We used the giant sunflowers on the wall for our guide and drew sunflowers to paint.
We used our fists and fingers for gauging the size of the center and the petals but had to revert to the size of mom's finger for some of the smaller attendees.
As you can see the outcomes are totally different and the others were just as varied. Hate it when the battery dies on the camera when you have fabulous examples to show off!
The next session started off with a quick slide show of the Talavera tiles and other painted and fired Mexican tiles. Each of the participants (including most of the parents) painted on glazed tiles using Liquitex Glossies paints. I offered up all the leftover tiles I had, 4", 2 1/2", sets of 4 2" tiles and let their imaginations and creativity run wild. At the end of the night I had my example and NO tiles left.
Such a great variety of outcomes. Most chose to add magnets to the backs but several will sit on a desk or other surface.
One of the best comments last night was from a parent who has attended with a pre-school child for a couple of years: She did this all by herself and I can really tell how well she does. Kids younger than 7 do attend regularly with parents and really grow in their art over time.
The Family Arts & Crafts group meets at the Wells Branch Community Library every Wednesday night at 6 pm taught by Dianne Koehler. The program lets us turn donations and imagination into great projects.
you may also want to take a look at the new Art & crafts database the library recently subscribed to for the patrons. check the website for details.
Not your Mama's art camp got off to a fantastic start with Mexican Peacocks and Kooky birds. This is Kat's first camp to be in charge of and what a great one it is. The kids are so creative and every project was unique. 
We used a variety of crafts sticks and wooden pieces for the peacocks then the kids painted them. Continuing with the birds theme we used small black microwave trays that the kids covered with fabric then the they added more fabric and other items to make a tail, head and LONG legs with very big feet. At the end of the day they got to do some painted feathers. We all learned a lot on those and the watercolor ones were the very best. 
2nd day and we were making Crazy critters from a piece of cardboard, construction paper, wood scraps, and plastic scraps. The kids really got into it though creating a real variety of critters. We moved on to a recycled project with berry boxes cut into shapes to make a sun catcher. Used tacky glue to adhere the gems then broke out the glitter for those who needed a bit more glitz. 
3rd day was off to a great start using polymer clay for 2 of our creations. Kat got to make custom colors for us tinting white clay with oil paints. It does not come off on your hands any more than the already colored. we got almost no pictures of the sewn pockets but over half the camp had never sewn anything and did a great job. I kept hearing--first time I sewed a button on, first time I ever sewed. So much fun with the 7 layer masks that Kat created using fun foam. The kids had to trace the patterns and fit them together. We were able to use a great donation of tiny clay pots to form our Kandy Korn Kritters. 
