African Art Projects For Children

The ancient African art mainly consisted of masks and figures that were used for various religious ceremonies. Apart from these, the other artforms included sculptures, paintings and decorative objects. The decorative objects mostly included textiles and everyday tools, which formed an integral part of all African cultures. African art has always been appreciated for its intrinsic aesthetic value. It comprises of an enormous collection of rock paintings and sculptures that are considered to be their greatest achievements. Most of the artwork in Africa has tremendous visual appeal and inspires a number of children's art projects in schools. Art teachers take various African art pieces as reference subjects.

The easiest African art project for children is to create a paper flag of one of the countries in Africa. Apart from wood, African sculptures were made from a variety of other materials, such as mud, beads, ivory, terracotta, metal and stone. Children can create replicas from ivory soap bars. Clay can also be used to create small figures, which can further be painted with gold acrylic, to decorate them. The Zulu tribe in Zimbabwe has been writing letters, using beads since a very long time. The cryptic messages and proverbs in these letters depend on the design, color and placement of beads. These letters are also good topics for art projects for children. The red, black and white shields of Kenya can be easily made of cardboard, paint, bells, shells and paint.

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Fun DIY Art Projects For Your Family

One of the primary problems that many parents face today is how to bring back the quality time with children that was lost with the advent of dual jobs and many long hours of overtime in the office, which has been heightened especially in the face of the global financial crisis and the major recession affecting almost every household in the country. If you are one of the parents who are looking for ways to bridge the growing gap between you and your children, home art projects may be the solution you are looking for.

DIY art options

There are various do-it-yourself home art projects that can be done inside the home. Contrary to popular belief, these art projects are also ideal for people looking for affordable ways to reconnect with the family on a budget. With the right project ideas, there is no need for anyone to begin spending large amounts of money on professional quality paints and artists brushes that can leave gaping holes in any average household's budget. Here are some of the best do-it-yourself home art projects that you can try out for yourself.

Patriotic cards
Whether for the fourth of July or simply as a year-round sign of you and your country's love for the motherland, patriotic cards are one of the beginner's home art projects that you can look into. Using classic American themes ranging from the flag to the good old American eagle, the patriotic card is both easy to use and a hands-on activity that is perfect for your young children. To do this, the only that you need are some art papers, glue, a pair of scissors, and some marking pen for drawing in the details of your project. One of the basics is to draw a card in the image of a flag. Let your children explore their creative side through the use of various art elements to decorate the card, aside from the main motif of the flag. For very young children, help them out in using the scissors for safety.

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Preschool Art Projects - Under the Sea

Under the Sea

No preschool curriculum is complete without a wide variety of art projects. Arts and crafts give children a method of expressing themselves creatively, as well as allowing them to develop fine motor skills such as cutting, pasting, and drawing. Certain themes, such as the ocean and the creatures that live in it, lend themselves perfectly to preschool art projects.

Ocean life is full of fun shapes and colors which are replicated in these preschool art projects. First, here's a project where the kids create stained glass ocean animals by using tissue paper with contact paper or waxed paper.

Look through books about the ocean and its life forms for inspiration first before letting the children create their own sea creature forms from contact paper or waxed paper. Once they have cut out their shape, decorate the shapes with tissue paper to create a stained glass effect. Remember to use glue if waxed paper is being used.

Create your own Aquarium!

In conjunction with the ocean life theme, organize a field trip to a local zoo or aquarium to observe fish in their habitat. After the field trip, try one of these preschool art projects on fish and aquariums.

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