And I love art projects that:

• Are fun crafts for my kids
• Teach a lesson
• Make a memory
• Are something I want to keep

Handprint crafts are some of my favorite because it reminds me just how small they were at one point. So, combine that with a dinosaur kids craft about nighttime and daytime–and we’ve got a winner.

My kids are always thrilled to use paint. They love anything that could potentially destroy the house.

How to Make Dinosaur Handprints (And Dinosaur Footprints too!)

For this dinosaur kids craft, the supply list isn’t long:

• Acrylic paint (I personally use professional paint and avoid “washable” kids paint that isn’t really made for long-term value)
• Paintbrushes (large and small)
• Cardstock paper (I used black and parchment)
• Paper plates or bowls (to hold paint)
• Baby wipes

Start with Handprints (or Footprints)

Pro tip: practice having them keep their hands open before you paint. Mix colors to get a more textured/dynamic dino. Talk about how cold the paint feels and keep reminding them to keep their hands open.

We also talk a lot about not touching anything else. Tell them just to focus on holding their fingers open and not trying to touch the paper. You do all the work of placing their hand and gently pressing up each finger. Pull the hand straight up to get a clean handprint.

Wipe down immediately with wipes (and keep an old grocery sack on hand for the messy wipes. Wash hands after most of the paint is off. So far (fingers crossed), we’ve never made any messes with handprint art projects.

Add a Simple Prehistoric Background

Before adding details to the dinosaur handprints, I had the boys help me add backgrounds. We kept them very simple with a line of brown paint for the ground (and maybe a few green leaves). We added stars and moon to the black paper while we talked about night time, and we added the sun to the parchment when as we talked about day time.

My preschooler had to be more “accurate” with his sun, moon, stars and plants, but I gave my 2-year-old more freedom. Klay added lots of yellow “sun” to his and I love it.

Add the Details

I helped them add tails, legs, spines and teeth to their dinosaurs as needed. We waited until they were dry and then added faces with an extra-fine Sharpie marker.

They really loved this dinosaur print project and it went on the fridge as soon as it was dry and dated. (Pro tip: always add names and dates in the bottom corner because you will always forget. Always.)

Check out more adorable handprint and footprint projects!

Pin This Dinosaur Kids Craft for Later!

The post Dinosaur Kids Craft with Handprints and Footprints appeared first on MidKid Mama.

Check out my latest podcast on chalk walking with kids:

We spend an entire day sweating over 8’ squares in the middle of Main Street. It’s intensive and grueling. We might be a little crazy to have done it for 10 years.

And, yes…since I’m the only one pushing it, I realize I’m basically talking about myself in plural. But, technically, I’ve drug my husband and kids into it as well.

Anyways.

This year was a little different…and WE WON!

Check out this blog for a brief history of our (my) street drawings and tips for chalk walking yourself!

Chalk Walking Since ‘06

If you didn’t know, I have my degree in art. It’s been a passion since I was little, though that is a topic for another post. In college, I heard about our local chalk walk because a sponsored opportunity came up.

That first year, our piece was semi-terrible. There is a bit of a learning curve for working that big and working in chalk. But it was still fun and I came back the next year ready.

There are a few things that make chalk walks really fun. In our city, the chalk walk is part of our biggest festival and our biggest art-centered event. Thousands of artists flood our street to create eight foot blocks of art.

Tips for a Chalk Walk

If you’ve never worked on an eight foot square, you’d probably be surprised at just how much work it is and how many things you do differently than with a normal drawing. There are things you have to remember or you will either burn out, hate your final result or regret it the next day. Here are some things I’ve learned from more than a decade of experience.

1. Skew the Image

In our Trolls piece, for example, their heads had to get larger toward the top of the square. If you viewed it from straight above, it looked warped with a larger top and their legs tiny in comparison, but from the sidewalk it looked right.

To get the shapes right, I used a trick from art class: take a picture. For some reason, when you look at the picture of your picture, you get a new perspective and it highlights your proportion or shape flaws.

