Hi, I am Jamie from Hand Made Kids Art. We love to focus on art ideas to grow creative thinkers! Creative thinking is an essential skill that can be encouraged in all children. We like to incorporate a lot of process art activities to help stretch our creative thinking.
With a process art activity the emphasis is on the process of creating the project or activity rather than the final artwork. The best part of process art is there is no right or wrong way to create the work of art! This helps build self esteem and confidence in your artist.
The tutorials below demonstrate two ways to explore an open-ended process art activity with sandpaper! Using sandpaper instead of canvas can turn any plain drawing into a fun exploration of making marks on a new surface.
Exploration of Paint on Sandpaper
Materials:
Sandpaper
Glue
Watercolor
Paint brush
Water container
Tutorial:
Step 1: Use a glue bottle to drip a design on the sandpaper. Let the glue dry completely (we left ours to dry overnight).
Step 2: Using a brush, paint over the dried glue with watercolors. Remember there is no wrong way to do the activity. Let your child have fun and experiment with color and texture.
Step 3: Let the artwork dry and display!
We turned our finished piece into a nature inspired art journal. Hop over to our companion post to see our full tutorial on how we created our art journal.
Simple Creative Art Activity: Chalk and Sandpaper
Materials:
Sandpaper
Chalk
Tutorial:
Step 1: Arrange the materials in an inviting way on the work surface.
Step 2: Step out of the way and let your artists create!
My two artists loved to rub the chalk and feel the texture of the sandpaper. Ask your child open-ended questions such as,“how is drawing on sandpaper different than drawing on paper?”. By asking your child open-ended questions you are stretching their creative thinking and validating their effort.
Easy Clean Up Tip: Be sure to have a damp towel nearby to wipe fingers and chalk dust.
For more ways to encourage creative thinking you may enjoy, Top 10 Ways to Encourage Creative Thinking or our creative show fish drawing challenge.
Jamie is a certified Art Instructor having taught children of all ages. In addition to inspiring young minds and creating for Hand Made Kids Art, she is a busy mom of 3 children. Hand Made Kids Art focuses on quick, easy and inspiring art activities to grow creative kids. It doesn’t matter if you only have 5 minutes or 20 minutes, you can find time to create art with your children with Hand Made Kids Art. Follow along with our art adventures at Hand Made Kids Art, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
This is a new technique for us. To be honest it has never crossed my mind to paint with sand paper before. I love the idea of using glue. Must get round to doing this! Thank you for stopping by and sharing with us at Learning and Exploring Through Play.