Toddler Art: Curious George

We started off Toddler Art with our Curious George board book story, Curious George and the Bunny by H.A. Rey. The toddlers were having a little trouble paying attention, but we got through the story quickly and had craft time.

We had the usual two crafts, but I used two crafts from Preschool Picasso since I had leftovers and thought they were easy enough for toddlers.

There was a paper plate craft where the toddlers had to paint with a big paintbrush or clothespin pom pom brown to make Curious Georges' face.

The other two crafts were those  taken from Preschool Picasso. We made The Man in the Yellow Hat's tie and the hand print craft.

The parents enjoyed having these options and the kids had fun playing with our toddler toys after our crafts.

Toddler Art: Andy Warhol

During Toddler Art: Andy Warhol, we read a short board book story called Andy Warhol's Colors by Susan Goldman Rubin, introducing Warhol's artwork and the concept of colors.

Afterwards, there was craft time. The first craft was making a Warhol inspired flower portrait using black card stock, green paint, and die-cut flowers. Painting and gluing were part of this craft.

The last craft was making another Warhol-inspired craft with colored square construction paper, die-cut hand shapes, and stamping hand prints on them to get the full pop art effect.

The family enjoyed the story and had fun painting together.

Other Books:

ABC Pop! Rachel Isadora

Other Craft Ideas:

-black and white picture and markers

-yarn warhol face craft

Toddler Art: Numbers

This month's Toddler Art theme was numbers. We read Race CarCount by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and then we did some painting and gluing.

For our first craft, we did some number dot painting with caterpillars and snowmen using black and green paint. The parents helped their child count while they were having fun with paint and using their fine motor skills.

Our second craft was counting cars to go along with our book. Each child had to glue on a different color car to the big number five on their paper. The kids really enjoyed this craft and I found out they are a big fan of cars, inspiring a possible car program for the future.

At the end of craft time, we had a little playtime.

Other Book:

Pop-Up Peekaboo! Numbers

Toddler Art: Merry Grinchmas!

I had a couple new faces for this month's Toddler Art and they made great additions to the group. We read a board book Grinch story for our theme and then we made two Grinch inspired crafts.

In I Am Max by Astrid Holm, the book explains the Grinch and his dog Max in Dr. Seuss rhyming fashion. The toddlers listened very well to the book and enjoyed the familiar illustrations.

For our first craft, we just had to make a simple Grinch face. I used light green paper plates and cut-out pieces. The kids got their motor skills practice in with the help of a parent.

Our last craft was well-appreciated by parents. The toddlers used tissue paper and a heart to make the Grinch's big heart. The toddlers were able to do this craft practically on their own and all of them turned out cute.

I try to find a balance of a cute craft and toddler ability for this program and it's always a plus when I come across a number of craft ideas that fit this criteria.

Merry Grinchmas!

Toddler Art: Yarn

I had two new families join our group for Toddler Art: Yarn so that was definitely a great start to the program. 

I started off by reading our story, Cat Knit, by Jacob Grant. This story is about a cat who loves his ball of yarn, but his owner ends up making him a sweater with it and his yarn isn't so fun anymore. This is a cute story that was simple enough for the toddlers.

Our first craft was using yarn, paint, and glue. We made some process art by first painting using pom poms attached to clothespins, added some glue, and then added some cut up yarn. They had a lot of fun with this and liked playing with the materials.

Our second craft was coloring a cat with yarn just like in our story. We used long pieces of yarn to glue onto the paper and this was simple enough for the toddlers to practice getting used to coloring before some playtime.

Toddler Art: Apples

For this week's Toddler Art, we continued with the October theme of apples and read one, short apple story and then completed two painting crafts.

We read One Red Apple, but Harriet Ziefert. This book has beautiful illustrations and is simple enough for toddlers.

Once we got done reading and talking a little bit about apples and their colors, we got to making our two crafts.

For our first craft, I put out shower loofahs, card stock, and die-cut tree trunks with their branches. The trunk was glued onto their card stock and then they used the loofah to dip it into green paint to make the leaves on their tree. After this, they used their finger tips to dip into red paint to make the apples on their tree. They got practice with gluing and painting, with the loofah being a fun element.