• We did this all the time with our still lives and paintings—especially if they were big or you had been working on them a while. It gives you fresh eyes somehow.
• Draw a quick outline sketch on your square in a mid-tone color (nothing that’s hard to cover over.
• Take a picture on your cell phone from where most viewers will be standing.
• If it looks warped (i.e. you want to get higher for a more accurate picture), adjust for the proportions by enlarging the top of the image.
• Take pictures as you go to make sure the proportions are staying correct.

2. Paint a Base Layer

Cement will literally eat your chalk. Using tempura paint will give you a base layer to work on for better color accuracy and the good of your paint. You can see those first two examples above from college that I overdid the paint and we didn’t use much chalk at all. Now, I’ve learned to put down a more basic base that helps conserve colors but allows for the chalk medium.

3. Tape Your Square

Use tape to create a clean edge for your square. You might not think it’s a big deal, but when you are done and you pull away the tape, you have a very clean edge that gives the square a professional look. I have used most types of tape and duct tape is my favorite because it holds the best despite the wet paint and dirt. Have someone help you if possible and you will speed up the process for an 8’ square.

4. Pack the Right Chalk Walk Supplies

Aside from the obvious chalk and paint, there are a number of things you will want to bring to an intensive chalk walk.

Bathroom towel: You might want to sit on something besides the concrete (which gets very hard and very hot) You may want to wipe your sweat. Pick old towels you don’t care about—we have “garage” towels for this kind of thing (the place towels go when they are no longer fit for the bathroom).

Wear real shoes: Not everyone does this, but I find it incredibly important to wear real shoes that I will be as comfortable as I can be on the hard pavement all day. I bring flip flops for as soon as I’m done and ready to just walk around.

Water: Our chalk walk supplies ice cold water and wash stations, but you almost can’t have enough. I also bring a gallon jug of water for rinsing, mixing and whatever, and a canteen of ice water for drinking. You never know when water will run out and it’s just not worth having that happen!

Snacks: Preferably ones that won’t make you thirsty. Fruit snacks, celery, cheese (in a lunch cooler) are all good picks. You won’t want to eat a lot if it’s sunny, but you should take a few breaks.

A cart: Or, in my case, I’ve taken a stroller. It’s super helpful when you can roll all your stuff to your spot from wherever you finally found for free parking. I’m not sure what I’ll do next year when I have no strollers…not sure I’m ready to drag out a Radio Flyer, but it might come to that.

SUNSCREEN: I can’t stress this enough. Layer it on. Multiple times in the day. You will still get burned (especially if you are as white as me). My husband and kids have so far, never burned.

Printed reference images: It is SO hard to really see your phone in the sun. Do yourself a huge favor and print out a page of reference images for whatever you are making. All the cool kids do it. You can print it pretty cheap somewhere like Fed Ex Office if you don’t have a color printer. Take two copies in case you spill paint, or water, or smear chalk dust on one. Pin it down with a bottle of paint or box of chalk because it will always try to blow away from you no matter how dead and sweltering the air.

Paper towels: Take a whole roll. They are helpful for smearing chalk to preserve your fingers (and you NEED to preserve those fingers because they will go raw).

Shade: The jury is out on this one for me. Some chalk walkers bring their own tents, but I’m usually setting up by myself and don’t want the hassle. It would be awesome to have protection from the abusive sun, but I’ve also seen peoples tents blowing down the street when a quick wind picked up. And at a certain point, the sun will move to where the tent isn’t helpful to anyone but your neighbor (though it does a nice job during high noon).

Extra pastels: Save all your pastels that you don’t use so you have more for the next year. I have a whole box of pastels and I reorganize them after every chalk walk to condense my boxes and throw away any tiny nubs.

5. Start Ahead of Time

If you are putting down paint (which I highly recommend), then you will need to give it time to dry. This doesn’t take long, but you waste precious cool early morning hours if you do it the day of the event. If at all possible, go as soon as they give away the squares (ours allow us on the squares the Friday night before the Saturday chalk walk) and get the paint layer done.

