So, shortly after the excitement, the rain came, and then the snow followed. Arkansas weather is just crazy, if you're not familiar. Last weekend we were wearing flip flops and maxi dresses and right now there are two inches of snow on the ground and it's about 25 degrees with blustery wind. You'll probably notice that I have a lot of allergy issues that plague me (and my poor baby boy inherited them too); this is why. Naturally, I try to have a contingency plan if school is cancelled. Winter is hard enough with little ones that have tons of energy and just want to run and play; but inclement weather just makes it that much worse. Don't get me wrong, we love the extra time we get to spend together, but we are definitely ready to kiss the freezing temperatures goodbye until next winter. We like to get out and do things.
Jonah spent about two hours at school today before the snowstorm hit and then I headed to pick him up. He was pretty bummed that he didn't get to stay longer, but it's so much better to be safe than sorry. In an effort to cheer him up, I threw together this project and it turned out so cute I just had to share. Yes, it's FINGER PAINTING! Because finger painting is awesome. Our inspiration was Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This was the first book I bought Jonah and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was also the very first book I taught to my class of preschoolers many, many moons ago.
You Will Need
- Finger Paint (I used Crayola- these colors are wonderful)
- Paper (I used watercolor, but any should do)
- Sharpie or other marker (doesn't have to be permanent)
- A willing participant (these get scarce over the age of 5)
Directions
Find an inspiration piece. This was ours:
Prep your workspace. I'm fond of putting down big sheets of art paper (not that I'm attempting to rescue my poor kitchen table from paint; she's a goner by now). Set out your supplies. I keep all of my plastic Cool Whip lids for modified palettes. Jonah and I use them all the time. The lip is great for preventing spills, plus you can pop them right into the dishwasher and they are good as new again thanks to the magic of water-based paint.
Lay out your paper and get to it! Our palette initially consisted of red, white, yellow, and green. We tried to emulate the cover of the book as closely as we could with regard to the color scheme. So, we swirled the green and yellow to give it a bit of dimension. Then we started to work on the caterpillar.
If your little one is quite young, you could draw a line for them to follow with their fingerprints to help keep the overall shape. Or, if they are very young, you could hold their finger and press it down for them.
Then, we added the head:
We thought his body looked pretty emaciated compared to his big head,so we fattened him up with some extra fingerprints, and added a ground for color.
And a sky!
After our caterpillar dried a bit, I painted the antennae and eye details for Jo, while he added feet with a marker.
Finallly, we added the finishing touches of detail to his pupils and the cilia on his body!
And there you have it! An adorable (and frame-worthy) art project in under an hour!
Gah, I just love this face!
And I frame everything. It's a sickness.
Hopefully this gives you some ideas for snow and rainy day projects if you're having the same type of weather that we are in Arkansas!
xo, Karee
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