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We always make a special card for the very best mamas/grandmas in our lives for Mother’s Day. We live far away from our dearest loved ones, so it’s extra important to us that they get something special in the mail for Mother’s Day.
This project has several layers and steps, so you’ll want to give yourself at least three days to make them. We took almost a week, because my little artist likes to come back to his projects again and again before he feels “done”.
Materials
- 3-5 watercolor paint colors thinned with water (this is a good opportunity to talk about color groupings)
- Watercolor greeting cards
- 3-5 jars to hold watery paint (each with its own brush)
- Crayons for drawing on top of the painting when it’s dry
- Glue, a paintbrush and tissue paper
Step One: Wet on Wet Watercolor
This process based art play is a great way for your 2-6 year old to experience color without focusing on line and shape. The wet paint dances across the wet paper beautifully as the young artist leads its movement.
Tape the watercolor cards to a table and set up the paints. Dampen the cards with a wet sponge and watch your little artist experience the immersive color play.
I usually leave this set up for a few days. My little guy loves to paint on top of the dry wet on wet to see deeper colors and lines emerge.
Step Two: Crayon Rocks
Invite your child to draw on top of the painting with crayon or colored pencil when it is dry. We love crayon rocks for drawing on top of wet on wet. Invite your child to choose only 3-5 colors for this, and use the opportunity to talk about color groupings again. As you can see, we used only warm colors for this project.
Step Three: Tissue Paper Collage
Next, rip or cut tissue paper shapes together and invite your child to glue them to the cards using a paint brush and watered down glue. The tissue paper provides a nice, subtle contrast to the layered paint and crayon.
Process Over Product
Remember, art play for children is about the process, not the product. When your child is “done”, the paper could look different than you envisioned it would. Celebrate the process as it is.
We hope you enjoy this method for paint and collage play as much as we do. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful mamas out there!