For our second craft, we made pumpkin prints using apples cut in half, orange paint and stamping them onto our paper. We used our finger tips for green pumpkin stems and for painting grass for our pumpkin patch scene.

Toddler Art: Monet

This was a smaller group for Toddler Art, but with new faces to the library. We read our short board book story, A Picnic with Monet by Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober, that had pictures of Monet's artwork along with a sweet rhyme throughout.

Our first craft of the day was to make Monet's water lilies painting using a paper plate, blue paint, and pink and green cupcake liners. The toddlers spread and tapped their paint onto the plate by using a sponge and glued on their cupcake lily pad flowers.

The second craft for the program was making Monet's peonies painting. The group was given blue construction paper, green crayons, and red paint. They drew lines down their paper to make the flower stems and then used pom poms attached to clothespins dipped in red paint to make the flowers.

This was good practice socializing, listening, and using their fine motor skills with painting.

Afterwards, we had a little playtime with toys and music.

Toddler Art: Building Blocks

Most of the Toddler Art group came in a little late, but what started off as a very small crowd became big.

I read the board book story, Blocks by Dr. John Hutton and then explained the two crafts for the day.

For our first craft, we used Duplo Lego blocks to do some paint stamping on paper. Some of the kids did some designs and rainbows with the help of their parents and the group had practice holding the Legos and stamping them. They enjoyed this one because they always like using paint.

For our second craft, we made homemade animal blocks. I pre-made the blocks and the toddlers had to glue on their animal faces, bodies, and legs to their blocks. I think they enjoyed playing with them and it was nice to see them do some matching with the help of their parents.

We had some playtime during the end of the program and most of the group ended up going up for our summer free lunch program.

Toddler Art: Noodle Art

We had a nice group that had some new faces. The kids did really well listening to Noodles for Baby by Jamie Meckel. This board book was perfect for the noodle theme because it was about babies eating all kinds of noodles and getting messy. The kids thought the messy parts were funny.

For our first craft, we made our own plate of spaghetti using a paper plate with red and brown paint, yellow yarn, and cut out brown circles. We used pom poms attached to clothespins for the one and two years to get a better grip and they swirled their colors together to get "sauce." Then they added their yarn noodles and construction paper meatballs. The group really enjoyed playing with the paint with this one.

For our second craft, we decorated butterflies using colored pasta. The kids practiced their gluing and some of the older kids even made patterns using the different colors. In the future, I would like to try dying pasta with vinegar and try using half-down spaghetti as paint brushes.

This was a fun one and we had some playtime afterwards.

Toddler Art: Vincent van Gogh

This was another great group and some new faces. They listened very well to the board book, In the Garden with van Gogh by Julie Mergberg and were excited to get to their crafts. The book was perfect for this age group because it rhymed and showed his paintings, although I wish it would have been bigger for the kids to see the pictures better. There are more in this book series that I have a feeling I will be using for future programs. 

For the first craft, we did some process art and finger painting. I pre-made foil taped onto cardstock for the kids to use blue and white paint to mix and swirl their colors like van Gogh's Starry Night. I also provided q-tips and pom poms with clothespins for those to try out a variety of ways that would work for them. These turned out pretty because of the foil, but this craft's main focus was on having fun with it in the moment and using their motor skills.

The second craft was inspired by van Gogh's sunflower paintings. Each in the group were able to make a sunflower using construction paper, yellow tissue paper, and brown paint with q-tips. This gave them extra painting time and they had fun doting their brown paint on the middle of their sunflowers.

At the end of craft time, we had play time and the group really enjoyed this part and did a great job with sharing toys and interacting with each other.

Toddler Art: Nature

My original idea for this Toddler Art was to incorporate nature into craft making like I did with Preschool Picasso, but I wasn't finding too many ideas that would be easy enough and safe for toddlers so I went a more traditional craft route.

