Drawing and Painting trees @ WBCL

It is always a gamble to try to get kids to paint trees. You mostly have very thick trunks with what looks like a hand coming out the top and pompom tops. This was a "Paint with Me" project so the kids could follow along and achieve a more or less tree-ish tree. We got better pompoms but a good distribution. a few kids added squirrels and birds and knots on the tress. Super fun project.

Making kites @WBCL

Tonight we learned a bit about kites and then made and decorated one complete with tails. Some of the tails got quite long. I did discuss with the kids that this kite probably would not fly but they could put braces in it at home and try running it. Lots of plans going on there.

Using pastels to create a mountain at sunset @WBCL

Chalk pastels are so much fun to use and SOOO messy but the results are always worth it. We first did a pencil outline of our mountain then worked on our sky and sunset so as not to muddy the sky. once the sky was to our liking we went on to make the mountain with textures and streams, grass, etc. Love how beautiful but varied they are.

Colors across Texas day 2 art mini-camp

 We had so much fun and made such a MESS! We started looking at beaches and talking about them then each camper designed a beach scene on a 4" pot. They tried out snow-tex and all kinds of paint spreading and applying. Every pot was so different. 

We next kept to the beaches theme and drew and painted a sea shell on a small tote bag. They had small shells to hold and draw onto the bag then paint. The kids really got into the texture so it got on these too. 

Our last project was the bat bridge at sunset with chalk pastels. We drew our bridges and then layer out the way we wanted the sunset to look. Some of the campers got so involved with the pastels that the skies are surreal and the kids had as much chalk on them as the paper.  We spent a few minutes gluing our drawing of the Texas windmill we did yesterday. I am tired so they must be too.

Colors across Texas day 1 art mini-camp

We learned a bit about west Texas today and drew Monument rock to paint with thick acrylics. We used some texture paint and the kids learned to pounce in the background rocks using several colors randomly. They used pallet knives to paint the rock itself and the foreground sandy area. Some made theirs darker and some lighter but all were really good.

We also drew a cluster of cactus on watercolor paper to paint. The boys didn't want flowers on theirs but I think they put on the buds. I think most kids are not used to painting with water first then putting in the watery paints but have the "oh wow" reaction when they can see the paints move and mix. This one also turned out really good.

Making a Texas Star quilt square @WBCL

Quilting is all but a lost art for kids but a great way to discuss history for Texas's birthday and be creative too. I precut triangles before class and brought extra fabric for filler and examples of Texas Star quilts. This one is kind of a spinning star. I had the kids position the triangles first then glue them to a paper backing. They then selected other fabric in squares or triangles to fill the page. Some did borders too. Fun and easy way to get into this and I got tips from a mom who quilts when I flipped one of my triangles and got all tangled. We will try on sewing a square this summer I think.