If you are doing really big characters (like our Pikachu), you will need to do your quick sketch and paint the different sections accordingly to save time and resources. We could save a lot of yellow (Pikachu) by painting his whole shape yellow. The smaller characters could just be done on white. For the mermaid and Cinderella, I painted the background blue to save on the chalk too. Do big sections of color, not the whole thing white, if you want to save on chalk.

6. Create Something Recognizable

One of the most irritating questions you will hear over and over during the blistering hot experience is: “What is that????”

Now, it isn’t really the fault of the people passing by…they are just wandering around and talking about the art. But, in my opinion, it’s repetitive, semi-distracting and makes you feel like you need to tell them.

On the flip side, when they can immediately tell what it is, you get to hear how much they like it.

Maybe you don’t care.  And that’s cool too. Part of the experience for me is trying to get it to where most people can enjoy it for as much of the day as possible. I’ve realized this makes the whole process even more enjoyable.

Main character first: This feels so counter-intuitive to how I do art. Normally everything leads up to the focal point for me. But, start with the character sketch. When you like the proportions start detailing that character before you build in the background much at all. It also gives you an important boost to get something done before it gets too hot.

Start early: For our chalk walk, the bulk of people come around 10am-1pm. But many artists aren’t starting until 9! I try to get there early and I try to get my character pretty close to done before most people are walking through. Again, totally so I can hear the “ooh” and “ahh” over “Huh???” So, vanity purposes only…well, that and it’s cooler until around 10 anyways.

FACE THE RIGHT DIRECTION: Most people are walking on one side (the side walk side), but so many face toward the center of the street. Face where people are walking and they’ll be more captivated.

Don’t leave your reference paper out: Okay, totally differences of opinion here…I do NOT like to feel like I’m being compared to the reference I’m using. Some people tape a big version to the bottom of their square so passers can see it. I’m guessing it’s definitely so people won’t keep asking what they are working on. But, then you get to hear them mumbling about if you are off or not.

Choose something identifiable: It doesn’t have to be a cartoon character—it could be a beautiful country scene, animal, logo or artwork. People love pop culture references and movies, though. They get excited when they know what you are working on. Especially the kids. And, as much as you don’t turn around (there are just too many in the constant flow), it’s really neat to hear a little girl scream, “MOMMY, ARIEL! SHE’S SO PRETTY! AND FLOUNDER! OOH POKEMON!” and that happens a lot. I appreciate recognizable characters even more now that my own kids are that way. As I’ll share, they weren’t super jazzed by my latest square in tribute to Ernie Barnes).

My Little Mermaid square is a good example of what I’m talking about here. I wanted to reference the fact that Disney had just announced the live action Ariel will be played by Halle Bailey. We were excited about it, but I didn’t want her to be mistaken for “just some mermaid” because she isn’t the traditional Disney Ariel yet (and the movie itself hadn’t been made).

So, to help with the recognition and validation factor, I drew Flounder and Sebastian. So, clearly I didn’t draw Ariel’s face wrong because I know how to draw a character. It was a popular square and I got mostly positive feedback from people passing by.

Ooh and did you notice Goldeen in the corner? Yep, we had a floater come over from our neighboring Pokemon square, which only the truest of Pokemon nerds caught.

And the Pokemon square was another example of recognition because everyone knew Pikachu, most saw Charmander or Squirtle, and only a few knew background characters, like Meowth, Psyduck, Muchlax, Haunter and Wobbuffet. So it combined easy recognition with that deeper layer for the true fans.

7. Don’t Really Take a Break Until the End

It is super tempting to stop and walk around or go take a break. Take short breaks, but know it’s going to be a lot harder to come back. Once you go into the air conditioning, it’s basically over.

Stand up and stretch your back or sit down to give your feet a break, but don’t get too comfy. When it’s all over, you will have plenty of break time. The cold shower might be the best part of the day.

Chalk Walking with Kids

The big change came with the kids. There were a couple of summers where I had a tiny baby or was too pregnant to do it. But I missed it.

