Tin Foil Printing
Ages 2+ Materials: Sheets of tin foil: about 6”x 6” (size can be adjusted!!)TapeMarkers Damp paper towels or ragsWaterPaper Fact: Monoprinting is a type of printmaking where the artist creates a plate that will be printed and create a one of a kind print: no repeats! Print! Tape your tinfoil down...
Worry Dolls
Ages 3+ Inspired by tiny, handmade Guatemalan worry dolls, we’ll create our own dolls using materials from home. Fun Fact: Worry Dolls, according to legend, help ease worries and fears. A child tells the doll their worries, places the dolls under their pillow, and wakes up with wisdom to conquer...
Funky Wrapped Letters
4+ (young kiddos will need help with cutting) Materials: Marker, Pen, or PencilCardboard : ANY kind! Could be from a delivery or even an empty food box → Note that thinner cardboard will be easier to cut with scissors. BUT thicker cardboard can work! If you have an exacto knife,...
Silky Smooth DIY Play Dough
Materials: 2 cups of corn starch (or flour, but cornstarch is ideal)1 cup lotion: any kind you and your family love!Big bowlMeasuring cups *OPTIONAL* GlitterFood Coloring Mix It Up Pour cornstarch into your bowlPour lotion and mix, mix, mix it up with your hands (you can use a spoon or...
Plastic Wrap Stained “Glass”
Ages 3+ Fun Fact: Stained glass may go back as far as 2700 BCE! Human-made colored glass beads were discovered amongst Ancient Egyptian artifacts! Tom Fruin, a contemporary stained glass artist, brings a modern twist to stained glass. Watertower, 2012, photo by Robert Banat Materials: 12” x 16” piece of plastic...
Make Your Own Sidewalk Chalk Paint!
Ages 2+ Materials: Cornstarch WaterFood ColoringCupcake tray or other small containers Paintbrushes Make The Paint: In a bowl, mix your cornstarch and water in a 1:1 ratio (having at least 1 cup of this mixture will allow for you to create many colors!) Pour your mixture into a container of your choosing: a...
Abstract Shadow Designs
Ages 3+ What You'll Need: PaperPencilColoring material of your choice: markers or paint!Crayons (optional) to do watercolor techniquesYour best shadow finding eyeballs! Creating Your Design: Let in The Sunshine! Search around your house, your garden, your sidewalkLook for areas where the sun is shining down and casting the shadows of...
Nature Fun: Symmetrical Pressed Flower and Leaf Designs
Ages 5+ (Adult needed for help with ironing!) Symmetry is the quality of being made up of exactly similar parts facing each other or around an axis.Think butterfly wings! For today’s project, you and your family will collect nature items and use them as shapes to create a symmetrical design. Then...
Messy Moments, and Why They’re Helping Your Child Grow
For over a decade, it’s fair to say that Philly Art Center has dealt with more than a few messy moments. Oil pastels have been crushed under chair legs, marker tips have gone off the edge of the mirror board (this is so easy to clean!) and onto the floor board (this is not!),...
Expert Contributor: It’s Not Just Scribble Scrabble!
A gallery wall at Philly Art Center features works created by 1-2 year olds in our Art Start Parent/Child Class Scribbling is a fascinating phenomenon in children’s artistic development. New firsts and discoveries are being made with each mark! As children scribble, they learn cause and effect, develop artistic expressiveness, practice...
Babies Can be Artists, Too!
If you've ever thought your infant or toddler was too young to be interested in art... think again! By the time they're able to move those tiny fingers and get a good grip on your fingers, they're curious about all types of sensory stimulation. They're curious about the way things feel, on...