We read The Whole Wide World and Me by Toni Yuly. This is a short picture book about a girl who notices nature and realizes she is part of nature too. The group listened very well to the book and then it was time to get to our crafts.

For their first craft, they made dandelions using their finger tips or q-tips and white paint on a pre-printed piece of blue construction paper.

For their second craft, they used tissue paper and glued that onto their paper to make a flower.

Both of these crafts used their fine motor skills and gave them different options with paint and tissue paper.

I had a few new children and they did very well with listening to the story and their crafts.

Other Books: 

Because of an Acorn by Lola M. Schaefer

Toddler Art: Watercolors

This group is always well-behaved, but today was exceptional! They were so attentive and quiet during storytime, I was able to read two board books and I was proud of them for their sharing skills too.

We read One Rainy Day by Tammi Salzano and Listen to the Rain, a Rookie Toddler Scholastic board book. 

Our theme was watercolors, so I read books on rain and got to our crafts. For our first craft, we discovered resistant art. I used white crayon and drew raindrops onto their sheets of white watercolor paper. Then they used thick paint brushes to paint their paper blue with liquid watercolor. This made the raindrops appear. The toddlers got a surprise to see the raindrops and they also had practice holding a paint brush.

Their second craft was experimenting with the watercolor palette. I put out clothespins with pom poms and they got them wet and then dipped them into their watercolors. They could paint however they wanted, but all of these turned out beautiful and with a sunset feel. This gave them a chance to just play with watercolors. They also could glue on a tulip die-cut to their paper if they would like.

Afterwards, we had some playtime and the group was so good with sharing the toys!

This was another fun one!

Toddler Art: Paint Like Picasso!

This was the first Toddler Art theme I have done using an artist theme. It was a bit more challenging, but I was able to come up with ideas that were easy for toddlers and challenged them a little bit at the same time.

I read a board book, Oooh! Picasso by Mil Niepold and Jeanyves Verdu. It has pictures of some of Picasso's work and a message of imagination with art.

After reading, I explained our two crafts for the day. For our first craft, I supplied everyone with sponges and clothespins with pom poms to paint with primary colors. The little ones had fun mixing their colors and it was good practice for them. When finished, they slid their paintings into plastic covers that had a Picasso-like face on them.

For our second craft, the kids glued different eyes, ears, noses, and mouths to their faces to make a unique, Picasso-like portrait. I heard a lot of parents going over the different parts of the face to get their child to understand body parts. I was happy to hear this because I was hoping the parents would use this craft as an opportunity to explain parts of their face. They also had the option to color their pictures.

Afterwards, we had some playtime so the group could interact with each other.

Other Books:

Painting With Picasso board book by Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober

Toddler Art: Feather Fun

I liked how Feathers forLunch by Lois Ehlert was just the right amount of length for toddlers and easy for them to understand. The crafts went wonderfully with the book.

For our first craft, I had the kids paint a bird, add feathers, and glue it onto a popsicle stick to make puppets. For the second craft, they glued different colored feathers onto cardstock with the cat from the story on it. I scanned a picture from the book and cropped to get the craft base. Both of these crafts looked artistic and allowed them to practice with painting and gluing.

For this group, I always use pom poms attached to clothespins for painting tools instead of paint brushes. We had a bit of playtime afterwards too.

Other Books:

Hooray for Birds! by Lucy Cousins (movement book)

A Funny Little Bird by Jennifer Yerkes (birds/nature)

Toddler Art: ABC's

This was a nice group with one new toddler. We read Alphababies together. This book goes over all the letters of the alphabet using cute baby pictures.

For our craft, we made an apple out of the letter A and a giraffe out of the letter G, just like it was mentioned in the story. For the apple, we used tissue paper and construction paper and for the giraffe, we used brown paint to make spots. 

I liked how one craft incorporated tissue paper and one paint. This was the perfect amount of difficulty for the group and tied well with the story. 

Afterwards, we had some playtime.

Toddler Art: Story Characters

Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley was the perfect length of book for the toddlers and I was pleased with the craft ideas that were paired along with this book. The kids enjoyed hearing this book read out loud and had the variety of two different types of crafts to choose from or to do both. Both crafts were to make the Big Green Monster. 

