Putting The Pretty In Preschool

Finding Beauty In Everyday Early Childhood Experiences

flowers

Balloon Painting Flower Art

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This balloon painting flower art is quick and easy to do and can make a room look cozier in no time. It is an unexpected, novel way to create art. Since children love activities with balloons, they’ll surely enjoy participating in this art invitation.

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Supplies To Collect

Gather the following supplies for this large-scale art project:

  • round balloons
  • tempera paints in a variety of colors
  • paper plates
  • 18-inch x 24-inch sturdy paper
  • paintbrushes and paint pots
  • sponge dish wands
  • thin metallic garland
  • white glue and glue paddle
  • scissors
  • waterproof table cover

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Balloon Painting Flower Art Set Up

To set up this art project, start by covering an art table with a waterproof table cover.

Next, blow up round balloons to about 1/3 their usual size. Small balloons work fine for this project.

Then pour tempera paint in a variety of colors onto paper plates.

Afterward, drop paint into small plates or paint pot lids and add a sponge dish wand into each one.

Set out the paint trays, balloons, dish wands, and large sheets of sturdy paper on the art table. Your painting invitation is now ready to go.

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The Balloon Painting Flower Art Project

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To create eye-catching balloon art flowers, press a balloon into one of the paint colors, lift it off, and carefully press it down onto a piece of sturdy paper.

Tip: The firmer a paint-dipped balloon is pressed on paper, the bigger the print. Pressing the balloon down gently creates a smaller print.

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Continue to make balloon prints. It’s fun to create flowers in hues of blue and green in addition to more commonly seen colors.

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Afterward, dip a sponge dish wand into a contrasting paint color and stamp a circle in the center of each flower-shaped print.

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When the roundish prints are dry, cut them out.

Then dip a paintbrush into a pot of green tempera and paint leaves and stems on a large sheet of cardstock paper.

For a shimmery look, add a line of white glue to each leaf and press on a strip of thin metallic garland.

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Next, glue the round, bold, balloon-painted flowers on top of the stems using white glue or a glue gun.

To embellish the flower centers, add a circle of glue to each one and affix a strip of thin metallic garland to each of them.

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You will have large-scale, stunning flower art ready for display.

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Related:

Tulip Art Painting Project

Dish Wand Print Flower Art

Flower Theme Activities

Mother’s Day Crafts and Gifts

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Tea Party Water Play

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Set up this oh-so-simple tea party water play sensory invitation in minutes. Children love to pour water from a tea pot into cups, or from one cup to another, so will be super excited to explore it. Easily add in or change supplies to further extend the play experience.

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Supplies To Collect

Just a few supplies will have your little learners eagerly engaging in a tea party sensory experience. Gather the following:

  • bus tub
  • liquid food coloring
  • water
  • miniature tea sets
  • flower-themed confetti
  • spoons
  • waterproof table cover

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The Tea Party Water Play Set Up

To set up this low prep sensory invitation indoors, cover a table with a waterproof table cover. If you plan to offer the activity outdoors on a warm weather day, you can skip this step.

Next, pick a sensory tub to use. My go-to tub size is a white bus tub. It comfortably allows two to three children to play in it at one time and is easy to transport to any location. It is also very sturdy.

Then add lukewarm water and squeeze in a few drops of liquid food coloring.

Sprinkle in flower-themed confetti to add a dose of sparkle.

Lastly, drop in a miniature tea set for each child participating, and include a few larger spoons.

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A sensory play invitation couldn’t be easier to offer.

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Variations of the Tea Party Water Play Experience

To add interest and extend the tea party sensory play experience, include flowers and buds. These peonies look beautiful and offer a tactile experience.

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Note: Peonies are safe to touch but should not be consumed. If the children in your care are prone to explore by putting things in their mouths, choose edible flowers such as roses (featured below) for this activity.

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Rose flowers and buds are an exquisite choice for the bin. All parts of a rose plant are safe to eat. Just make sure there are no thorns on the rose stems as they are very prickly!

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Changing up the color of the water from a neon pink to a neon turquoise adds interest too.

Additional water play ideas for the bin are selecting a larger tea set, and offering play food desserts.

And finally, instead of filling a tub with colored water, simply set a miniature tea set on a low-edged tray and add a small bottle filled with water. Little learners will delight in transferring water from the bottle to the tiny teapot and cups.

