Recycled Art for Kids: Painted Rocks Project #2 - Rock Houses For the Garden

My sweet little houses...

Rain, rain... not that the grass and I are complaining, but it can be hard on the kiddos. Here is another painted rock project that came from the recycled art class I taught this month. These are great for kids of all ages to work on. They look awesome in a garden. And the possibilities are endless. Your child can make a whole neighborhood.

Painted Rock Houses
by Tiffany Teske



What You Will Need
~ Rocks
~ Acrylic craft paint
~ Paint brushes; one for covering the rocks with solid all-over color, and smaller ones for detail work
~ Clear glossy spray lacquer



Directions
1. Select your rocks. Wash and let them dry.
2. Paint your rocks a solid color (as in the photo above). You will need to paint them all on one side, let them dry, then flip them over to paint the other side. Acrylic paint dries quickly.
3. Repeat step number two, 2-3 times, depending on the color of paint and how well it covers. Dark colors cover better, faster, than light colors.
4. Paint your house on the rock, filling it in with color. Using a small detail brush, paint dots, strips, flowers, and any other kind of design on your rocks. I like to outline my details with black paint once all the colored paint has dried.
5. Let everything dry well. Overnight is good.
6. Spray with sealer according to manufacturer instructions. This it to make the rocks more durable so they can be out in the elements of the garden.
7. Place your rocks outdoors, preferably somewhere you can see them from inside.


One of my student's houses, I believe she is 9. Isn't it adorable?

Recycled Art for Kids: Painted Rocks Project #1 - The Caterpillar

I just finished teaching a Recycled Art class series for kids aged almost 5 to 9. It can be challenging to select activities for that span of ages, but it can be done. One day we did two painting projects, both of which involved painting rocks. Kids LOVE to paint, probably because it is a messy activity that many moms don't want them to do (I am sometimes guilty of this myself). Kids also love rocks. My daughter likes to fill her pockets with them. And since we worked on this project she brings them to me all the time. It is fun because I put them in a coat pocket, or on the mantle, or in the car, and then I think of her and how she thinks of me, when I see them. I am happy she has started to see beyond the obvious uses for things. This project is a good project for all age levels and the kids can feel really good about and use their imaginations to play with the results.


How to Make a Painted Rock Caterpillar
by Tiffany Teske

What You Will Need
~ 5 or more rocks
~ Acrylic craft paint
~ Paint brushes; one for covering the rocks with solid all-over color, and smaller ones for detail work
~ Matte finish sealant; I used Krylon Matte Finish Spray Fixative


Directions
1. Select your rocks. Wash rocks and let them dry.
2. Paint your rocks a solid color. You will need to paint them all on one side, let them dry, then flip them over to paint the other side. Acrylic paint dries quickly.
3. Repeat step number two, 2-3 times, depending on the color of paint and how well it covers. Dark colors cover better, faster, than light colors.
4. Using a small detail brush, paint dots, strips, and any other kind of design on your rocks. Also, make a face on your first rock, and maybe little legs and feet on the sides of the other rocks. The sky is the limit.
5. Let everything dry well. I waited until the next day.
6. Spray with sealer according to manufacturer instructions. This it to make the rocks more durable.
7. Play with your new caterpillar.

Upcoming Banff Community Courses

I am teaching three kids courses through the Town of Banff Community Courses during April and May...

Kid's Digital Photography (Ages 10+)
Grab your camera and get ready to have photography fun! This course will cover the basics of photography, and allow you and your camera to develop creative projects using the photos you take. We will be working with lots of natural light and trying new approaches to making your ordinary pictures extraordinary!

$40

Banff High School

Mon - Fri, April 5 – 9

1 – 3 pm


Kid's Good Earth Art (Ages 5 – 9)
Join Tiffany for an afternoon of fun crafting with your friends. Take part in learning a series of projects and crafts that will be created by using recycled materials. Parents are welcome to join their children for the afternoon if they wish.

$30

Middle Springs Cabin

Fri, April 16, 30, May 14, 28

1 – 3 pm

Kids in the Kitchen (Age 9+)
Hey kids! Learn how to become mini chefs in the kitchen and have fun preparing snacks and meals that you’ll love to eat! Kids will also learn kitchen safety and proper food handling techniques.

