Tag: art projects for kids

Posted on

Kids’ Arts Festival from the Perspective of a Docent

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art
KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art
A circle of hands is how it felt for me, as I helped with KidWorks! alongside the volunteers, my fellow docents and staff of the Holter Museum of Art. We needed everyone to make it work.

Last Saturday, the Holter Museum of Art held KidWorks! — it’s 23rd annual arts festival for kids. What a blast!! I had an amazing opportunity to help put on this fun event and boy was it alot of work. Yet, when we opened the doors of the museum at 10:00 am, just like Connie, Judy, Sondra and Hannah told me, the festival took care of itself. A gigantic bulldozer of little kids and and their significant adults moved through the museum playing, delighting, learning, appreciating, thoroughly enjoying themselves and getting a messy education in the wonderment of art.

For me — as a docent — it was incredibly fun (I hardly stopped smiling except when I was concentrating,) extremely exhausting (the tables were set to little kid height and my back hurt like hell at the end of the day) but so, so fulfilling to share my enthusiasm about art with this many kids and their peeps.

I absolutely loved witnessing the diversity of approaches. Every child, has a unique way of seeing the world and expressing what they see! As docents, we have to Let Go of Results and Outcomes. Allow Mess. Delight in Oops. Multi-task-yet-Focus. Smile. Laugh. Make Eye Contact. Then. Clean. Up.

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

Well … it seems at the Holter, “docent” is a fancy word for a volunteer who:

  • works really hard
  • has lots of fun with peers and with the public
  • stays longer than expected to clean up the mess
  • knows how to laugh and goof
  • loves to share his/her passion for the arts
  • gets training to use Visual Thinking Strategy in educational museum tours
  • has a lot of energy (enough to keep up with kids of all ages!)
  • has an awesome opportunity to guide kids, teens and adults in appreciating art through tours and hands-on activities
  • can think on her/his feet, improvising when necessary
  • doesn’t mind getting down and messy
  • knows that every individual’s experience and ideas are valid
  • helps organize and put on the biggest and best kids’ arts festival anywhere around
  • then watches the magic happen as our doors open to over 800 participants

that’s alot to pack into one 6-letter word!

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

2014 KidWorks Festival of Arts at the Holter Museum of Arts

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

The Holter docents I have the privilege to work with, are a diverse group: outgoing, intelligent, friendly and helpful to new members of the team. We are all willing to learn from our mistakes and educate ourselves continuously so we are the best “art guides” the Holter could possibly have. It helps that we have some docents who are great leaders — super organized and experienced. It also helps that the educational staff (Sondra, Aubrey and Hannah) are so enthusiastic about their jobs. I have about half of the skills I need, to be an amazing docent. I’m working on the rest. But boy, was it fun, fun fun to help make KidWorks! happen.

2014 KidWorks Festival of Arts at the Holter Museum of Arts

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

2014 KidWorks Festival of Arts at the Holter Museum of Arts

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

KidWorks 2014 at the Holter Museum of Art

Sorry about the photo-intensive post today. I just couldn’t resist! There were so many sweet moments and precious connections made during KidWorks! that I can’t resist posting these. Below is a gallery with a few more images from the festival.

If you attended KidWorks, or volunteered at the festival, won’t you write a short (or long) comment to say how you experienced it? Thank you!

Posted on

Hollyhock Dolls: a throwback to simpler times

Hollyhock-Dolls-09

I remember making these dolls from hollyhock blossoms in late summer. They only last for a few hours, even less if you play with them. But they’re fun to make, and really do have lots of personality. Now is hollyhock time in Montana. Do you have hollyhocks where you live? If you do, then you’re in luck. Go find a few, get out a needle and thread and go for it.

