Hand Christmas Tree

Paper art for kids

When starting out in art, it need not cost the earth. You may have a child wishing to start or who is showing an enjoyment for creativity, and you as a parent would like to encourage them knowing the benefits children receive from arts and crafts in the long term.

So here are a few ways where you can encourage creativity without breaking the bank balance.

1. Creating with Paper

It's cheap, it's easy, so why not start with simple shapes and create a layered effect, this paper craft can keep a creative child's mind busy for hours. All you need is some different paper colours and scissors, maybe a ruler, sticky tape and a pencil. This is a great activity for encouraging the development of fine motor skills in a child's hands.

Keep it simple

Simple shapes can look effective, but starting small will aid your child's confidence, which can be gradually built upon to create wildly complicated designs later on.

It's not rocket science

All you have to do is draw a shape, then cut it out, now place that sheet onto your next sheet and trace the shape, now cut your paper slightly smaller or larger than your outline, keep on doing that process until you're satisfied, then layer all your paper sheets together and tape them.

Wax draw liners

Okay, all this project needs is some good old fashioned baking paper, the type you bake cookies on, it has a wax feel to it on one side. Purchased from any supermarket super cheaply. Now visit your garden or local park in the spring and collect some flower petals. You don't even need flowers you can do this with any flat surfaced items, stickers, paint, paper pieces etc.

Cut two sheets of baking paper to length, place one onto your table wax side up, get your child to arrange the flower petals as they like onto the sheet, then place another sheet of bakers paper on top wax side down. So essentially your two wax sides are facing each other.

Then simply use an iron to melt the two wax sheets together, iron just like clothing to enclose the petals inside. Don't go too thick or chunky with the contents or the sheets won't stick together enough to secure the load inside. You can add fragrance oil as well. Super art work, super fast and super fun.

Spray bottle painting

This is an art activity sure to please the kid's, they just love it, all you need is some butchers paper (go visit your local butcher shop and buy a few sheets) I simply taped the sheets together to create a massive sheet. Then l purchased some bottles super cheap and filled with kids poster paint and water. You need to make the paint fine and runny enough to be sprayed, so this doesn't use much paint at all!

I simply taped the paper to my brick wall, and let the kids have fun. When they were finished, we placed the sheet on the ground to dry flat, then we cut the sheet up into pieces using decorative scissors, wrapped some thread around them and gave them as Christmas presents. The lightly paint stained paper was beautiful as note paper! Here's the finished product.

Pretty cool hey! Cheap gifts and made with love by the kids.

Paper art is more than just drawing on paper

Creating with paper can be so complex because there's just so much you can do with it. When you add to your child's knowledge repeatedly they build upon their previous knowledge, this is called constructivist learning. Art learning is a process, so by branching out from just drawing on paper to creating 3D or 4D shapes with it, and changing how you use paper, will build a child's material knowledge for later recall in primary school art. Think of this process like a library, the more books you read on a subject the more knowledgeable you are about it, same applies for learning art.

Most of the examples in here you will find the lessons in the kids free download section of the website click here

Collaging with paper and paper scrunching

Creating a frame with tissue paper and construction or coloured paper is another way to add to children's understanding of paper techniques. All you need is some pva glue, and a picture, oh and some cardboard (go visit a television shop and retrieve a box. Cut the box into a shape, this just gives your child a sturdy platform to work on and to hang the design later on, it will also support the weight of the paper well. Then create away. See kids section for download on this activity.

Flower box

Children love to create gifts, they get a buzz out of creating it themselves and a buzz giving it to the receiver. What nicer gift for mum on mothers day then a box of paper flowers from their child.

Room decorations

Brighten any child's room with large collages of fish shapes, fun, bright and colourful.

Party Hats

A great ideal for a party is to get the kid's to create a long tall hat, they will have fun and love the end product. Check out the free download on this activity in the kids section. This is just a paper plate, and construction card, add some paint and super cool party activity.

Build a life sized twin

My kids (pictured) loved this project, and dragged their twin around for weeks!

All you need is a printer to print a giant face and some cardboard like a television box, and then get the child to lay on it and draw their outline, cut out and decorate! Super fun!

What child can go past a cubby house

Simply visit any television retailer, they have a stack of boxes they don't need, add them together and cover with white paper sheets and let the kids go wild with brushes and rollers. Hours upon hours of fun and the cubby will last for ages. Cheap as chips!

Create some funky masks from cardboard

Great activity for parties, just prepare the mask shape before the kids arrive. Just be prepared for wild children after, it must be the superhero in us all, that when the mask is put on we become invincible running and jumping about.