Friday, November 28, 2014

Kiss under the Mistletoe

Mistletoe Art Preschool Activities

We learned a new tradition, sang a song, painted "Kiss under the Mistletoe" picture, and for our first ever art appreciation activity, observed a painting. All was a great success and joy. I guess, with the little ones, it's all about getting them interested and engaged. You can find the inspiration for our painting activities here: 30 Merry and Bright Paintings and Paints.


Art appreciation preschool activity: Mistletoe

Up for our observation was "It's time for mistletoe and holly... Daily oil painting by artist Deb Kirkeeide" which we found here: http://www.dailypainters.com/paintings/30826/Its-time-for-mistletoe-and-holly-daily-oil-painting/Deb-Kirkeeide.%20The simplicity and beauty of this painting allowed the beginner's attention to detail.

A little mistletoe left shining in the sun on the snow. Questions we discussed:

What color is the snow? What colors we could see if the sun light reflects from the white snow? (This question appears complicated for little ones. It happened that we recently played with the sunlight and reflections which helped: http://www.mybrightfirefly.com/2014/10/space-preschool-activities.html)


How many berries do you see on the picture? How many leaves? What are their shapes?
Can the sun light make the berries and leaves sparkle? Have you noticed it on the picture?
Do you like this picture? Why?

After the discussion, My Firefly chose the colors of the snow that she thought might be seen when the sun is shining. Here is here palette:


Easy paint project for kids

We used watercolor paper, but tempera paints for this activity because we needed to make handprints and stamping.

The snow is painted on wet. My Firefly "painted" the paper with water first. That turned out to be a great activity. She was motivated to practice horizontal/ vertical strikes since it is a sensory activity with water. Then she got a small brush and her colors. I removed brown from the plate because that's what she'd get when mixing several colors together.


Kiss under the Mistletoe

The paper was still a little wet when we painted the mistletoe. Leaves are handprints. At 36 moths old, My Firefly was able to paint her left hand with the dominant right hand holding the brush. I helped her with the prints to make sure she wouldn't smudge the print. Berries were made by stamping with the empty water bottle. If it's more comfortable, only a cap can be used to stamp. Finally, we shook some glitter over the wet paint.


We didn't know better, but dancing with "Mistletoe" by Justin Bieber. All My Firefly heard was about playing in the snow, Christmas lights, and following the star. She sang "With me... Under the mistletoe" and gave me some kisses and hugs. It was pretty cute.

More Winter Art Ideas from My Bright Firefly

21 Gorgeous Snowflake Ideas
The Art and Science of Snow
30+ Merry and Bright Paintings and Paints
Process Art: Christmas Handprint and Glitter Wreath

(Click on the picture below to enlarge it.)


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1 comment:

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