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Benefits of the Tea Party Water Play Invitation

Practicing the skill of pouring, developing eye-hand coordination, enhancing fine motor skills, labeling flowers and parts, color recognition, experiencing beauty, and having a pleasurable play experience are all benefits of this simple and economical tea party sensory set up.

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Related:

Tea Party Sensory Play

Teacup and Peony Sensory Tray

Lilac Flower Sensory Trays

Petunia Flower Sensory Tray

Flower Theme Activities

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Dish Wand Print Flower Art

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This dish wand print flower art project is so easy to do. Grab some round sponge dish wands at a dollar store and a few basic art supplies and you are good to go.

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Supplies To Collect

Gather the following for this dish wand print flower art activity:

  • round sponge dish wands
  • tempera paint in a variety of colors
  • fade-resistant cardstock or construction paper
  • paint dishes
  • markers
  • table cover

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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The Dish Wand Print Flower Art Project

To begin this pretty flower art project, pour tempera paint on paint dishes in colors of your choice. Add a little bit of white or yellow paint to your hues to lighten and brighten them if desired.

Next, place a round sponge dish wand in each paint-filled dish.

Then set out 9-inch x 12-inch sheets of construction paper by the paint trays. 8 1/2 x 11-inch cardstock paper works fine too.

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Invite participants to make flower prints with the sponge dish wands by dipping them in a color of paint and pressing them on the art paper.

After the dish wand flower prints dry, ask children to use markers to draw a stem below each sponged flower.

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Two different paint colors for each flower look nice. In the art piece above the two-toned flower prints are created by using yellow paint first. Afterward, each flower gets an additional color with a wand dipped in orange paint.

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Swirling a little magenta and purple paint into white paint before using a dish wand is another way to create two-toned flower art.

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Finishing Touches

Enhance this dish wand print flower art project by adding a saying or including paper embellishments.

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Add a “Happy Mother’s Day” greeting for a beautiful Mother’s Day keepsake craft.

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Glue on a few paper-punched butterflies in a complementary hue for an elegant look.

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More Activities With Flowers

Contact Paper Flower Art

Petunia Flower Sensory Tray

Flower Stand Dramatic Play Center

Lilac Flower Sensory Tray

Flower Planting Sensory Tray

Flower Theme Activities

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Black History Month Hair Decorating Art

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These Black History Month hair decorating art invitations are inspired by the photos of beautifully decorated classroom doors that frequently go viral online and a recyclable shopping bag design. The two art invitations are easy for little learners to participate in and are suited for people of all ages.

Recently added: To make these Black History Month Crafts easier to prepare, download the free templates further on in this post.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Black History Month has been celebrated in the US every year since 1926. Classroom door artwork displaying beautiful hairstyles with embellishments is a stunning way to draw attention to the celebration. Often, the artwork is accompanied by pictures and information about past role models and their contributions.

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Black History Month Transient Art

A variety of craft supplies in gold, silver, pink, white, and tan hues provide the color scheme for a simple Black History Month transient art hair decorating invitation.

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Supplies To Collect

  • 18 x 24-inch sturdy white paper
  • 12-inch x 18-inch black fadeless construction paper
  • brown and pink construction or scrapbook paper
  • gift bows
  • pipe cleaners
  • bead garland strips
  • clip on tree decorations
  • buttons
  • pom poms
  • dangling earring
  • glue stick and glue gun
  • glue stick
  • pencil and scissors
  • compartment tray

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Black History Month Transient Art Set Up

For this glitzy art invitation, start by selecting the above easy-to-find supplies in a color scheme of choice, and placing them in a compartment tray. My color scheme has plenty of gold and silver, which black people wear so well. It is balanced by neutral and light pink hues.

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Cut and wrap pipe cleaner pieces around a pencil to make curly adornments, and tie other pipe cleaners and bead garland strips into bows.

Next, draw and cut a side view of a human head from brown construction paper, hair from black construction paper, and the shoulders of a top from fabric or colored construction paper. Fadeless construction paper or cardstock holds color the best.

Afterward, using a glue stick or glue gun, adhere the profile head, top, and hair onto a large sheet of construction or art paper. Slide in a dangling earring if desired.

Note: You may want to trim a small piece off the upper edge of the paper background to eliminate unnecessary white space.

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The Hair Decorating Transient Art Invitation

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Once the design is glued together, set out the compartment tray and invite one or two children at a time to pick supplies and decorate the hair of the arty profile. Make sure to snap a picture of each child with their finished design before you invite someone new to embellish the profile image.

