We used an old appliance box to protect our floors.  Thanks Lowes – every time we shop we head over to the appliance section and check if they have any boxes they are willing to donate to our projects!
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It was big.  It was crazy.  It was messy.  It was creative – the kids went and got spoons after realizing the paint brushes weren’t as effective as they would prefer.  It was expansive – especially when they started painting on the box, after they were finished with the fabric – just because.  It was crazy and fun.
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After they finished spooning and spattering paint on the linen sheet, we let the “artwork” dry completely for a couple of days.  Then sent it through the dryer for good measure and to use heat to help set the paint.  We then washed the fabric on hot with vinegar.  The vinegar and heat helped “set” the color in – we’re still going to wash these with the colored or dark laundry – just to be safe.
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I think I like our tabletop valentines!

I love it when play turns into a thing of beauty.

This theme was inspired by Sun Hats & Wellies Boots amazing outdoor art {stick heart in the middle of picture below}.

They weren’t the only ones to turn play into art…

Make, Do & Friend went to the park for some beautiful photos of play.

Putti Prapancha makes Runnies.

Childhood List froze pretty ice sculptures.

Blue Skies Ahead freeze colorful snowflakes.

 
All these posts were linked up to last week’s It’s Playtime.

We hope you will join in on the fun today!

Many thanks to our co-hosts, for making this weekly link-up a lot of fun {what fun is it to play alone?}!  If you are ever looking for more ideas of ways to play with your kids, check out their blogs:

Note: Only family-friendly, kid-based posts are accepted. By linking up you give us permission to use a picture, feature you and add you to our weekly email reminder.  As always, links back are loved and cherished!

Let’s play!

A cartoon is a line drawing that our brains can interpret as something more realistic.  Drawing a cartoon still requires proper scale and a recognizable amount of detail to make it familiar in its stripped-down format.

Kids are exposed to this simple art from the first day they sit down to a coloring page.

Coloring pages are simple art.

Until you try and make your own!

That is why I was very impressed when my 8 year old brought home this cartoon he drew of himself and his favorite stuffed dragon from art class at school:

It looks just like him!

It looks just like his dragon.

How did you do this?

We took a picture at school and then traced it on the window.

Oh!

Can we do this at home too?

Absolutely!

And so the planning began for his next cartoon.  Reid is into all things knight, so it was clear that this theme would continue into his next cartoon masterpiece.

I let him plan the photo.  He got dressed and the appropriate props and let me know when he was ready.  Here is the picture that he composed:

I let him choose the pose, but made sure it was on a plain background and as simple as possible.

It was really fun watching him get creative with this project.  If I had made all the decisions, I can promise that he wouldn’t have willingly participated to this level.

I then printed this photo out on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper on a low resolution setting on our home printer.

Reid held the paper up to the light of the window and drew the main lines on another piece of paper.

With smaller kids, taping both to the window would work the best.

And here is the final cartoon, Reid the Knight:

While tracing the important lines of the photo, a child is learning basic art concepts:

• What ARE the main lines of the picture?
• How much detail should be traced?
• Reinforcement of scale
• Introduction to basic shapes and lines – like eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

Once Reid finished this, the other boys started dreaming up cartoons they want to “draw”.

I have spent the afternoon as a cartoon photographer…it isn’t a bad gig.

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Many thanks to my co-hosts, for making this weekly link-up a lot of fun! If you are ever looking for more ideas of ways to play with your kids, check out their blogs:

A play tent is super easy to make!  We made this one out of PVC pipes and old sheets.  It is great for pretend play.

Have a favorite game?  These boys did, and they re-enacted Angry Birds.  Pick your kids favorite book of wii game and try to replicate it through play.

Dress-up clothes help put our kiddos “in character” with the personality they are acting out.  Bloesem Kids had fun creating a variety of paper glasses for her kids to play pretend with.

Every princess enjoys having tea parties… and every cowboy loves decorating his own cupcakes.  Love these photos from Pretties and Posies.

“Don’t touch the laser beams!”  Those were instructions given at a Super Spy Party.  The kids had a blast avoiding the beams.

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To help my kindergartener with her sight words we love throwing a beach ball around.  She has to tell me the words on the color she catches.

Vanessa of Pre-K Pages made math fun with a flyswatter.  The students had to “swat” the right answer.

Trying to teach your kids how to create sentences?  Or chunking words?  I love these DIY word blocks.

Looking for learning apps?  If your 5 year old is like mine, the ipad or phone can entertain them for hours.  Here is a collection of best learning apps for kids.

Science experiments in a box.  Here is a collection of simple science experiments.  Sure to enthrall a kiddo.

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My kids love to create.  We made wall letters out of foam board with lots of textures.

This mom re-purposed old toys into works of art.  They primed them and painted them.  How fun!

My five year olds love to interact with each other.  Lissy Bug had a great idea – play pass the drawings.  Have each child contribute to the work, then when the timer dings, switch to the next person.

Make a community work of art with a collection of frames.  A Bird and a Bean used painters tape to create a silhouette for her kids work.

