Summer Boost
Activity:
Skyline Craft
Use a simple toothbrush and a splatter painting technique to create this sparkling skyline work of art! For kids who love the big city, this is a great way to learn about and identify famous buildings and monuments in different cities. Kids get to experiment with texture, color and negative space while making a piece of art for the fridge or wall.
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What You Need:
- Sheet of blue construction paper
- Sheet of white cardstock
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Black oil pastel
- Toothbrush
- Tempera paint in yellow and white
- Cup of water
- Paper plate
- Tape
What You Do:
- Have your child place the white cardstock horizontally and sketch a skyline of his favorite city, or from his imagination. If he’s drawing from imagination, encourage him to consider different shapes for the buildings and use a ruler to create straight lines.
- Now he can separate the buildings from the sky by cutting out the outline of the top of the skyline.
- Save the piece with the buildings and place it on top of the sheet of blue construction paper, making sure the edges of both sheets line up. Use a bit of tape to keep the sheets together while you proceed with the next step.
- Squeeze a bit of white and yellow paint onto separate paper plates.
- Now your child can dip the toothbrush into the cup of water and then into some paint. To create a splatter, hold the toothbrush over the edge of the skyline and rub the bristles to release a splatter of stars. Encourage your child to aim the paint at the edge of the buildings and alternate between yellow and white paint.
- Let the paint dry, and remove the cardstock from the blue sheet of paper. This template can be used to make more skylines
- Now your child can make the painting detailed by adding windows, doors and lights with black oil pastel.
