Art Play date

I was inspired to hold an art play date after doing this process oriented painting with Sofia. We had so much fun that I thought it might be even more fun if we included some of our friends.

So how do you hold an art playdate? Well first you need to choose a good location. A drive way with access to water and shade is a good start. Then you need supplies and mamas willing to let their kids get totally messy!

Supply list:

• one large painters drop cloth (mine was 9x6 feet)
• paint of all colors (leave out shades like black and grey) Non toxic tempera paints or flour paint is best
• brushes of varying sizes
• sponge brushes
• rollers
• random collected objects which make neat textures. (I got sponges, dish scrubbers, scrubber brushes)
• paper plates or paint dishes
• bucket of water to clean up little hands
• lots of old dish rags or paper towels

As the host make sure to set up everything before the children arrive, that way they can just dive right in without having to wait. It's very hard to keep little hands from helping before your are ready.

The only instructions I give are to the parents, "Let them go at it. Only intervene if someone is getting hurt or if your child asks for help." 

Here's how our session went. Even the infants got in on the fun!

We had a bucket and a tub of water for cleaning up but that turned into a fun place to mix colors and so I brought out a hose and that was how the kids cleaned off most of the paint. 

Above is the canvas after they were done. It's neat to look at all the spaces where each child spent time. Some were interested in just using the rollers others used their hands and feet while others wanted to play with the cleaning water. It was a great experience for everyone and good lesson in learning to let loose. In the beginning many of the kids were hesitant to really go at it and get covered with paint, but once they realized it was really okay they left all that behind and go lost in the process!

Next time I think I will make it more mixed media and explore the use of other materials along with the paints such as string, paper, leaves, glue, feathers and found materials.

Have you ever held or been to an art playdate? Feel free to share the link if you've done a post about it!