Who said that art has to last?  Tinkerlab gives us instructions on how to make an easy DIY light table.  Her kids had fun creating and re-creating in salt.
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Like this post but are looking for activities for other age groups of kids?
Check out our other age sets:

Activities for One Year Olds

Activities for Two Year Olds

Activities for Three Year Olds

Activities for Four Year Olds

Activities for Five Year Olds

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Let the Children Play – Play Loving BLogs
The Imagination Tree – 40 Ways of Autumn Play
Hands On: As We Grow – 26 Tin Can Activities
Messy Kids – Ideas with Apples

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Wax mixes differently than watercolors.  The kids at Child Central Station had fun blow-drying crayons.

Practice mixing by “Squishing Colors” colors with Picklebum.

Preschool Projects has a great idea to send secret messages to your kids through their painting projects.

Science Sparks changes the colors of flowers in a recent science experiment.

Make your own Kaleidoscope with the JellyFish Jelly blog.

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Do you have a kids activity that you’d like to share with the world?  We’d love to hear about it!

Link up (and if you love us, link back).   Note:  All posts must be family-friendly, kid-related and we just might feature you   By linking up, know you are giving us permission to do so.
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No road trip with kids is complete without a set of I Spy Bottles.  Here are some that Happy Hooligans made with her kids.
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Do you have any great kids travel tips or activities?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments or in our live chat with the KOA Camping Community next Monday, 9pm CST.

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I hope you enjoy browsing all the other great kids activities that are linked up each week. Just a reminder: Please link back to us… and only family-friendly, kid related posts please. By linking up you are giving us permission to use your photo and feature you.
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Examine, Investigate and Explore

Tykes love to explore their surroundings.  Explore volume by pouring with kids.  Explored the changes in consitency as they added water to  floam from soap flakes eventually playing with bubbles. Explore the outdoors on a scavenger hunt with some nifty cards from Saltwater Kids.  What boy doesn’t like to get dirty?  Allie of No Time for Flashcards watched her son explore in dirt.  Anna of the Imagination Tree enjoyed exploring with shaving cream with her girls.

Fine Motor Skills

Are you looking for ideas to keep little fingers occupied?  Here is a collection of a Dozen Playdough Activities, a variety of discovery boxes are great for open-ended play.  Chasing Cherrios helped her kids develop fine motor skills with a cheese shaker and toothpicks, while Lilla-A made a tool and gadget wall (*swoon*).   Mya and Me had fun making towers of cherrios.

Messy Art

Dip balls into paint and have fun rolling them around on a canvas in this Ball Painting Project.   Use a variety of items for your kids to paint with, including this one from Paint on the Ceiling – a toilet brush.  Two year olds love to make handprints – here is a collection of different handprint crafts for your kids to enjoy.  Don’t want to use a brush?  How about painting with balloons?  Or using toy cars to paint masterpieces?

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These activities were gleaned in part from our weekly kids activity meme, It’s Playtime. If you have any activities you’d love to have added to our collection please join our link-up or leave a note in the comments.  I hope to update this page semi-regularly as I discover more activities.

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Like this post but are looking for activities for other age groups of kids? Check out our other age sets:

Activities for One Year Olds

Activities for Two Year Olds

Activities for Three Year Olds

Activities for Four Year Olds

Activities for Five Year Olds

The instructions were detailed, but left room for kids to develop and add their own personal touches.  For my son, the “Great Horned Owl” craft became the Great Owl Man when my son decided he’d rather have a beard than a beak – silly fella.  Exposure to lots of different textures really helps develop fine motor skills!

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Thanks Green Kids Crafts for sending us crafts to review. We enjoyed our Green Kid Craft Subscription – and hope you will too! Go visit this week’s sponsor, like them on facebook (click here) and tell us about your love of crafts for a chance to win your own subscription!  Share this contest via facebook or twitter – for extra entries.  Winner will be chosen Monday, randomly.

Terri, and her girls at My Creative Family, explored displacement as they filled glasses of water and then added ice cubes until the water overflowed.  What a great way to bring math alive.

Cardboard boxes make some of the best toys!  In Happy Little Messes, these boys mixed their play between cardboard boxes, tape, tubs and of course ice.

This gal tie dyed her fabric with ice cubes of paint.   I bet these would make great colorful summer napkins!

I love how neat and clean this ice cube painting project looks.  They used koolaid to create their cubes of paint.  In addition to the block painting she also made flowers.

This post was my inspiration for this post.  Artful Parent froze a big block of ice, sprinkled salt on it to speed up the melting and then added food coloring to heighten the effect.  I love this colorful ice science experiment.

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Thanks for linking up to It’s PlayTime.  Let me know by email if you are having any difficulties linking up your favorite play-based post!  We love reading and browsing all of your activities.  All of the play activities are visible from this linky on 5 blogs.  Mine and my co-hosts:

* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Rachele : Messy Kids
* Jenny : Let the Children Play
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Please link up only play related posts (no printables, product reviews or game apps please).

Note: By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you.