windsock

M and I have made a windsock before using construction paper.  This windsock was different because we used a can as the base.  It made it a lot sturdier and allowed for M to gob on the paint.  We needed a summer-y/4th of July decoration and this was perfect.  We used a baby formula can as the base, peeled off the label and painted it with red, white, and blue paint.

Once it was dry we used a star-shaped sponge to make white stars around the can.  My intention was to use party streamers as the tails but, of course, there were no blue or red streamers to be found at Target that day.  We improvised with tissue paper cut in strips.  The shades were a bit darker, which ended up matching our half-mixed paint on the can pretty well.  Finally, I punched a hole in the top of the can and used a pipe cleaner to make a hook to attach the string to.  Happy 4th!

sponge paint stencils

This was M's first attempt at a sponge paint masterpiece and I think these are some of my favorite pieces of artwork we've done. We recently went to the New England Aquarium so we're still on somewhat of a sea animal kick. We decided to make a whale and (M's favorite) an octopus. 

I cut the whale and octopus shapes out of card stock and then taped them to a solid piece of card stock. The octopus was a bit harder to tape because of all the legs. You really don't want paint getting under the stencil. 

Then we painted. I gave M three colors with each to avoid a brown mud-like mess. 

He did well and liked stamping the sponges. Finished products-