tutorial to make hollyhock dolls

  1. Pick some hollyhock blossoms. Remember to get different sizes of buds, and a few leaves (for hats.) Sort the buds by size, making sure you have at least 3 buds for each arm.
  2. Keep blossoms fresh while you work, by placing them in a bowl of water. You can also mist them with water using a sprayer.
  3. Remove the large, fuzzy stamen that sticks out of the center of each flower. Using a large needle and thread, stitch up through two or three large flowers, layering them to look like a skirt.  You can make multi-color skirts with different colored flowers. Next make the head — you can use either a small blossom that hasn’t fully opened yet, or a large bud. Stitch from the bottom of the head through to the top.
  4. You can add a leaf on top of the head for a hat.
  5. Use 3 buds for each arm, a small, medium and large. I like to start at one hand, thread 3 buds together, then pierce the shoulder with the needle, and continue on the other side with 3 more buds for the opposite arm. (see photo 6)
  6. Your hollyhock doll will have personality and facial expressions if you use your imagination with her.

Swirling Personality of a Hollyhock Doll

Hollyhock-Dolls03-imp

You can add legs if you want but I kinda like them without legs. The big skirts make the dolls look like Southern Belles at a Ball, or Ballerinas Dancing Across the Stage. If you want legs, do them the same as the arms.

Hollyhock-Doll Supplies Another way to make hollyhock dolls is to use long, stiff pine needles, or toothpicks instead of needle and thread. Using the thread allows the arms, legs, neck and waist of the doll to move and jiggle, and if you hang her she will dance in the breeze.  Using pine needles or toothpicks gives you a stiffer doll that can be played with more easily. Here is a link to making hollyhock dolls with toothpicks. 

Hollyhock Buds to Make Dolls

Keep Hollyhocks Flowers Fresh in Water

a lovely vintage textile print with hollyhocks
a lovely vintage textile print with hollyhocks

Miss Hickory is a children’s book that dates back to 1948. It is about a tiny doll made of apple twigs with a hickory nut head, so is a little similar to our hollyhock dolls, only longer lasting. The story follows her adventures through the four seasons. And eventually, the story ends with the little doll asleep on a branch of an apple tree and in the spring the apple tree blossoms all around her. Below are a couple of illustrations from the book and a link to a tutorial on how to make a Miss Hickory doll. 

Miss Hickory illustration Miss-Hickory-Book Cover

Posted on

Painted Critters and Things Made of Clay

yellow ceramic elephant

painted elephant and horse

If you have access to a kiln, or a friend who does, get a chunk of clay and make some of these cute little critters with your kids. We painted them instead of glazing them this time. Next time we want to experiment with glazes. Ema and Adia have some tips on making and painting little clay objects, based on their own experiences with this project.

Thank you to Gene Hickman of the Helena Clay Arts Guild, for the clay, and teaching the girls some tricks of the trade.

tiny painted ceramic objects
Adia describes her ceramic creations by saying, “I made a moon, a dog lying down, a bead and a bowl. The bowl is about as tall as a cat’s paw, and as big around as a cherry tomato. What I might put in it is a bouncy ball small enough to fit. For the moon, I chose green because I was thinking of blue cheese — the kind you eat — and I thought of green. So that’s what I painted it.”

Adia’s advice on this project:

  • First paint your clay thing one solid color, then let it dry. Then, you can paint other colors you want on top of that.

  • When you make the shapes, try not to make them too thick or they might explode in the kiln.

Red Roan Ceramic Horse
Ema explains, “I made a small horse and a little elephant. When I made the horse, I was thinking of my favorite horse that my grandmother owns. Her name is Rosebud. The design on the back of my horse is similar to Rosebud’s design. She is a red roan, so I painted her red.

When I made the elephant, I was thinking of my mom. I think elephants are her favorite animal. I painted it gold because gold makes me feel happy. It also has pink, black and white. I made a happy accident with the eyes. I accidentally drew a black line on the eye and the black line turned into an eyelash and then I made more. So now she looks cute. I gave the little elephant to my mom.

Ema’s tips on making ceramic critters:

  • Don’t make it too thin. It might crack.

  • If you want to paint more than one color, wait until the first color dries before you paint on top of it or the colors will mix and make a different color. If you painted yellow on top of blue when it is wet, it would make green and you might not like green. And if you painted a bunch of colors on top of another it would make brown and you might not like brown. And so on.

