Literacy & Learning through Art and Play

Art/Creative Ideas that allow children to learn, explore & express themselves while having FUN!
Fly Swatter Painting on Spring Scenes-
Supplies: White Butcher paper or large sheet, stickers (flowers, insects, etc.-foam or regular), paper, glue, scissors, paint, large trays, fly swatters (one per color), smocks, clothes pins, soap & water

1.  Have children create a spring scene of flowers, butterflies and insects using stickers, scissors, paper and glue.  Let this dry completely.
2.  Hang the Spring scene on a chain link fence with clothes pins at child's height
3.  place paint in trays (only cool or warm colors) and place by spring scene
4.  have children put on smocks
5.  place one fly swatter in each paint tray
6.  tell the chidren they are going to swat the insects and paint with either warm or cool colors (review colors and show them how before you let them begin)
7.  when the scene dries talk about the colors and how they blended together to form new colors explaining why these colors are cool or warm.  Let the children tell you what they made and what they see to help them with their expressive language skills.

Rainbow Fish
Supplies needed:  'Rainbow Fish' books, circles, triangles, and other shapes, glue, old crayons (already grated for very young children) A bright warm sunny day

1.  Read storybooks about the 'Rainbow Fish'
2.  Discuss the story with the children.  Ask them why the rainbow fish was special?  Could they make a special fish?
3.  Demonstrate how you can use different shapes to make a fish by combining ovals or circles with triangles, etc. 
4. Let children create their own fish using any shapes they choose.  The younger children may need you to have the shapes pre-cut, older preschoolers should be encouraged to cut out their own shapes.  WE ARE NOT looking for perfection by an original creation by a child.  Make sure you have them put their name on it.
5.  Demonstrate what happens when you blend two colors like yellow and red, etc.  Ask the child, what did we get?  You can use paint, food coloring or colored paddles to illustrate color blending.  Then tell the children they are going to create a fish that has colors that blend for them and they will have created a rainbow fish.
6.  Have older children use large plastic graters to grate old crayons, use a vast variety of colors.  Then have the children mix the colors.  You may do the grating for younger children but let them do the mixing.
7.  Place all the fish face up outdoors in the bright sunlight (about 80 degrees or warmer)  Then have the children take their crayon mixture and sprinkle it all over their fish.  Leave the fish outdoors for a couple of hours and the grated crayon pieces will melt onto the paper.  Brink the fish in to dry over night.
8. The next day have children attach an eye and describe their fish to each other.  You can also attach their fish to a large craft stick and have them create a puppet show retelling the 'Rainbow Fish' stories you read.  You will reinforce emergent reading with retelling and expressive language when they describe their fish to one another.  It's art with a literary twist.

Stay tuned for more ideas.  If you are looking for a specific type of activity, send in a request.