by Jennifer Barrett
April showers bring May flowers, and Mother’s Day! Let’s honor our mothers and grandmothers, while teaching our children how to celebrate Mother’s Day with art. Let’s also take a moment to honor ourselves for everything we do in a day.
Some Thoughts on Motherhood
Motherhood is the most wonderful and the most difficult job in the entire world. It sounds so cliché, but it’s also so true. Upon reflection, I have reached the depths of worry and feelings of isolation that I never knew existed in me, as well as the highest highs of joy and pride, love and happiness, and every range of these emotions in between. As I lay next to my sleeping toddler, I understand all I have done thus far to teach and guide him, feed, clothe, and shelter him, unconditionally love him, and the lengths I will go to in order to ensure he has a safe and secure future. I feel so fortunate to have received this incredible gift. If you are still reading this, you most likely feel the same.
Reflections
Take a moment and reflect on all you have accomplished in your lives as well as all of the good things you have done for your children. Spending every day thinking about and planning what needs to be done, from working to making dinner and housework and playgroups, etc. leaves little time for reflection. Mother’s Day is a good time to honor ourselves and enjoy the moment and our families.
A Fresh Take on the Hand Art Project:
Other than relaxing and having some precious time to ourselves, what better way to honor ourselves than by making art with our children? The following project can take many forms, such as flowers, animals, and hearts, and the supplies needed are readily available: just hands, feet, paint, and paper.
Handprints and footprints taken from young children are the most adorable way to visually track your child’s growth. I have referenced some particularly beautiful takes on handprint and footprint art on Pinterest below to get ideas flowing. Older students can create hand designs for Mom that showcase intricate designs and patterns. They can create decorative “tattoo-like” designs out of their names after they have traced their hands on colorful paper.
Everyday Art Lesson: Handprints and Footprints
Concept Focus: Growing Children, Honored Mothers
Mess Factor: Low-Moderate
Ages: Can be modified for ages 0-18 years
Objectives: Students create Mother’s Day art by making hand prints and/or footprints into paintings. Older students create hand designs by outlining their hand and creating decorative patterning and intricate designs out of their names.
Suggested Materials:
Younger kids:
• Finger paints, paper, paintbrushes
(See link below for a great paint recipe using sweetened condensed milk and food coloring)
Older Kids:
• Construction Paper, colored pencils or sharpie (black, silver, or gold look really cool!)
(**Materials are like Ingredients. Many things can be substituted for what you have on hand.)
Younger Children: Handprint/Footprint Paintings
Handprints and footprints can be used to create beautiful keepsake paintings while charting the growth of our children. For babies, put paint in a tray and let them step into the paint so that it covers the bottoms of their feet, then have them step on the paper. Do this one foot at a time so that you can position their feet on the paper to create a butterfly. Feet should be positioned opposite, facing out to create the wings of the butterfly (see example below). This can be done with one color or multiple colors.
For the animal paintings, choose the color or colors you want, and create an animal out of the footprint. Examples below include: mama and baby elephant using gray paint for the handprint, a penguin using black and white paint, multicolored butterfly, and black butterfly and flower footprint. Embellish with colorful details using the paintbrush, and sign and date.
If you don’t have paint at home, try mixing food coloring with sweetened condensed milk! This is an easy, food-grade paint recipe, although probably not so archival.
Older Children:
Older children can trace their hand on construction paper and create intricate designs and patterns inside the hand outline. Think tattoo design or Mehndi (henna) art. Kids can write your name or theirs inside the outline, then create lines and shapes radiating out from the name.
This can be done with black paper and white colored pencil or silver or gold sharpie, or brightly colored construction paper and colored pencils. This also looks great with white paper and black pencil or sharpie.
References:
thewhoot.com.au/whoot-news/crafty-corner/hand-and-footprint-art-ideas
www.pinterest.com/pin/penguin footprint
www.pinterest.com/pin/elephant handprint
www.pinterest.com/pin/flower and butterfly
www.pinterest.com/pin/Mehndi hand
tinkerlab.com/how-to-make-paint-sweetened-condensed-milk-paint/
Feel free to email any questions or comments to info@creativespacearts.com, or visit my website at www.creativespacearts.com. I aim to create an open exchange of ideas and best practices.
Jennifer Barrett is the Arts Liaison and Performing Arts Coordinator at a public junior high school in Brooklyn, and has taught visual arts there since 2002. She founded Creative Space Arts in 2014 to offer a different kind of art studio, always changing and inspired by the immersive environment of galleries and other creative spaces. She has also guided countless students through the rigorous audition process of portfolio development, with many gaining acceptance and even scholarships into some of NYC’s most prestigious art schools. Jennifer’s paper creds include: B.F.A. in Drawing, M.Ed., S.B.L Certification.
About Creative Space Arts:
What do dragons, neighborhood-scapes, rainbow fish, and the moon have in common? They are all possible motifs at Creative Space Arts, a pop-up art studio set in galleries and other creative spaces. Our fun and immersive workshops are inspired by the work currently on view in gallery spaces, or by weekly theme. Through this approach, we aim to ignite curiosity and freedom of artistic expression.
