Alesia’s Art Activities
Alesia Lacina has a long history of arts education in Grinnell. Here are some of her favorite art activities for you!
Marble Mazes
Materials
box (Nutrigrain, Teddy Grahams, etc.)
craft knife or scissors
straws
masking tape
marker
a marble
Instructions
Tape the box shut.
Cut out a large side of the box, like in the picture.
Cut straws to different lengths. Tape or glue down the straws to make paths for the marble to go through.
Mark start and finish.
Use the marble to try to get through the maze.
Tips
The kids also had fun trying out each other’s mazes and trying to make theirs “the hardest.”
- While glue does keep the straws in place, tape works the best
Labyrinth Coloring
Here is a great coloring or activity page! Just color them or use completed pages as story starters. This is a good back up activity that doesn’t take much time or materials.
Materials
- Labyrinth printouts (Click the image to print)
Flour Balloon Creatures
These flour balloon monsters are basically funny-faced stress balls. We draw faces on our flour balloons, but draw whatever you want.
Materials
Flour
Large bowl/tarp/tray
Balloons
Funnels
Pencils/sticks to push flour down
Sharpies
Instructions
Using a funnel, pour flour into the balloons over a large bowl, tarp, or tray to catch any stray flour. You many need to use a pencil to push as much flour as possible into the balloons.
Tie off balloon.
Decorate balloon with a face/character.
Tips
Regular balloons work best (not the really skinny ones).
Magic Story Starter
This may seem like an intimidating project if you've never made a fortune teller, but it is fun. And it's a great way to get kids writing! In case of confusion, we added lots of pictures. Still, if you have trouble, don't feel bad! There are many different tutorials on the internet for more help.
Materials
Large square pieces of white paper
Pencils/markers
Instructions
- Fold paper like a fortune teller.
1a. Take a piece of paper and fold it in half, corner to corner. Unfold and repeat with the other corners. You will end up with 2 diagonal creases.
1b. With the paper unfolded back into a square, fold each corner into the center. Do not unfold these.
1c. Flip over. Fold each corner into the center again.
1d. Fold in half to make creases again. These should be horizontal and vertical, though.
1e. With the paper open facing up now, slide one hand underneath into the pockets on the bottom. Place your thumb in one pocket, your fingers in another. Do the same with your other hand. Bring all the points to the middle.
2. Have the kids write the very beginnings of a story on the outer four squares of the fortune teller (ex: Once upon a time..., Long long ago..., Deep in a forest...).
3. On the middle eight triangles, introduce a main character (ex: there was a little boy..., there was a baby dragon..., there was a beautiful princess…). Number each triangle as well.
4. Flipping up one of the flaps of the middle layer reveals the final, third layer. On this layer, write an action on each triangle that corresponds to the character on the middle layer triangle above (ex: who walked through a magic door and found himself in..., who was just learning to fly, when..., who picked an enchanted flower that...)
5. To use the story starter, have someone choose a story opening. As you say each word aloud, flap the fortune teller open from side to side. Once for each word. Next, have someone choose a number from the visible triangles. Flap the fortune teller open from side to side however many times the number indicates. Finally, have someone pick another number from the four visible triangles to determine a character. Lift the flap to reveal what the character does. At this point, the kids can write their own stories with the story beginning given.
Tips
Letting the kids make up their own characters and actions makes it more fun for everyone!
A story could be written as a group or individually.
Outer squares of the fortune teller: story opening
Middle triangles of the fortune teller: introduction of a main character (we forgot to number them, but you should mark yours)
Sources
- Book: "Handmade Tales: Stories to Make and Take," by Dianne de Las Casas
Cutouts
2-color cutouts
Materials
- Multi-colored paper
- scissors
- double stick tape and/or glue sticks
Instructions
Fold one piece of paper in half any way, corner-to-corner or end-to-end.
Still folded, fold in half again.
Using scissors, cut out shapes as you would to make snowflake, being mindful to leave the general size of the paper the same.
Tape or glue the cut out to another piece of paper.
To make a cutout with more than two colors, repeat steps 1-3 and glue each additional layer onto the first paper.
Tips
Encourage as much cutting as possible! The more cut out, the more interesting the final product will be.
This is a great way to teach kids about complimentary colors.
3-color cutout
3-color cutout