Restaurant Art Fun

I love it when restaurants provide crayons and paper. It keeps the kids busy. Usually, we play a game of guess the picture. Tonight, we were out  with my daughter's ringette team tonight and we sat with  Jakob and his dad, Brad. They were deeply engaged in a scribble game. Watching them, generated an interesting conversation on creativity.

The games was simple. One would make a scribble and the other would try to find a picture within the scribble. So simple and yet so engaging.

Look for the original scribble and can you see how Jakob transforms it to something more. My favourite is the one on the left.  I promised him I would put it on a T-shirt for his Dad. Come back next week to see the finished product.


What other art games have you played in a restaurant using the crayons provided?

Leon The Chameleon

I love this book. Its about a chameleon that changes the opposite colour from his surroundings. Because of this, he is shunned by all the little chameleons. In the end, Leon proves that being different is a good thing. This book was written by Melanie Watt (of Scaredly Squirrel fame).  I use this book to  begin a discussion on complementary colours. For this lesson, we used watercolours. I ask the students to create their own animal and paint it one colour. Then I ask them to choose the complementary colour to paint the background.

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The Dot

One of my most favourite books is called The Dot by Peter Reynolds. It is about a girl who believes she cannot paint. Her art teacher encourages her to sign her name and the process of creativity begins. Its a great story to make the point that if you are frustrated, take a small step and it can lead you to success. Check out this link for classroom ideas. I begin a lesson with this book then the art activity is to create our own dot(s). I discuss Wassily Kandisnky and then we proceed with the art project. I like to use different “canvases” to create art. I have done this lesson using light switches and coloured Sharpies. Light switches are cheap and kids love the uniqueness of designing something useful.

I have also done this with plasticine. I get mat boards from a local art framing business for free. Here are the results.