But, taking kids is hard. They don’t last nearly as long (heck, I barely last), and they either do their own thing or need to be told every step. I really wanted them to be able to participate so they would learn:

• Focus: it’s hard to stay focused on something big for so long
• Flexibility: You never know what the weather will be like. Last year, ours got washed away. This year, we did a virtual version. They have expectations, but they learn to adapt.
• Letting go: It’s hard to spend so much time on something and watch it get destroyed in the next day or two. It’s a great way for them to learn that we can spend a lot of time and effort on something and not have to keep it.
• Family Bond: We do this as a whole family (even including extended family!). So it has become a really fun tradition and the kids look forward to it. This year Kniya told me she would “never forget doing it on The Main Street.”

I could not do this without my MiL, FiL and husband, though. There is just no way I could do something very complicated if I had them all the whole time. Most years, we all go get the square(s), tape and paint the background on Friday night. Then, Saturday morning I get up early and leave to start.

Knick’s parents come to help with the kids while I’m free and clear at the chalk walk. A little after noon, the bring the kids over so they can help. Last year I had their square ready!

And, while they are helping, the other adults watch the babies (so far there’s always been at least one too young to help) and Knick helps the kids with their coloring. I’m usually still working on a different part (last year I was working on Ariel’s background).

This year it was a bit different because it was virtual. We still packed up and headed over to my aunt’s house to work in her driveway. The kids were not focused or into it! Ha. But they had a blast in her yard. And, when Knick came later with Klay, he helped me smooth in some backgrounds and got the kids to help me finish up.

Definitely not my best squares ever, but for four, I felt like it went well. And technically, my square was just the huge giraffe.

A Tribute to a Master

Normally, I don’t do the categories. I just get too competitive.

They usually aren’t really things I would naturally work on and I’d hate to work extremely hard all day on something I picked for a category with the sole purpose of winning. I tell my kids that’s not the point of the chalk walk at all. I’m not sure I’ve ever really entered unless I happened to do one that fits a category. I know in more than 10 years of chalk walks, I’ve never won before!

But, this year, after finishing four, I saw the category I couldn’t pass up.

I was preparing to submit my work for the virtual online gallery, when I noticed “Olympics” was one of the categories. Ernie Barnes was my favorite artist for a long time and has been one of my biggest influences. His fluid and powerful figures are not fake, but their realism is exaggerated. I was drawn to the elongation and how he seemed to capture the feeling of the moment.

In college, I had an assignment to contact a professional artist and interview them. We were supposed to try and pick someone famous and they had to be living (so we could actually interview them). I sent out requests to Kadir Nelson and Ernie Barnes.

Kadir Nelson emailed me back and was willing to answer my questions via email. Ernie Barnes’ assistant responded by passing me to another assistant. I’m not sure who I talked to or how many layers, but I finally convinced them that I had read every book on him (I owned them!) and just really wanted to talk to him. They had me send over a list of questions and told me I could call at a specified time for a 10-minute interview.

To say I was over the moon is an understatement. I floated on clouds.

The interview with Mr. Barnes started off a little stiff. He seemed unsure of why I wanted to talk to him or what we would have in common. I had read how much he didn’t like the more abstract and modern forms of art. I led with how I shared his perspective. As soon as I told him that, he opened up like a fire hose and told me so much. How he would take in a scene and just feel the rhythm before attempting any shapes. How important the feelings conveyed were and not just realism. I respected the 10-minute limit, as much as I could have listened to him talk for hours.

It is the 16^th century master painter Michelangelo in whom Barnes can be said to have found his strongest influence both spiritually and philosophically. Michelangelo’s figures of heroic proportion and spiritual nobility are far removed from the heretofore classical concepts of bodily movement and heft. Barnes’ symbols, like Michelangelo’s, derive their power from portraying the convolutions of the soul through the contortions of movement.

(Preface by Joan D’Arcy for From Pads to Pallets Ernie Barnes)

He was the 1984 official Olympic artist. This was a big deal, considering he grew up during Jim Crowe laws when he didn’t have access to museums and finding famous artists as inspiration. When he asked about where he could find “paintings by Negro artists” as a senior high school student on an art trip, the museum docent responded, “Your people don’t express themselves that way.”