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Children may decide to decorate the clothing in addition to the hair.

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After everyone has a chance to participate in the Black History Month transient art activity, give each child an opportunity to contribute a few pieces to the design. Afterward, use a glue gun to affix the shapes permanently. You will have a beautiful wall art piece to display.

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Hair Decorating With Flowers and Butterflies

This second Black History Month hair decorating invitation gives participants a chance to complete a finished art project to take home, using a similar profile image as above.

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Supplies To Collect

  • 14-inch x 17-inch art paper
  • craft flowers and butterflies
  • construction paper
  • flower and butterfly paper punches
  • self-adhesive gem stickers
  • scissors and pencil
  • glue stick

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For this next black History Month art invitation, put together a smaller-sized profile image for each child participating. A 14-inch x 17-inch sized background piece of paper is a good fit for the project.

Paper punch flowers and butterflies from a few different colors of cardstock paper, and add self-adhesive sticker gems. Or use purchased craft flowers and butterflies.

Note: I am a huge fan of paper punches and use them all the time. They save oodles of preparation time and give art projects a professional touch.

Set out a profile image and butterflies and flowers on an art table for each child participating. Invite everyone to use a glue stick to embellish the hair of their paper person with the craft supplies.

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Free BHM Hair Decorating Templates

To make preparation super easy for these gorgeous Black History Month Hair Decorating Crafts, feel free to download the two templates below. They are designed for 8 1/2 inch x 11-inch paper but can be enlarged on a photocopier if desired.

Note: These two templates are for personal or one classroom use only.

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Black History Month Printable 1Download

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Black History Month Printable 2Download

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Black History Month Positive Affirmations

This Black History Month printable set has coloring pages with 18 positive affirmations and 4 editable pages. Many creative patterns inspired by African art are possible, all with basic art supplies. Two bulletin board headers make displaying the stunning finished artwork super easy. Download this easy-to-use printable set at my Etsy Skills N Smiles shop for an everyday low price.

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See the blog post Black History Month Positive Affirmations Art for more infomation.

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Related: Black History Month Mixed Media Art

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More Black History Month Activities

Three Black History Month Crafts

Five Black History Month Crafts

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Starry Sky Sensory Bin

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Just as vegetables that come in a variety of colors are always a happy find, so are interestingly colored flowers. These award-winning, starry sky petunias are a new discovery for me, and they caught my attention at a hardware store! Their varying color patterns and space-themed name make them perfect for a starry sky sensory bin.

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Starry Sky Petunias were introduced about eight years ago, and their spectacular speckled white and purple flowers are a reminder of the cosmos. Each individual flower varies in shade of color and placement of white dots and splotches. The super pretty petunia plant is also named Night Sky Petunia and Galaxy Petunia.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

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This flower-inspired starry sky sensory bin contains the following loose part supplies:

  • starry sky petunia flowers
  • astronaut figurines
  • toy planets
  • glow in the dark moon and stars
  • toy spaceships in varying designs
  • pink and purple buttons
  • large and small marbles
  • purple and pink tumbled stones
  • turquoise, pink, and purple acrylic gems
  • silver spray painted rocks
  • agate slices

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The Starry Sky Sensory Bin

The supplies in the starry sky sensory bin are offered in two different containers.

This first bin for the sensory play loose parts is a food bus tub. It is super user-friendly and can be set up anywhere. Two or three little learners can play in the tub at the same time.

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Water with a little fluorescent purple food coloring added is the base for the bin. Breathtaking, other-worldly Starry Sky Petunias are the “stars” of the sensory play invitation.

Space-themed toys such as astronaut figurines, spaceships in varying sizes, glow-in-the-dark moon and stars, and toy planets complement the petunias.

Marbles in varying sizes are space rocks or pretend planets.

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Loose parts such as silver spray-painted rocks, agate slices, pink and purple tumbled stones, and acrylic gems add beauty to the bin.

Complementary-colored buttons are a welcome addition to any sensory bin.

This next water-based bin is a round, edged serving tray. It can also be offered anywhere and is suitable for one or two little ones to use at a time. The water level is a little lower, allowing for a large toy spaceship to stand upright in the bin.

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Petunia flowers in any color provide beautiful, cascading blooms all growing season long. Solid pink, purple, or white petunia flowers would also work wonderfully in this starry sky sensory bin.

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