Newsprint watercolor art with the kiddos

I just checked the calendar and I am finding it hard to believe that we only have a few more weeks left of vacation.  I am kind of sad because last year and this year we have come to the point where my boys are, for the most part, enjoyable.  Don't get me wrong, we have our moments.  But, we can go to restaurants and it's not a nightmare.  We stay at home and I don't have to have every part of the day mapped out. . . oh and the best part. . . this mommy sleeps in.  The kids don't, but they love their morning tv watching and it works.  

 The first month of vacation seemed very busy.  Lots of fun and not a ton of down time.  We like our down time.  The quiet is nice . . . until the kids start getting stir crazy and start running around acting like hooligans. . . or wrestlers . . . or track and field champions. . . or something.  It drives this mom a little on the crazy side and so we do art.  I am a huge fan of art with kids because it gives them confidence and strengthens their fine motor skills, and a whole lot of other things.  Basically, art is good (and as I type, it is almost midnight and my brain is tired).  It also corrals the kids at the kitchen table for an ungiven amount of time.  No one is fighting.  No one is running around with their head cut off.  It gives me a break of from the crazy and a little bit of structure for the boys. 

I found this project on pinterest and knew at once, we were going to do it.  It didn't take a lot of materials.  We had watercolors, old newsprint (trader Joes and junk mail is what we used) and some painting paper.  We painted shapes on the newsprint and then our background on the art paper.  The next day, we came back and cut out our newsprint shapes and made houses.  Even though I was doing the project with my kids, guiding them step by step, they each had their own idea what they wanted to do with theirs.  Weston kind of did his own thing and we ended up making flowers and trees out of what he did.  Ethan painted his house on the paper and then added the door, chimney, and windows out of the water colored newsprint.  He also had some fun with the sharpie. 

I think that's what I love about art. . . even though you set guidelines, it's okay to step outside those to create something amazing.  I love how each one came out and I loved the pride on their faces when they couldn't wait to show their daddy what they did that day. 

I hope you are surviving summer. . . and if you need any other ideas on what to do. . . message me or check out my Instagram.