Pint-Sized Picassos

Almost every Friday our library offers a special program for preschool-age children (ages 3-5): Music 'N Movement, Little Scientists, Preschool Discovery Hour, or Pint-Sized Picassos.

Our newest program is Pint-Sized Picassos, which we did this month for the second time ever; one of my co-workers had been wanting us to start a preschool art program since the beginning of time, and it has finally happened! We try to focus on process-based art projects that allow the kids to really be creative and experiment with different materials.

Typically we have 3 art stations, which the kids can rotate between at their own pace.  Many of our families like to set their art creations on the drying table and then go into the library to check out books and play in our early literacy center as they wait for their items to dry a bit more.

Pint-Sized Picassos Month 1
To celebrate our first-ever Pint-Sized Picassos, we had the little ones each create a small part of a larger masterpiece that we planned on displaying in the library to help generate excitement for the program.  I gave each of the kids one popsicle stick to paint for the library and one popsicle stick they were allowed to take home; I figured this was a good way to avoid any kids getting upset about not being able to take home their creation.

Popsicle art on display at the library.

After the program I put a colorful piece of paper in a cheap frame from Wal-Mart, hot glued the popsicle sticks into the frame, and created a little sign to explain what the art piece was. Not every single popsicle stick made it into the frame (they wouldn't all fit), but I was pretty confident nobody would notice.

A watercolor plastic wrap painting made at Pint-sized Picassos

We also did an activity where we wet a piece of cardstock with a sponge and then painted with watercolors. Afterwards we covered the cardstock in a scrunched up a piece of plastic wrap, which the caregivers were instructed to remove the next day.  A lot of our kids were on the younger end of the preschool-age range (some of them were actually 2-year-olds) and didn't really end up using enough watercolor paint for the activity to work properly, but they still enjoyed using the watercolors.  The idea for this activity originally came from Buggy and Buddy, and they suggest using art paper, which might have worked better.

For our third station, we set out sponge pieces, cotton balls, and pipe cleaners and had the kids paint with the different objects.  Their favorite item to paint with seemed to be the sponges. 

A painting created by one our preschoolers using sponges

Paintings created with sponges, cotton balls, and pipe cleaners.

The program actually didn't end up being quite as messy as I anticipated.  We have large drop cloths that we put down for messier programs, and they only got a little bit of paint on them.  We had a handful of homemade smocks available (men's button up shirts with the sleeves cut-off), but most families brought their own or seemed fine with not using a smock.


Pint-Sized Picassos Month 2

Kids painted with a variety of artificial flowers. 

Our second Pint-Sized Picassos didn't have an official theme, but we did include some art activities to celebrate the beginning of spring.

For one of our stations, we purchased a variety of artificial flowers from Dollar Tree and removed the flowers and leaves from the stems.  The kids dipped the flowers and leaves in paint and pressed them onto the paper to make some fun floral art.

For our second station, we had the kids color a coffee filter with washable markers and then LIGHTLY spray the coffee filter with water.  I have seen some people actually cut the coffee filters into flower shapes, but I figured that coffee filters already look enough like flowers.  Since the coffee filters were REALLY wet afterwards, I had a few pieces of cardboard on hand for families who wanted a way to take them home without getting marker all of their cars.  I would also recommend covering your art table with something plastic, like a tablecloth or garbage bags.

A painting created using artificial flowers.

 For our final station, we did crumpled art painting.  I cut some white construction paper into small pieces (about 4X6 or so), and then had the kids crumple up the paper and paint around the edges.  The idea was they they would un-crumple it, re-crumple it, paint some more, and then repeat the process over and over.  Some of the older preschoolers did fine with this, but the younger kids didn't really get the concept, so the parents just had them paint on the paper laid out flat.  The idea for this activity originally came from Buggy and Buddy as well.

At the start of our Pint-Sized Picasso programs, I explain each of the stations, and I put signs on each table explaining what we are doing for each activity.  We tend to have a lot of latecomers and families who just stumble upon the program accidentally, so stations work better for us than a program with a more rigid structure.  A lot of our kids tend to work at different paces, so they can take as much time as they need or leave the program early if they finish early.

Colorful tie-dye "flowers" made from coffee filters.

Crumpled paper art completed!

Crumpled paper art part-way through.

Thus far this program has proved popular with our families, and it's nice for our busy staff because we can create an engaging program without a lot of prep work.  It's also great to see what the little ones create!