Getting Artistic
Art fires the imagination and sharpens
the brain. Is your child artistically inclined? Here are seven creative
outlets that will keep your kids busy and gainfully occupied for a few
hours a day - one for each day of the week!
Monday
Marbling
Fill a flat pan big enough to dip
a sheet of paper in, with water.
Mix oil paints with a little kerosene,
and pour a few drops of different colours into the water. Swirl the water
around. Dip a sheet of paper in it, and remove. You will get a lovely pattern
on the paper.
This technique is known as marbling,
as the finished product resembles a slab of marble.
Tuesday
Bottle painting
Wash an old bottle well, and let
it dry. Once dried, paint a scenery or any design on it. You could also
fill it up a few large blobs of
different coloured oil paints mixed
with kerosene. Add some water and shake it around, to produce the marble-like
effect as seen above. Pour out the water, and leave it to dry overnight.
The next day, call your electrician and ask him to have it fitted with
a bulb. Get it fitted with a little lampshade, and you have an excellent
lamp for the kids' room!
Wednesday
Paper Cutting
Take a coloured sheet of paper.
If you want, you could even use a sheet of marbled paper. Fold it in quarter.
Cut out fine lines, circles and triangles in them. You could get wonderful
lace-like designs. Experiment! You and your child will get the hang of
it pretty soon.
Thursday
Candle colouring
Take a candle and rub it over a
sheet of paper. Make a rough drawing with the candle: a house, flower,
birds, mountain.. Using light strokes with different colour pencils or with
watercolours, shade the entire sheet of paper. Watch the candle-sketch
emerge! Alternatively, light a candle and let the wax drip onto your paper,
forming dots, lines or any other design. When the wax has hardened, paint
over the sheet with
water paints. After the paint dries,
peel out the wax. Wax, as you
know is waterproof. Thus, the area
that had been covered with wax will still be white (or the colour of the
paper).
Friday
Spray Painting
Here's an alternative to the traditional
spray painting method. Flip through an old magazine or colouring book,
and cut out shapes of animals or flowers. Place these shapes on a sheet
of paper. Dip a toothbrush in a watercolour or poster paint, and spray
it over the sheet. You don't need to use your hands on the bristles. Use
an old comb instead, to create the sprays. After you're done, remove the
cut-outs. You could also move the cut-outs around and continue spraying,
to get different shades.
Saturday
Block printing
Block printing are designs made
from a stamp, which are repeated again and again, in a regular pattern.
You could do this with the help of a potato. Yes, a potato makes an excellent
block. Cut a potato in half.
Cut out the potato so that it forms
the stamp of a flower. Dip the potato in paint and stamp it neatly on a
clean sheet of paper. Repeat the stamp right next to it, to form a row
of flowers. Do this for the entire page. If you want, you could alternate
two blocks.
Sunday
Square paper colouring
Purchase a square ruled book from
your neighbourhood stationary shop.
Take a set of 9 squares, and with
a colour pencil, colour them all different colours, leaving the center
square blank. Continue with this pattern throughout the page, using the
same colours at the same intervals.
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