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Artists Wanted: Cool Art Projects for Kids

by Megan

Running your own summer day camp? Hillary is back with some cool art projects for kids, perfect for an art-themed week! These are also perfect daycare, preschool, or homeschooling activities!

Check out these cool art projects for kids, perfect for alleviating an afternoon of boredom! Great art activity ideas for summer camp, preschool, or homeschooling!

I am back with more camp details and fun activities to do with kiddos!  Even if you aren’t planning to do a summer camp, I highly recommend these activities as summer boredom busters!  My kids had a total blast and so did all the other kids at camp.

Here is what our daily schedule looked like for art week at summer camp:

10-10:10: Bell work- Worksheet or simple activity to keep the kids busy while everyone is arriving (Play-doh could be fun for art week!)
10:10-11:10: 1st craft/activity
11:15-11:30: Snack Break
11:30-11:50: 2nd craft or game
11:50-11:55: Clean up
11:55-12: Line up games and dismissal

Now let’s get to the fun stuff!!  What activities did we do for art week?

Cool Art Projects for Kids

DIY Fidget Spinners

The first day we started with DIY Fidget Spinners!

Supplies:
Printer paper
Cardboard (I used empty cereal boxes)
Q-tips
Pennies
Hot glue

This craft was so fun and super easy! For the instructions, I’m going to link you over to Teepee Girl’s DIY Fidget Spinner Template. Credit where credit’s due!

If your kids are as crazy as mine about fidget spinners, this craft will be a huge hit!

Paint Gun Art

On day two of art week, we had all things PAINT! We started with Paint Gun Art.

Supplies:
Washable paints of all colors
Water
Squirt guns
White cardstock

Instructions:

  1. Thin out the paint by combining it with some water, and then pour the different colors into squirt guns.
  2. Be sure to label the squirt guns with the color paint inside! Then put all the guns in a bucket.
  3. Tape up some white cardstock to an outside wall, and let the kids go crazy with the squirt guns!

The pictures turned out so awesome and not a single paint gun had paint left in in when we were finished!

Painted Rock Tic-Tac-Toe Boards

This is a super easy, fun activity that turns into a game for the kids to play!

Supplies:
Small bags
Small rocks (need to fit 9 on the bag)
Tempera paint in different colors

Instructions:

  1. Lay the bags flat on the ground, and draw tic-tac-toe boards on them.
  2. Let each kid pick out 10 rocks. Paint 5 one color and 5 another color. They can paint a solid color or do Xs and Os!
  3. When the paint is dry, they can play the game! And when they are finished, the rocks can be stored in the bag.

Fairy Gardens and Super Hero Hideouts

The last day of camp was my favorite day. For this day, we made Fairy Gardens for the girls and the boys made Super Hero Hideouts!

Supplies:
Plastic plates
Cardboard boxes (various sizes)
Rice
Green food coloring
Clear marbles
Colorful popsicle sticks
Feathers, Pom-poms, and any other decorative materials
Glue

Instructions:

This is the kind of activity that was largely kid-led. I gave them an outline of instructions, and then they went to town!

Fairy Houses:

  1. Ahead of time, I dyed a bunch of rice with green food coloring so the kids could glue the rice to the bottom of their plates, for grass.
  2. Use colorful popsicle sticks to build the Fairy Houses
  3. Glue on any decorative elements you want to add!

Super Hero Hideouts:

  1. Cut the boxes to create doors and windows, secret passageways, and more!
  2. Glue different boxes together to create multiple levels to your secret hideout!

These houses took us about 1 hour to 1 ½ hours to build. The kids were so into them, that I didn’t want to stop their creative process. The girls loved all of the trinkets to glue onto their plates. The boys thought it was super fun to build multi-layer super hero hideouts. Some of their hideouts were five stories tall! They were all so creative and super fun to see!

Art-Themed Games

I made sure to have some activities ready for the end of the day, in case we had extra time. Games were always a HUGE hit during camp.  Whenever you can make something into a game, I say do it!

One of the days was Flag Day, so we made Uncle Sam masks and played Patriotic Bingo.

Sea Foam Sensory Activity

I also had a sea foam sensory activity ready for kids who finished their projects early. Idea from Two-daloo (check out their pics!).

Supplies:
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup dish soap
1 tbsp cornstarch
Food coloring or liquid watercolor (just a few drops)
Hand mixer

Instructions:

  1. Throw the ingredients into a bowl and mix it for a few minutes until you have wispy sea foam!

I got a bag of plastic animals at the dollar store and threw them in the bottom of the sea foam. The kids loved playing in the foamy water and looking for the toys hidden at the bottom.

Another fun activity that works for art week is the candy color activity we did on science week!

Don’t forget to label everyone’s artwork and projects as you start them, and remember to send everything home at the end of the day!

All of these activities can be used as part of a summer camp, or you can do them with your kids to alleviate an afternoon of boredom. There is no way your kids can say they are bored if they are elbow deep in feathers and pom poms making a Fairy Garden, I promise you!

Check out our other themed-week ideas!

All-Star Sports

Curtain Call Theatre Games

The Great Science Escape

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2 comments

Start Your Own In-Home Summer Camp | Shaping Up To Be A Mom May 18, 2019 - 10:35pm

[…] Artists Wanted– Time to get your hands messy and make some arts and crafts! […]

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