Painting with Sand – A Fun Kids Crafts Activity

Painting with Sand – A Fun Kids Crafts Activity

Paint.  It is a staple of every childhood and is almost a right of passage for all of them. Children love to paint.  They will paint at home, on sidewalks, and at school.  In the classroom, it seems to be the one area that draws all the kids to it and no matter how many interesting toys are out in a preschool room, the children are always willing to done a paint smock and get busy creating.

I love painting myself, although I lack a lot of the skill needed.  Still, whenever I get a chance to paint with my children, I am there doing it.  Sure, they have far surpassed me in a lot of areas, I can still create a nice abstract piece without too much problem.

Although painting is so popular with children, I find at times that it can become rather boring.  This is probably why I am always thinking up new ways to take a break from the norm.  Painting doesn’t have to be with paintbrushes, it doesn’t have to be done on paper, and it doesn’t have to be just painting.  What it does need to be is creative and most children bring more than their share of creativity to the painting table.

This craft, while it still relies on paint brushes, is a popular craft with children.  It brings in both the creative and a sensory stimulation that is not always there in a painting craft.  In addition, the finished pieces have a 3D-effect to them and it looks amazing under the glass of a frame.  My personal favorite is to use blue, white and silver, since the children often create pictures that resemble beautiful ocean scenes.

Painting with Sand : How to Break from the Norm with Paint

• Paint (acrylics work well but you can use any type of paint except oils and water)
• Sand
• Paper (try to use a heavier paper since this paint has some weight to it)
• Dish Soap
• Container(s) for paint (I find that old Popsicle makers work well because they take enough paint and you can put a lot of colors in them.  Also, you can wrap them in saran wrap for storage if you don’t use all the paint.
• Paint Brushes (one for each color)

1 – Decide on the colors that you would like to use and pull out the paint.  Pour the first color into the container (if you are using separate containers, simply put the paint in and then repeat in each container you have).

2 – Repeat until you have all the colors that you want to use.  Make sure that you only fill them up between a quarter of the way to half way since the sand will increase the volume quickly.

3 – Now for an old teacher’s secret (shh…don’t tell anyone), place a few drops of dish soap into each container of paint.  This makes it a bit easier to clean off of things and whenever I use paint, except oils and water, I use dish soap in it.

4 – Once you have your paint ready, add in the sand.  This is usually done to the eye but you will probably want about 2 teaspoons to every 3 or 4 tablespoons.

5 – Repeat with all the paint

6 – Stir the and into the paint until it is well blended.  You will want to have a paint that has a lot of texture to it but is still wet and easily applied to the paper so add more sand if necessary.  Repeat with all the paint, using a different paint brush with each paint color.

7 – And now your paint is ready for painting.  Have your child paint whatever they would like but encourage them to really play with the paint.  You will find that it has a bumpy texture on the paper and it will clump at some parts but don’t try to remove them, this is the whole reason behind the sand paint.

8 – Allow the art piece to dry completely on a flat surface before you hang it up.  This is very important since the paint is heavier than others and it can ruin the picture if you hang it before it is ready.

One of the best points about this paint is how it blends together.  Since the paint is so heavy, it keeps most of the color and when you blend, you are less likely to have one big brown mess and more likely to have a range of shades.  This makes it an excellent paint for blending and other painting techniques that rely on pulling colors into another.

HERE ARE MORE SIMILAR SAND CRAFTS FOR KIDS

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Sculpting with Fimo: The Goldfish Crafts Project for Kids

My husband is a toy sculptor and he can do some pretty amazing things with his sculpting medium and at times it can be rather depressing when my sculpting abilities are very basic. I mean, I can create with paper but I have a bit of a hard time creating anything that is three dimensional, which is why I always delight when I can create something that is worthy of even a little bit of praise.  For this reason, I love working with fimo or clay and I enjoy the time spent with my kids as we make little critters that can be hardened into masterpieces that I can enjoy for a lifetime.

Sculpting is a wonderful activity for children and most have some experience with it through playdough.  While I love playdough, I find that not being able to really keep the finished product can be disheartening at times so I find that giving children an opportunity to make some lasting pieces is worth the extra expense that clay or fimo can present (although fimo isn’t that expensive, usually around 5 dollars for a small block that goes a long way).

In this craft, I will teach you how to create a very basic fimo sculpture fish that most children will enjoy making again and again.

Sculpting with Fimo: The Goldfish : How to Make a Goldfish with basic supplies

Gather all the materials you need:

• Fimo (you can use any color, in the step by step I use grey so I can paint it later but in the finished product I used orange, white and black.)
• Toothpicks
• Paint Brush or a round chopstick (if you have any)
• Paint (optional)

1.  Remove a 2 or 3 inch piece of the Fimo from the block and knead it until it softens.  Usually this doesn’t take too long but if the Fimo is harder, you should expect about 5 minutes of kneading to soften it enough.

2.  Take a small piece from the softened Fimo and roll it into the a ball to form the body of your goldfish. This will be the biggest piece and the size you take will depend on how big you want your goldfish to be. Once you have rolled it into a ball, flatten the bottom slightly so it will rest on the table without falling over.

3.  Now that you have the body, it is time to make the fins of your goldfish.  To do this, create a small triangle with the Fimo.

4.  When the triangle is formed, cut away a small “v” in the largest part or base of the triangle and then cut away the excess from the top of the triangle.

5.  Using the toothpick, carve a small “v” design into the tail and then attach it to the end of the ball by gently pressing it into

6.  Once the tail is attached, it is time to work on the fins.  To do this, create two small tear drop shapes with the Fimo and then draw a few lines on your fins before you attach them.

7.  Attach the fins to the ball and smooth the Fimo with the flat side of the toothpick.  Fix any of the lines that were erased.

8.  Roll a small ball with the Fimo for the mouth and place it onto the front of the ball.

9.  Using the rounded tip of a paint brush or chopstick, gently press it into the small ball until you have an indent that looks like fish lips.

10. Roll two more small balls, smaller than the mouth, and carefully press them into the large ball above the mouth. These are the eyes.  Finish them off with a smaller ball that works as the pupil.  If you are painting, you can do all of this in one color but if you don’t want to paint the finished piece, use white Fimo for the eyes and black Fimo for the pupils.

11.  Bake in the oven according to the package until the sculpture hardens.

12.  At this point you will be done, unless you used all one color.  If you did, take the time to paint the sculpture with acrylic paints.

Fimo is an excellent craft for children that are 8 and up but I have seen children as young as 4 make some truly spectacular sculptures with this medium.  One word of advice; however, is to make sure that the children wash their hands after they are finished using it.

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