He went on to become an NFL player before having the connections to start opening doors for his art! After retiring, he connected with NFL owners before eventually picking up commissions and getting a gallery opening.

He so influenced my own style, that I had to do a tribute.

So, during nap time, I grabbed my pastel box and got to work on a pavement section in our back yard during nap time. When my kids saw it, they were highly disappointed it wasn’t a Mickey Mouse square. But that’s okay. I did this one for myself.

I updated the jerseys a bit and I swapped out his lead runner for a Ussain Bolt reference. And I did it in my own style, which is a little softer.

Two days later it all washed away.

The post Participating in a Virtual Chalk Walk with My Kids appeared first on MidKid Mama.

Making a Valentine’s Day Chain

Start by cutting strips of paper. I picked red, pink and lavendar paper. All of the strips were cut quickly at about 1″ thick and across the short side of the paper. We did three types of rings:

Collage: I picked out red, pink and white tissue paper from my stash and cut it into various squares and triangles. I gave each kid a whole sheet of paper, then the kids used glue and a paint brush to paint their papers and stick on the tissue paper. When they were done and dried, we cut the strips for the rings.

Markers: I only let the kids use pink, purple and red markers. It felt very limiting to my son (who loves black), but it can be a fun challenge for some projects. Limiting the colors made these look a little more Valentinesy and helped the chain look cohesive.

Stickers: I grabbed a few sheets of fun hearts and love-themed stickers. They were only allowed to use a few per strip and only on certain strips (otherwise everything would have been all stickers).

Assembling the Valentine’s Day Paper Chain

I tried to mix up the colors and get a somewhat even amount of each style. Once we had the strips done, we just created interlocking circles, securing the ends with clear tape.

It took a bit to get it all put together, but it is one of those projects that will last for a long time if cared for. We started it two years ago and made it longer this year. It has so many cute illustrations and misspelled words. I love it.

Creating Memorable Holiday Decor

I thought about adding dates and names for who did what when, but I decided against it. While I name and date all their paper artwork, I wanted this to just be more of a group project.

I absolutely love seasonal crafts that showcase a child’s abilities/stage/creativity while being useful. So many of their amazing creations on paper get hung on the fridge for a while and then stored in a big box for the future. But having these kinds of projects means pulling out their amazing work every year for a purpose (decorating the house). It makes things fun and personalized, while creating memories.

The post Valentine’s Day Kids Craft: Sweet Link Chain appeared first on MidKid Mama.

This spring, we decided to use a mix of natural textures and craft items to create these adorable mini Easter basket crafts. We started by getting a tray and taking it outside to be filled with supplies that could spark the imagination.

When we had a tray full of supplies, we cracked the walnut shells and picked out basket handles to add to the shells. Thin, bendable sticks or dried grass worked best for the handles.

After adding all of the natural elements to the our Easter basket craft, we added some glass beads for eggs. So fun! Pin these and then make your own! I’d love to see what you make, so tag me @midkidcrew on Instagram.

Check out more spring crafts with our Painted Birdhouse project or Bunny Footprints.

The post Mini Nature Easter Basket Spring Craft appeared first on MidKid Mama.

When the days are just starting to warm up around here, I like to start thinking spring. This is the time to start looking at seed catalogs and thinking about how I’m going to fill up my gardens. This cute spring painting craft for kids takes one of those little craft birdhouses and turns it into a work of art.

If you have older kids and want a more in-depth project, you could even make the birdhouse yourself. But these painted birdhouses were simple, fun and something I’ll bring out for decor each spring. I absolutely love crafts for kids that are usable or something I display long-term.

Getting Started: Birdhouse Craft Supplies

I have all kinds of acrylic paint on hand. The craft or artist grade stuff works best because it isn’t really thin and runny. I really don’t like kids’ grade paint, so I don’t even buy it. The only downside is–this “real” paint is not washable at all if you get it on clothing or let it dry on surfaces.

