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2023 – Year of the Rabbit Printable Activity

Download our free printable pop-up rabbit PDF. Leading up to New Year's Eve, people clean their homes to symbolically sweep or wash away bad luck from the preceding year. On New Year's Eve (this year it's January 22) families eat a big feast and exchange red envelopes with money inside to bring good fortune. Dumplings are always served as they symbolize wealth. Which is a delicious way to bring good luck!

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Salt & Watercolor Paint (+Rainbow Salt!)

When you sprinkle salt on wet watercolor paint you’ll see a magical transformation. The salt absorbs the watercolor paint from beneath the salt granules which leaves behind a crystalline texture. If you use a large grains of salt like Epsom salts, it will create a different texture than if you use table salt.

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

2022 – Year of the Tiger

Leading up to New Year's Eve, people clean their homes to symbolically sweep or wash away bad luck from the preceding year. On New Year's Eve (this year it's January 31) families eat a big feast and exchange red envelopes with money inside to bring good fortune. Dumplings are always served as they symbolize wealth. Which is a delicious way to bring good luck!

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Contemporary Artists for Kids: Christine Kim

Layered and mysterious, her work combines hand drawn figures with machine-cut pierced paper. Her work evokes feelings of memory, decay and fragmentation.

Discovery through play is part of her process. She prepares the parts then arranges them until she finds a pleasing configuration. “I think it’s this collage process that is the most exciting for me. It’s a creative puzzle that needs to be solved, and each one is unique in its challenges, and there are some that remain unsolved”. 2

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Pinch Pot Pumpkin

Pinch pots are a basic clay technique that's fun and easy to do for kids and grown-ups. In the video you’ll learn how to make a closed pinch pot. Closing a pinch pot so that there is a bubble of air inside stabilizes the form so that you can make additions without collapsing the pot!

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Contemporary Artists for Kids: Lori Siebert

Lori Siebert is an artist that radiates positivity and is enthusiastic about creativity. She lives in Kentucky and works in many art mediums including: drawing, painting, collage, stencils, clay and embroidery.

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Contemporary Artists for Kids: Mantra

Mantra's enormous murals turn buildings into butterfly and insect specimen cases. The trompe l'oeil insects appear to be behind glass and recessed into the side of the building. Mantra paints the insects and their shadows which heightens the optical illusion.1

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Contemporary Artists for Kids: Stephanie Kilgast

Stephanie Kilgast is a contemporary sculptor and painter who depicts the natural world and humankind's effect on our environment. Since 2017, her Discarded Objects series, uses discarded objects, to which she applies sculpted animals, plant life and insects that seem to consume and overtake the trash. "Her work has a cheerful post-apocalyptic feel to it, a reassuring reminder that nature has the capacity to grow back, if we only let it."

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Contemporary Artists for Kids: Brian Wildsmith

Wildsmith felt that children should be introduced to art and culture at a young age, and he believed that illustrations were an effective way to bring the world of art to children. Wildsmith's illustrations are lively and colorful. The variety of mark making and mediums breathes life into his animals.

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

5 Quick & Easy DIY Father’s Day gifts

Here's a roundup of handmade gifts kids can make with a minimum of supplies. There's only a few more days until Father's Day, and if you’re like us finding a the perfect Father's Day gift is always a struggle.

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Contemporary Artists for Kids: Kenojuak Ashevak

Kenojuak Ashevak depicted many animals indigenous to the Arctic. The animals are drawn in a simplified manner, often with radiating geometric shapes. Her style is bold and graphic and she often used negative space as part of the composition.

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Sonni

Contemporary art is relatable for children, because it's about the world that they live in; it's about what happening now, and in recent history. Learn more about Sonni a contemporary artist and muralist.

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

How to Talk to Kids about Their Artwork

When we are specific with our praise it shows children that we are really looking at their work. Start with open ended questions. Open ended questions allow children to tell you more about what they made. Instead of saying, "What is it?" say, "Tell me about what you made." Let the conversation unfold based on what they tell you.

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Janell Scannell Janell Scannell

Rainbow Salt Lines

What are rainbow salt lines? Essentially, lines are drawn using liquid glue, salt is sprinkled on top of the wet glue, then wet paint is applied to the salt lines. The paint is absorbed into the salt and it’s mesmerizing to watch the paint travel along the salt line!

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An Art Teacher’s Unique Business - ABC Bodyart

In college, Vonetta Berry, did face painting to earn extra money. After earning a degree in illustration and animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago she moved back to Houston, Texas. She was pregnant with her first child and could not find a job, so she fell back on face painting. Today, her college side gig has transformed into a full-time occupation. Now, she not only paints faces; she also transforms people’s bodies with paint.

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DIY Sign Painting Mobile Business Success Story

Kim Rutherford has always loved being creative and is a self-avowed craftaholic. She was flipping chalk painted furniture and wanted her pieces to stand out, so she used her Silhouette machine to make a custom stencil to use on a furniture piece.

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