for the crazy mess, the kids really like it and the coffee filters look great when they dry. 

Pop up Art

A few years ago I read a pop up book by Robert Sabuda. Naturally, my students loved it, so I went to his website and tried to find some simple pop ups that my students could make. He has a lot of free pop up printables to make at home, but my students could only do the most basic. See his website here. I extended it a little bit my added a zig-zag line. I have my students cut on the line and then I pop it up for them. Then they draw a circle around the mouth and turn it into whatever animal they want. I was impressed by their creations.

Holiday Art

I also have themed art that goes along with the current holiday or season. Click the link below and it will take you to my page that shows a picture and instructions. 

  • Paper plate jackolantern

  • Halloween dot art

  • Pumpkin lanterns

  • Tissue paper turkey

  • Handprint turkey

  • Little Elf Book

  • Snowflakes

  • Valentine's heart wreath

  • Love bugs

  • Leprechauns

  • Fruit loop rainbows

  • Paper strip Easter egg

  • Egg Bunnies

  • Mother's Day stamp craft

Stamps

  • Day one: Stamps (I have a lot of stamps, so I put half out on the first day, and half out on the second day)

  • Day two: Different stamps

  • Day three: Add markers

  • Day four: Add stamp markers

Additional activity:

  • ABC stamps

Dot Art

I bought some Dot Art books like this on amazon. The pictures are all very cute and kid-friendly. My students love painting them. I bet you could also find some free dot art pictures on the Internet. 

  • Day one: Dot art and blank paper. See what pictures the kids can create by only using their imagination. 

  • Day two: Add four dot art pictures to paint

  • Day three: Add four new dot art pictures to paint

Washable Paint

  • Day one: Paint and blank paper

  • Day two: Add four pictures to paint. I usually go to crayola.com and print some fun pictures for the students to paint. I've also printed off loveable characters from their favorite movies or TV shows to paint. 

  • Day three: Add four new pictures to paint.

  • Day four: Add sponges and pie tins with paint. I bought some cute sponge painters from Lakeshore a few years ago. They are REALLY messy, but the students love them! I also have ABC sponges that I use. 

Additonal Activities:

  • Marble painting: Students cut out a circle, put it in the bottom of a pie tin. Put a few drops of paint on the circle and a marble. Rotate the pie tin around so the marble rolls around in the paint and make cool designs on the paper. 

  • Add stencils

  • Cookie cutter painting: Put paint in pie tins, dip the cookie cutters in the paint, press to the paper.

Stencils

I have a lot of different stencils; ABCs, numbers, animals, winter, Christmas, shapes, objects, etc. I bought most of them from Lakeshore. I absolutely love their oversized ABC stencils, and my students think they are fun too because they take up the whole paper. When I put stencils out, I simply switch the type of stencils they have every day.

Playdough

I usually have a center out for four days. I'll leave it out longer if the students really like it, and I'll switch it out for a different center if the students lose their interest, but four school days is the goal. For me, four school days is two weeks because my students only come twice a week. I have been in schools where my students came four days a week, so one center only lasted one week. Playdough is REALLY popular every year, so I have a lot of toys to extend the center. I bought most of my toys from Lakeshore Learning. 

  • Day one: Just playdough. See what the children can make by only using their imagination. 

  • Day two: Add playdough rolling pins. 

  • Day three: Add playdough cookie cutters and scissors

  • Day four: Add playdough mashers

Additonal toys:

  • Playdough ABC stampers

  • Animal stampers

  • Animal molds

  • Create a bug: I bought these a few years ago, but I can't remember where. They are little pieces like eyes, nose, mouth, legs, wings, etc that you can put into the playdough to make it look like a bug. 

  • Playdough matching sheets: I took a few of my cookie cutters, traced them on a piece of paper, and laminated them. The students make the shape out of playdough and match it to the shape on the paper. I was surprised by how much they liked it.

Chalk

  • Day one: Chalk on black paper

  • Day two: Add cotton balls to use to smear the chalk

  • Day three: Add stencils

  • Day four: Add water and sponges. Children dip the chalk in water, color on the sponges, and press on the paper. When it dries it looks cool. You can also put tape on your paper, dip the chalk in water, color paper, and pull the tape off. 

Art Center

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