April showers bring May flowers, and Mother’s Day! Let’s honor our mothers and grandmothers, while teaching our children how to celebrate Mother’s Day with art. Let’s also take a moment to honor ourselves for everything we do in a day.
Some Thoughts on Motherhood
Motherhood is the most wonderful and the most difficult job in the entire world. It sounds so cliché, but it’s also so true. Upon reflection, I have reached the depths of worry and feelings of isolation that I never knew existed in me, as well as the highest highs of joy and pride, love and happiness, and every range of these emotions in between. As I lay next to my sleeping toddler, I understand all I have done thus far to teach and guide him, feed, clothe, and shelter him, unconditionally love him, and the lengths I will go to in order to ensure he has a safe and secure future. I feel so fortunate to have received this incredible gift. If you are still reading this, you most likely feel the same.
Reflections
Take a moment and reflect on all you have accomplished in your lives as well as all of the good things you have done for your children. Spending every day thinking about and planning what needs to be done, from working to making dinner and housework and playgroups, etc. leaves little time for reflection. Mother’s Day is a good time to honor ourselves and enjoy the moment and our families.
A Fresh Take on the Hand Art Project:
Other than relaxing and having some precious time to ourselves, what better way to honor ourselves than by making art with our children? The following project can take many forms, such as flowers, animals, and hearts, and the supplies needed are readily available: just hands, feet, paint, and paper.
Handprints and footprints taken from young children are the most adorable way to visually track your child’s growth. I have referenced some particularly beautiful takes on handprint and footprint art on Pinterest below to get ideas flowing. Older students can create hand designs for Mom that showcase intricate designs and patterns. They can create decorative “tattoo-like” designs out of their names after they have traced their hands on colorful paper.
Everyday Art Lesson: Handprints and Footprints
Concept Focus: Growing Children, Honored Mothers
Mess Factor: Low-Moderate
Ages: Can be modified for ages 0-18 years
Objectives: Students create Mother’s Day art by making hand prints and/or footprints into paintings. Older students create hand designs by outlining their hand and creating decorative patterning and intricate designs out of their names.
Suggested Materials:
Younger kids:
• Finger paints, paper, paintbrushes
(See link below for a great paint recipe using sweetened condensed milk and food coloring)
Older Kids:
• Construction Paper, colored pencils or sharpie (black, silver, or gold look really cool!)
(**Materials are like Ingredients. Many things can be substituted for what you have on hand.)
Younger Children: Handprint/Footprint Paintings
Handprints and footprints can be used to create beautiful keepsake paintings while charting the growth of our children. For babies, put paint in a tray and let them step into the paint so that it covers the bottoms of their feet, then have them step on the paper. Do this one foot at a time so that you can position their feet on the paper to create a butterfly. Feet should be positioned opposite, facing out to create the wings of the butterfly (see example below). This can be done with one color or multiple colors.
For the animal paintings, choose the color or colors you want, and create an animal out of the footprint. Examples below include: mama and baby elephant using gray paint for the handprint, a penguin using black and white paint, multicolored butterfly, and black butterfly and flower footprint. Embellish with colorful details using the paintbrush, and sign and date.
If you don’t have paint at home, try mixing food coloring with sweetened condensed milk! This is an easy, food-grade paint recipe, although probably not so archival.
Older Children:
Older children can trace their hand on construction paper and create intricate designs and patterns inside the hand outline. Think tattoo design or Mehndi (henna) art. Kids can write your name or theirs inside the outline, then create lines and shapes radiating out from the name.
This can be done with black paper and white colored pencil or silver or gold sharpie, or brightly colored construction paper and colored pencils. This also looks great with white paper and black pencil or sharpie.
References:
thewhoot.com.au/whoot-news/crafty-corner/hand-and-footprint-art-ideas
www.pinterest.com/pin/penguin footprint
www.pinterest.com/pin/elephant handprint
www.pinterest.com/pin/flower and butterfly
www.pinterest.com/pin/Mehndi hand
tinkerlab.com/how-to-make-paint-sweetened-condensed-milk-paint/
Feel free to email any questions or comments to info@creativespacearts.com, or visit my website at www.creativespacearts.com. I aim to create an open exchange of ideas and best practices.
Jennifer Barrett is the Arts Liaison and Performing Arts Coordinator at a public junior high school in Brooklyn, and has taught visual arts there since 2002. She founded Creative Space Arts in 2014 to offer a different kind of art studio, always changing and inspired by the immersive environment of galleries and other creative spaces. She has also guided countless students through the rigorous audition process of portfolio development, with many gaining acceptance and even scholarships into some of NYC’s most prestigious art schools. Jennifer’s paper creds include: B.F.A. in Drawing, M.Ed., S.B.L Certification.
About Creative Space Arts:
What do dragons, neighborhood-scapes, rainbow fish, and the moon have in common? They are all possible motifs at Creative Space Arts, a pop-up art studio set in galleries and other creative spaces. Our fun and immersive workshops are inspired by the work currently on view in gallery spaces, or by weekly theme. Through this approach, we aim to ignite curiosity and freedom of artistic expression.