You will also need brushes, the craft birdhouses and paper plates (or paint palettes). You can either paint the birdhouses a solid color and let them dry completely or just work with the plain wood. The nice thing about paining on a first layer of color or white means there aren’t any blank spaces without paint on the birdhouse.

Painting the Birdhouses

To start, I didn’t give them a lot of direction. I picked out a select color palette and told them we were going to be doing flowers. I find with projects it is good to set parameters of some kind. Those parameters may be about what they can/can’t paint, how much has to be covered, what colors they use, etc. So, for example, when doing a craft for kids, I might give instructions like:

“You can paint whatever you want.” or “We are only painting flowers today.”
“What colors would you like?” or “Here are 5 colors for you to work with.”
“Start with _____ color.” or “Do a background first and we will add ____ on top.”
“Pick a brush.” or “Start with this (big, small, medium) one first.”

While it might seem like the rules limit their creativity, I find it usually pushes them to be more creative–especially if I change those rules every time. When it is a free-for-all (which I also do with them), they tend to create in a certain way that feels comfortable for them. Providing some (or a lot of) structure when doing crafts for kids will push them to think outside of their own box and try something new.

Adding the Details

One of the rules was adding flowers on top of their color patches. A lot of times I will tell the kids to stop working on a certain part. Kids don’t always know when they are done and they can go from something awesome to something overworked. I know that may sound bad, but they do their art based off of their feelings. If they are bored, they will either do more or quit. If they are into it, they might keep going just because they are having fun.

During free-for-all projects, they are free to work as long as they want. During these projects that are more structured, we work on recognizing when something is really good and should be left alone and when something needs a bit more.

I helped Kamden a lot with his. Since he is only 2, I wanted to help him get something that could be displayed with the others. I know this probably sounds terrible, but I honestly do not save or display artwork just because my kid did it. We have way too much to do that. It’s all about how good they did for their level and how aesthetically beautiful it is if I’m going to display it longer than a brief stay on the fridge.

So, I let him do his thing and then I helped him add some flowers and did some details myself when he got bored. Then when he got interested again, I helped him make some fingerprint bees.

After finishing the houses, we let them dry and signed the bottoms. How cute are these when it comes to a craft for kids? I know I will love having them out each spring.

Pin one of these to do your own later and then check out another great spring craft for kids here: Easter Bunny Footprints.

The post Painting Craft for Kids: Spring Birdhouse appeared first on MidKid Mama.

Holiday decor projects are a great way for kids to get involved with crafts that hold memories. Projects like this painted handprint craft for fall, will get them involved in the holiday or season, offering great opportunities for learning at home.

Our holiday decorations get pulled out once a year and the kids can see how much they’ve grown with a handprint craft like this. With the amount of artwork we do here, clutter becomes an issue. I keep a box of their best artwork, keep holiday-specific items to get out during that season, hang their very best things for year-round decor and then toss the rest.

It is so hard for me to throw out my kids’ art (even coloring pages!), but you just cannot keep everything or nothing will be enjoyed. Handprint craft decor is one of my favorite things to create and keep.

But, this year we did a special decoration for Thanksgiving and the fall season. Check out our handprint sign kids’ craft project.

Fun Handprint Painting Project for Kids

To start, you need paints, brushes and a sign. I love browsing the Target dollar section seasonally to see what signs or materials I can use for projects like this. I always have craft and artist grade paint on hand, so I just grabbed some fall colors I liked.

Aside from the basic project materials, grab a paper plate, paper towels and wet wipes. Diaper wipes are the easiest way to clean paint of little hands before they have an opportunity to decorate the rest of your house with paint.

Making the Handprints

Start with a few drops of colors. If you are going for the autumn leaf look, then you don’t want just one solid color. You also don’t want every color on each hand, since that won’t give you a lot of variation in the prints. Use a large paint brush to smooth a solid layer of paint on the hand.

Warn your kid before starting that it’s going to be cold and they can only touch the sign as you help them and nothing else until their hand gets cleaned off. Prepping your kid with what to expect really helps during projects like this. It may sound super basic, but you’d be shocked at what kids don’t think about–even the ones with the best intentions.

