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As you might have seen already, my kids love art! All kinds of art. They create something new every day. We’ve also recently welcomed a new baby into our house, and so with all that comes with that I feel like I haven’t been facilitating as much art as I usually do. Understandably of course! But nevertheless I was keen to get back into it when I started feeling normal again.

One thing I want to encourage is more mixed media art. We have lots of art materials (you can see them here), and so the possibilities are endless! We are lucky to have so many things and I want to encourage the girls to think about using them in different ways and pairing them with different materials. This week we started off simply, combining chalk pastels and liquid watercolours.

We started out with the pastels first, and some nice thick watercolour paper. I sat with the girls and listened to them talk about what they discovered. I also asked a few questions to encourage deeper exploration.

“I’m using the side of the pastel because it makes it quicker to colour in”

“The paper is bumpy so when you rub the pastel over it you can see the bumps and still see the white too”

“I see you’re putting one colour over the top of another. What happens when you do that?”

“Oh! They mix together! I can rub it with my finger and smudge them too”

“I can rub it with my whole hand and fill in all the gaps!”

Next we added some liquid watercolours to the mix.

“I’m painting over the orange pastel with my magenta!”

“It mixes together when I draw on top! It looks like fire!”

“You can draw on the wet paint. The colour is darker. Then you can smudge it, but it’s still wet”

I love this one. Isn’t it beautiful?

“I’m going to cover the whole paper with lots of colours”

“Now I’m going to rub it and mix all the colours with my hands”

And then, a really cool discovery…

“Now for some paint. MUM! Look at this!! Quick, get Dad! The paint doesn’t soak in! It makes these little balls. I can’t pick them up though. If I hold my paper off they roll off. This is really cool!”

Some of the finished products. So beautiful and vibrant!

Art doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need lots of materials. Just grab a couple of things and let them explore! Sit with them and listen, ask some questions, wonder with them. Encourage them to explore texture, colour, movement, and different techniques.

What have you been creating with lately?