Name Doodles

This post is authored by Anna Reyner, a registered art therapist and licensed marriage and family therapist. Anna is a nationally recognized arts advocate that has conducted over 500 hands-on art workshops for learners of all abilities. Follow Anna’s blog at Art and Creativity in Early Childhood Education.

Special Needs Application:

There are so many reasons a child may be shy in the early days of a new class or surrounding. The wonderfully inclusive idea below may help ease the anxiety of being in a new surrounding with new faces.

The staff from Stone Soup Afterschool Program in Los Angeles learned new painting techniques as they geared up for a new school year this week. Try this "Name Doodle" idea as a warm-up introduction during the first few days of your program. Using plain white construction paper, each person draws their name in block letters and doodles symbols about themselves onto the remaining paper. Cover your entire paper with Colorations® Foam Paint and wipe off the excess paint with a clean paper towel. Easy, colorful and it's dry right away!

Hand Stencils

This post is authored by Anna Reyner, a registered art therapist and licensed marriage and family therapist. Anna is a nationally recognized arts advocate that has conducted over 500 hands-on art workshops for learners of all abilities. Follow Anna’s blog at Art and Creativity in Early Childhood Education.

Special Needs Application:

Ease the concern of children who may be tactile defensive, or who do not want to get messy, by protecting their hands with latex free gloves when spraying the paint.

Do you like to spray paint? Debbie Glicksman of Los Angeles created a beautiful challah cover (shown below). Isn't it lovely? The cover began with me spraying her hands with watercolor as she held them over her fabric. You can adapt the same process easily with children.

First, gather white fabric scraps or yardage, stretch over rolled up newpapers and secure with pushpins to create a smooth working surface, then get out Colorations® Liquid Watercolor in spray bottles and begin to play. Use your hands as stencils and add other stencils you make yourself by cutting shapes out of file folders. Finish by adding details with puffy paint or permanent markers. When you paint with Colorations® Liquid Watercolor remember that it's a completely washable paint, so think fabric wall hangings and process oriented art. This is a great project for outdoor art while the weather is warm.