Before placing the hand, show them how to spread their fingers out straight and not too stiff. Tell them you will put their hand down and not to move their fingers at all. The bigger kids are pretty easy–it’s baby handprints that can be really difficult and will require patience. When the hand is down, carefully press each finger and the palm of the hand to get a good print.

Adding the Lettering

I’m not going to lie–this is the hard part. One thing I’ve found over the years is–do not make your lettering up. Find a real font and have the word typed out in front of you before starting. Making up letters is a craft and takes a lot of technical skill. You want to see a clear example you know you like before starting. You can even print out your word and transfer it if you are worried about getting it right. I use a very small brush and pencil out a rough outline before starting.

If you try this out, tag me (@midkidcrew) on Instagram! I would love to see what you come up with for your own home. Thinking about spring? Check out my adorable bunny footprint decor project. Pin this project for a fall craft to do with your kids:

The post Painted Kids Handprint Craft: Thanksgiving Decor appeared first on MidKid Mama.

1. Start with tracing paper, a pencil, a Sharpie, paint brushes and two slightly different colors of orange.

Start with a pencil outline to make sure the pumpkin shape and face are right before moving on. Use the sharpie to trace the pencil lines that you (or your kid) are happy with.

2. Limit the colors to keep the project more simple.

Painting can get out of control with too many colors. While lots of colors are great sometimes, limiting the palette can really help make things less overwhelming for young students.

3. Smooth out paint to a thin layer.

You don’t want any lines or blobs, so help your child create thin coats on their drawing. Avoid the eyes, nose and mouth so they are brighter than the rest of the pumpkin. Keep all paint within the lines of the pumpkin. Finish with a bit of brown on the stem. Let your paintings dry flat (use something like a cup to hold down the corners if curling starts).

4. Set limitations and help where needed.

I helped Kamden and Kaleb do the marker part (with my hand over theirs) because it can be hard for younger kids to follow their lines and the goal is to trace, not create something else (and I didn’t want Sharpie on the table!). I helped Kamden consider each part (“Let’s start with the pumpkin! Now add eyes!”…etc.) so he would stay on track and not end up with just scribbles. I also helped Kamden paint his so the eyes and mouth would stay clear. I watched all three kids to make sure their paint didn’t get too thick. With many projects they can do what they want, but it is good to also incorporate projects that have “rules.” These projects help them consider new ways to do art and grow in their abilities.

5. Laminate your pumpkin sunlight catcher for durability.

We tape ours up in the windows every year, so I want to make sure they last and the tape doesn’t stick. Carefully cut out the pumpkin 1/2″ away from the sharpie line when every part of it is completely dry. Add your child’s name and the year along the bottom with an extra fine sharpie (it’s so easy to forget when things were made!). You can use self-laminating clear sticky paper, but it’s hard to get them perfect without bubbles or lines. We have a local art store that did all three for $1.25. My husband and I also both have laminators at our workplaces. After they are laminated, cut the plastic film about 1/2″ around the pumpkin (leave space so the laminated edge stays strong and looks clean).

Voila! You have pumpkin sunlight catchers. This year, we used tape doubled over into a circle and stuck to the back of the sun catcher to keep them on the windows (not sure why I didn’t do that before). Above the sunlight catchers were done starting on the left by Kniya (5), Kaleb (3) and Kamden (2).

Look at how close Kamden’s pumpkin was to Kniya’s first pumpkin sunlight catcher from 2015! She would have been just 3 months older than he is now when she did hers. They have a similar personality, but I didn’t expect this!

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My kids love arts and crafts. Unfortunately, I can’t keep everything they make or we would be swimming in drawings, coloring papers and projects covered in glitter. I’m not very excited about throwing things away either. So, I try to look for projects we will keep around or projects like this one that aren’t intended to be saved. For this project, the kids created 3-D illustrations with food and then turned them into healthy granola bar cookies!