  • If you make your creature too thick, it might explode in the kiln! And that might not be good for other pottery in the kiln, but especially not good for yours.

  • Don’t try to make it perfect. It won’t be. But you may make some happy accidents and those are good accidents. How will you know if you have a happy accident? Say you were painting an elephant and you accidentally drew a black line on it’s back. It could turn into wrinkles. Or, say you were painting a bowl and you were painting it yellow and you accidentally got blue on it. You could make it a rainbow bowl. And so on. And that’s how you would know it’s a happy accident.

yellow ceramic elephant yellow ceramic elephant

Posted on

Kid’s Art: Root Creatures

crane creature made from a painted root

bird made from root and paintEma, Adia and I made some really cool creatures using roots we found on the lakeshore. We picked them up because we thought each of these looked at least vaguely critter-like. Today we painted several of the roots to try to bring out the little features in the wood that looked like something or another. How do you like them now?

Root CreaturesWe have a horse, a gnome, an elephant-deer-bird, and another bird — a long-legged crane.

The following tutorial was written by Ema and Adia:

Have you ever wanted to make an imaginary creatures? Well here’s how. All you need is a few sticks and some paint. You can make whatever you can imagine when you look at the sticks.

You will need:

  • sticks, driftwood or roots
  • hot glue*
  • acrylic paint**
  • brushes
  • something to use for bases for the creatures that will stand up*** …. or
  • tiny eye hooks and some monofilament for creatures that will fly (hang)

EmasHorseCollage-imp

I got a funky root and I kept turning it and turning it and looking at it from different angles and then I saw that it looked like a horse. So I painted it to look like a red roan horse, specifically my favorite horse, Rosebud, who lives at my Grandma’s house in Anaconda. I glued mine onto the base instead of drilling a hole because it stands up by itself.  — Ema, age 10

Gnome by Adia, age 8
Gnome by Adia, age 8

I made a gnome. A gnome is a little person with a beard. Santa Claus is a gnome. My gnome has a really tall red hat and is walking across the log that is my base. One leg is shorter than the other because he is walking. He also has a really long white beard and tall white boots. I drilled a hole in the base and glued my gnome’s longest leg into the hole. He looks like Santa. — Adia, age 8

MaureensCrane-imp

One of my roots looked exactly like a long, curved-bill crane so I made a fantasy bird that I named, an “oo-ooga crane.” This is the sound it makes when it’s happy. It has green and blue feathers with white spots. Also some yellow and orange eyes. I glued one of the crane’s legs into a hole in the walnut base. — Maureen

Elephant Deer Bird Detail

Maureen's Elephant Deer-Bird

My other root reminded me of an elephant with wings. It has big long trunk, two skinny wings and a tail. I added little antlers so it’s an elephant-deer-bird. I painted the antlers blue because the Huichol Blue Deer is special to me. This one hangs from the ceiling because it’s flying. I screwed in a tiny eye-hook and hung the bird by a piece of monofilament. — Maureen

NOTES FROM THE TUTORIAL AND SUPPLY LIST:

*We used a little hot glue to attach odds and ends of roots to our creatures.

**For painting the creatures, you don’t have to completely cover the surface of the wood with paint. Leaving some of the natural wood showing looks really cool.

***If you want to make bases, cut some nice wood in a square or rectangle or any shape. Sand it so it’s nice and smooth. Sand the edges to make them roundish so they aren’t sharp. Figure out if you want to drill a hole or just glue on your creature onto the base. We made our bases out of scraps of walnut wood, the trees that grow actual walnuts on them.

root creatures11-improot creatures10-imp

 

Below, we have a few other roots we haven’t painted yet. We are going to keep making these creatures. One of these roots is going to become a flying dragon with a tail made of smoke and fire coming out of its mouth. What do you see in these?  Please let us know in the comments.

Driftwood Root Driftwood Root Driftwood Root

Driftwood Root