$35

Banff High School

Sat, May 29

10:30am – 2:30 pm

To see the full course guide and for info on how to register click here.

So Much To Do, So Darn Little Time...

I miss my blog. Things have been insane, all in a good way, aside from some colds around our house. I hope to have more time to write soon.

I have been editing photos from 17 photo shoots I had in Ottawa this summer. I am done with editing and uploading to online galleries, now I am working on building the albums for each of my clients. Here is just one of my favorite images from the shoots. What an adorably cheeky little lady!



In addition to that I am working two days a week at my friend's shop, Silver Spoon. It is an awesome job that I look forward to. I can bring my little one, since it is a children's shop, and the owner had a 3 year old of her own. His name is, of course, Silver. Here is a photo of two peas in a pod, hanging out at the shop. Admit it, you wanna ride an elephant, too :)



Aside from that, I have been preparing for my teaching my fall community courses, through the town of Banff. The first one started last Thursday night. It is Basic Digital Photography for ages 12 - 14. My class is small, all girls, and really fun. I forget sometimes how much I prefer to teach kids. Even the "difficult" ages most people dread. Kids are so much more open to new ways of thinking and seeing. And they are not as hard on themselves as adults. Adults let failure paralyze them. Kids just have fun experimenting. I hope to take some fun shots to share this week.

Next week, I am teaching a Lunch and Learn course to town of Banff Employees, on blogging. They have a public staff blog that they need help getting off the ground. I am going in to try to inspire everyone to give it a shot. I am looking forward to it.

I am also start teaching next Monday for the Banff After School Club. I will teach recycled art! Yippee! At one point I was to be teaching weekly but then sadly it was not in the program budget so it was changed to once a month. I was really sad so I mentioned to both the program coordinator for the program and the program coordinator for the Town that I would love to write for a grant, with their backing, to pay for my "position". They put their heads together and came up with a plan of their own that now has me teaching weekly, at least through the end of the year! On Monday we will make puzzles using old books that someone donated to the Club.

Lastly, I have been preparing for my upcoming solo show at the Banff Public Library, for the month of October. I will reveal more in upcoming posts but lets just say it involves Polaroid film and double exposures...

Park Radio Feature

Today, I was interviewed for a local radio program called Affecting You. It will run three times this week on the radio and is podcast so I believe I will be able to post it here eventually. I was approached by the program host, Alana McGregor, which was a nice change since it seems like as an artist I am always chasing the publicity... I was teaching a mosaic workshop for kids at the public library last Thursday, I will post photos of that soon, and I was handed a phone message. It was from Alana McGregor, wanting to talk with me about my art and the community classes I will be teaching in the fall. Amongst the classes I will be offering is a weekly recycle craft that I will teach as part of the Banff Elementary After School Program. I want to show the kids how to make something functional and artistic out of thrift store items and items they might have at home that are broken or not serving a purpose... Hard to put in a nutshell but it won't be the traditional kid crafts out of coffee can lids and toilet paper rolls. Much more creative... So, we talked about that, about my upcoming show, and about the environment. I am lucky to live in a National Park, where everything that is possible is done automatically by the town to make it a greener place.

Teaching for the Town of Banff

Today I spoke with Kim Coultis, the Programming Director of the Town of Banff, about teaching courses in the fall. She is also one of the awesome people in charge of the Home Grown Exhibit. I am meeting with her on April 15th about teaching. It has been awhile sime I taught, about 1 1/2 years, man, time flies!! I was teaching Polaroid transfer and emulsion lifts at the Nepean Visual Art Centre after Quin was born just before coming here. Oh, and I did teach photography in Mexico in January. But, it has been a long time since I taught dance, arts & crafts, and photography to kids, which is mostly what I would like to do this fall. It will be awesome to be teaching right down the road. Yippee!



I used to teach mosaics, so may do that again, too...

And speaking of classes, I AM TOTALLY PSYCHED, because this session, the Town of Banff is offering a SEWING CLASS!! AND I know the teacher, Sheila Snowsell. I sign right up and hope that there will be enough people for it to run. Look out sewing machine, I will be using you A LOT in the very near future. Happy dance here...