A Picture Worth a Thousand Bites

I threw the dry ingredients for granola bars onto a plate and let them create pictures. My ingredients included:

• Walnuts
• Oats
• Dried Cherries
• Peeled and chopped Apples
• Chia Seeds
• Coconut Flakes
• Chocolate Chips
• Melted White Chocolate

I let the kids have at it. They had a blast and were busy for over an hour, focused on their detailed pictures. Kaleb painstakingly made an abstract spider, nearly one crumb at a time. Kniya made a school and school bus on her plate–very excited about the yard of grass she made with a layer of oats.

Turning Pictures Into Granola Bites

Scrape the contents of a finished “picture” into a mixing bowl and add a couple scoops of peanut butter and a couple tablespoons of honey. Divide and roll each mixture into about 4-5 balls, smushing them onto a wax paper lined baking tray and putting them into the freezer for 10 minutes before eating.

They were tasty, just like cookies. The kids loved them (so did I!) and they were healthy snacks–low in sugar and high in good fats. Kids can experiment with shapes while thinking about how food and flavors combine.

Kniya just kept commenting on how delicious they were (she really likes to eat things she’s made all by herself!). Kaleb had a bit more trouble letting his art get turned into food (“Hey mom, we can keep it right here on the table!”), but it was good for him to let it go and he still enjoyed eating the granola bar cookies.

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We love projects around here. The kids get so excited about anything from crayons on paper to painting projects. Of course, because paint is the messiest and scissors are the most difficult, projects including one (or both) of those things in a craft makes it a sure-fire win.

While we don’t do a lot of outlandish things around the holidays, I typically find at least one holiday themed craft for them to do. I love having those projects for future holiday decorations. My favorite kind of holiday crafts are the watch-me-grow kind that show some sort of change in their artistic skill or physical growth. Our most recent craft was for Easter and it involved some pretty cute little feet.

Bunny Footprint Easter Craft

Since we just had a new addition in our family, I thought something using handprints or footprints would be perfect. Footprints are a lot easier to do with newborns that want to keep their hands tightly curled into fists.

I got a blank wooden Easter egg sign from Target’s Dollar Spot that was painted a Robin’s egg blue with metallic gold specks. I keep acrylic craft paint on hand. Wipes work great for quickly cleaning up the wet paint both from the skin and if any got on our tile.

I had the kids do a footprint on a piece of cardstock paper right before doing the print on the wooden egg. This gave me a practice sheet for the footprints and one Kniya and Kaleb could paint finishing touches on later. I chose to keep the bunnies a natural color so that they wouldn’t look cartoonish. Kniya thought it was kind of boring, so we gave her rabbit a piebald coat.

Even Kamden (18 months old) did a great job holding his little foot still and letting me apply the paint. I had him go right after Kniya so he could see what he was supposed to do. His fat little foot made the perfect, fluffy white bunny.

In order to be sure the tail would show up, I added a bit of grey into my “white” bunny color and a little bit of burnt umber into the lightest piebald bunny color (so the bunnies didn’t actually have any pure white on their body colors).

The trick in doing good footprints is getting the kids to hold somewhat still and making sure all areas of the foot and toes are pressed down firmly without the foot sliding at all.

Painting the Bunnies

The rabbit ear shape is important, since the footprint alone won’t be enough to look like a rabbit. The ears get wider in the middle and are pointy at the top. We used the same paint color as whatever was at the top of the “head” (or on their heel).

Adding the Details

Use the light, off-white color of the bunny to paint egg shapes on the ground around the rabbits. Add tails with pure white on the lighter bunnies and use the light off-white for tails on the darker bunnies. The kids decorated eggs near the rabbits on the paper and I did the eggs on the sign using blue, pink and yellow.

We then added grass around the eggs and the bottom of the rabbits with green paint. Kniya did most of the painting on their paper picture, but Kaleb helped some too.

The result turned out super cute. I especially love Kam’s fat footprint and Klay’s tiny one. Can you see that I also added the year to the right side in green next to the eggs? I always make sure to include the date so I remember exactly how old they were.

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