For the Peanuts: About Me Drawing

Our first project in Art for the Young Child at the beginning of the semester was to write our name and incorporate the letters into drawings of things that tell about ourselves. My professor explained that this is great for kids to do in new group settings to break the ice and introduce themselves, and it also gets the creative juices flowing. Then as a group, the kids can talk about their drawing. I included things like VMI and the Navy (for Joey), utensils - because we like to cook and eat, scotland, dance shoes and music, a dachshund, and a needle and thread.

I just used an ink pen, but obviously having the little ones incorporate color by using crayons or colored pencils would be great. And I have to say, even as an adult, this was a lot of fun and it was interesting thinking about things that I would share about myself. 

For the Peanuts: Cut Paper Letters

I just started a class called Art for the Young Child. I thought since I'm an Art and Family & Child Development double major and I work at a Montessori school, this would be right up my alley. I have to say, after only a couple classes, I already love it. We basically get to do arts and crafts each week but we also learn how a project corresponds with developmental levels and the education standards set by the state of Virginia. Its so neat to see the other things people choose to make (its a very open list of projects), and I always leave the class feeling upbeat and ready to tackle other tasks and projects I have.

After doing this project, I was just too proud of it and had so much fun, and I wanted a way to share it on the blog. So here's what I'm thinking: each time I do a project for the class, I'll share it the blog and at the end of the semester, we'll have a little collection of projects perfect for little peanuts. Hopefully this will be helpful to the handful of mamas and papas out there who I know follow the blog. 

All you need for this project is a pair of scissors and paper--hows that for an easy, inexpensive first project?? Before I cut my letters, I painted two sheets of 12x18 paper with acrylic paint I had in the house to give my letters a little oomph. After the paper dried, I roughly cut 30 squares and rectangles (15 from each sheet) from which to cut my letters. For the class we just needed to cut the alphabet and a title and glue to 12x18 paper, but you can obviously use these letters for anything--its a fun activity for kids and can help little ones practice with their scissor skills, and adults can tidy them up (mine are looking a tad rough) and cut out nicer letters for bulletin boards, room decorations, etc.

The project came from my textbook, A Handbook of Arts and Crafts, and since I currently should be doing the homework for my Humanities, Research Methods, AND American Literature classes, I'm not going to post the directions for every single letter. BUT, if you check out this website, you'll find a similar method for all 26 letters of the alphabet with step by step photos. 

Happy Crafting!