Art activities using berry baskets
We have yet another open ended art activity this time using berry baskets. Art activities from recycled materials are very fun and satisfying. We have in the past always tried to use recyclables for most of our craft and art projects. We have made paper roll castles and paper roll airplanes. We have done art activities using tin cans and egg cartons. What’s fun about this art activity is that it needs only 2 major supplies – cut up berry baskets and paint. That’s it.2 supplies!
I used our strawberry baskets and cut up the sides to make 5 square stencils. With watercolors, markers and small tipped paint brushes I invited my 4 year to create using the berry basket stencil.
She usually gets pretty psyched with open ended art activities simply becase there are no rules and no directions to follow. I bet all kids love open ended kids activities. She painted a bunch of squares with an assortment of colors. This time my pattern loving child went free form! [ ok ok I know I should cut her nails..!]
This may be a good opportunity to teach patterns and color recognition. We just painted and while talking about complementary colors and contrasting colors. Everytime she chose a color she took a second to analyze which other color would look good next to the previous one. Well in her mind black and brown go together, blue and purple go together. That’s the fun part in open ended art activities and love to see her little mind work and make choices and decisions independently.
Once satisfied with the design, remove the stencil and admire!
I should mention while painting squares it is better to use a small flat brush so that with one stroke one square/rectangle is filled in. That keeps the interest in the art activity longer.
No activity is complete when mom doesn’t play/create with the kids. So we had to do one block painting together. We used rectangular ones this time.
This creation came together on its own. It was so cool! My 4 year old and I created blocks on separate sides and once we were almost done she squealed ” Looks like a robot to me mom”. May be!
Thanks for reading
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