Art and play
SWC Imagination sparkers for kids (and mums) in lockdown
We always look to contemporary artists when thinking up ideas for kid’s art projects. Here’s a few inspired ideas that are fairly low mess and a little more sophisticated than the usual kid’s art project suspects. Step away from the egg cartons and the stick-on googly eyes!
The New Old
We used black and white copies of old colonial paintings – anything with a horse works well, but you can use any image printed in black and white and if you can print out A3 size – even better! Make a few copies and one can be cut up to collage to the new version with glue. Posca pens are so much better than textas as they’ve got actual paint inside (but super containable and not messy), you can buy them online – they’re a bit pricey but last for ages!
Sculptural Human Organs
We always buy white Raku air-drying clay cause it’s the same price as the brown and the grain is smoother plus kids just prefer the colour. You can paint it with acrylic paint after it dries but it also looks so good in white. Add the anatomy layer to get some really cool sculptures that go a little deeper…..
In the Picture
All you need is a photocopy of a photographic portrait and a full length shot and let them go with the creation of a mixed media collage that tells a personal story about who they are and how they’d like the world to view them. We offer coloured inks, pastels and black Artline pens plus PVA glue (it dries clear).
Plant portraits
Because of the heaviness of the plant foliage and flowers, it’s good to use the side of a box for the base and hot glue for older kids or just thick PVA glue (which dries clear).
Aluminium Foil Sculptures
You can make little wire armatures for larger size sculptures (wrap in bandages for thicker areas) and then wrap in aluminium foil or just build with lots of foil. The lightweight sculptures can even be hung using fishing line to create cool mobile works and the silver finish is stunning!
Goldsworthy Sculptures
All you need is a clay base (again we use air dry) and create with any materials from the garden or a walk around the block, to create an environmental sculpture; sticks, twine, stone, acorns, leaves, egg shells, flowers…anything!
You can also find some great inspiration online at:
Wollongong Art Gallery
MCA
ACMI
City of Melbourne