One craft involved paint and the other involved tissue paper. All of their crafts turned out really cute and they had fun with the paint. I also liked how this craft allowed them to work with paint differently by smooching their paint around their folded cardstock. It was a different way of working with paint for them. 

Mostly everyone chose to do both crafts, but some parents just wanted to stick with the paper plate and tissue paper monster. 

I also had an opportunity to read the story again to those who arrived late. 

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

 

Toddler Art: Food

I based my whole Toddler Art: Food program around the classic book If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff. This was a simple enough book for the toddlers to listen to and the crafts were rather easy enough for them too. 

This group listened very well and had a better listening day than my older kids. 

For our first craft, we made Moose's muffin using a half of a paper plate and sponges dipped in brown paint. This was a good opportunity for them to use their fine motor skills and use paint. 

The moose craft was a little bit more complicated for them, but the parents easily helped their little ones along with using the glue sticks to make Moose.

Our next theme will be story characters. I'm thinking a cute Cookie Monster craft, but we'll see where Pinterest takes me. 
 

Toddler Art: Animals

I had some more new, great additions during this morning's Toddler Art program and everyone had a nice time with our short story and two crafts.

I read Karma Wilson's Bear Sees Colors. It's about Bear and Mouse who are friends and encounter different animals and colors along the way. The group enjoyed this one and it was fun to see them get excited about each color.

For our two crafts, we made Bear and Mouse. For Bear, I put paper plates out with dollops of brown paint for them to smear and paint onto their paper plate. We had cut-out ears and noses and sticker eyes to make the rest of Bear.

For Mouse, we used construction paper and yarn for his tail and a pom pom for his nose. I used some different color die-cut leaves to glue onto the background and incorporate the color theme of the book too.

They enjoyed making their crafts and parents helped, but I think next time I'll put out some sponges for the paint so it is a little easier for them to grip than the paint brushes. They can always use their hands and finger paint, but sometimes parents don't like this messier approach.

I liked how this story worked so well with the theme and crafts and this author has such great books for concept themes, animals, and the seasons.   

 

Toddler Art: Transportation

I think the group really enjoyed this transportation theme and we all had a really fun time. They all really enjoyed the story, Beep Beep Toot Toot by Emma Garcia and liked hearing the noises of the cars and some helped with the noises. This was a perfect story for the group because it kept their attention and was short enough for the kids to listen well.

The group enjoyed both crafts, but parents loved the idea of having their kids work with sponges for their monster truck paint craft. The original idea was to use toy cars and make tracks, but that would have been too expensive. Sponges allowed for their fine motor skills to be used and still looked just as neat and "dirty" on their monster trucks. They also enjoyed being able to choose between two colors for each craft. I used some craft scissors to make a tire design around the circles to make the wheels for an added touch.

They enjoy using tissue paper to make their car and this allowed the kids to practice more fine motor skills and using the glue stick. Everyone's craft turned out so cute and the drop-ins that came in wanted to register for next time. I'm always pleased with this group.

Other books on transportation: 
Calling All Cars Sue Fliess

Toddler Art: At the Beach

This was a good Toddler Art program with a smaller, cozier crowd. The group listened to the story, Sea, Sand, Me! by Patricia Hubbell  very well and I explained our two crafts.

Our first craft was painting our own sand pail made out of card stock, construction paper, and yarn. Moms were able to write their children's names on the pail with marker and they had a choice of finger painting or using a paint brush.

Our second craft was making our own beach scene using construction paper, sand paper, and tissue paper. We used construction paper for our backdrop and our die-cut suns, sand paper for our sand castles that I cut out, and light blue tissue paper for our water. I told moms to make sure that their child feels the sand paper and the difference between that and the other paper.

Both crafts provided some sort of sensory experience and everyone seemed to have enjoyed the sand paper element in the one craft.

Other books on beaches:
Beach Day Karen Roosa
All You Need for a Beach Alice Schertle
Noni the Pony Goes to the Beach Alison Lester