Learn Play Imagine

4BoysToys on YouTube

2018-09-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

New YouTube Channel!

It's been awhile since I've made a new blog post. No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! We still do fun projects and experiments regularly, but the big difference now is that the boys do their own projects. Gone are the days of me setting up invitations and creating new ways to play. They use their imagination and go where that leads, and the best part is, they do all the set up and clean up!

Their latest creative venture is a YouTube channel! Presenting 4BoysToys! The four of them worked together to create, write, film, and edit this video. All I helped with was the editing and uploading to YouTube.

They would be beyond thrilled if you'd take the time to watch their video and leave a comment. Better yet, subscribe, so you get notifications when they make new videos!

Thank you for being excited for us and following our 4BoysToys YouTube journey.

Painted Pasta Art

2015-04-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

I can't help but look at dried pasta and see an empty canvas. Can anyone relate?

Today I am joining forces with my fellow Rockin' Art Moms for #themacaronichallenge. What is the challenge? Create your own unique pasta project. My boys thought dyeing pasta with erupting dye was the coolest thing ever, so I decided to set up an open ended art project for them using baking soda paint and pasta. The whole process took a few days, and it evolved into erupting pasta art.

How to Make Erupting Pasta Art

This post contains affiliate links. Here is my full disclosure policy.

Supplies:

liquid watercolor paint or food coloring
baking soda
vinegar
pipettes
watercolor paper
dried pasta
paint brushes and/or foam brushes
low temp glue gun

I whipped up a batch of baking soda paint using baking soda and liquid watercolor paint. Food coloring can also be used. I mixed approximately 1/4 cup of baking soda with enough watercolor paint to dissolve the baking soda without making it runny. I set out the paint and a tray of dried pasta and invited my boys to paint the pasta. Tank and Peanut (3) painted and played for a couple of hours.

I have to admit, they didn't paint exactly as I envisioned.

They made pasta "soup" by adding pasta directly to the paint and "stirring" with the paint brushes.

Occasionally a paint brush swooped across the pasta.

Painting the cookie sheet was fun, too.

After several hours all of the pasta was sufficiently painted whether by brush or when mixed up as soup. I stuck the cookie sheets in the oven on warm for an hour or so to allow the baking soda paint to dry and stick to the pasta. It should also dry when left out overnight even without time in the oven.

On another day I pulled out the painted pasta and set up an invitation to create. I used watercolor paper since our project eventually included vinegar, although any thick paper would probably work. School glue would also work for this project as long as drying time is allowed. I chose to use glue guns, because my boys are obsessed with any art project that includes glue guns. We use low temp glue guns, and all of my boys have been taught proper glue gun usage.

For over an hour they created, each boy putting his own flare on the project. Tank went for the collage approach.

JZ (7) made detailed pictures which included a cabin with a campfire outside, fireworks, and animals. For some dumb reason I didn't get any good photos of his work.

Peanut didn't seem to care what he created. He simply enjoyed sticking the pasta to the page. He also enjoyed peeling it off again.

J-Bug (6) made 3D projects that he called rockets. His pasta art included sound effects and a full story with characters.

After the gluing came to a finish I surprised the boys with cups of vinegar. I added a few drops of yellow liquid watercolor paint simple to make the fizzing more vibrant. Please note that vinegar removes adhesive, so before letting the boys squirt vinegar on their creations I explained to them that their pasta art might come undone. The older boys each chose a project to set aside and leave untouched.

We do a lot of fun art projects, but this was seriously one of the coolest.

JZ made a cannon on one of papers, and he was thoroughly pleased watching it erupt.

After all the baking soda had been covered with vinegar we dumped the excess liquid off the artwork and let it all dry. Some of the adhesive remained secure, and some of it did not. In places where the boys used thick strips of glue the pasta stayed on the paper.

There was some untouched pasta that we could resist adding vinegar to.

After dropping some vinegar using pipettes, J-Bug decided to dump the cupful into the container. His way was definitely better.

Wait! The challenge isn't over!

WE WANT YOU! Are you inspired to make something amazing with pasta? The Rockin' Art Moms are opening the Macaroni Challenge up to all: kids, parents, grandparents, EVERYONE! Come join in the fun!

Please join us by creating you own unique pasta project and posting a pic on Instagram, twitter, or the Rockin Art for Kids Facebook Page using the hashtag #themacaronichallenge

Challenge ends on May 3. During this week the Rockin' Art Moms will be sharing some of our favorite projects on our Facebook Pages.

GIVEAWAY: All projects posted on the the Rockin Art for Kids Facebook Page will be entered in an amazing Rockin' Art Moms Book Giveaway. ENTRIES RESTRICTED TO RESIDENTS OF THE US AND CANADA ONLY. The winner will be selected at random from the entries and announced on Instagram and the Rockin' Art for Kids Facebook page on Sunday May 3, 2015.

We can't wait to see your creations!

Be sure to visit all of the Rockin' Art Moms today and see what they created with pasta!

Pinecones and Pasta Art ~ Art Bar

Stained Glass Pasta ~ Babble Dabble Do

Mosaic Pasta Art ~ Buggy and Buddy

A Modern Macaroni Masterpiece ~ Handmakery

Modern Pasta Necklaces ~ Mer Mag

Pasta Sculptures for Preschoolers ~ Meri Cherry

Painted Macaroni Necklaces ~ MollyMoo

Pasta Drawing Prompts ~ Picklebums

Kid Made Pasta Frames ~ Pink Stripey Socks

Pretty Pasta Pendants ~ Pysselbolaget

Pasta Art Activities for Kids ~ The Artful Parent

Spaghetti Tower Marshmallow Challenge ~ Tinkerlab

Macaroni Mosaics ~ Tiny Rotten Peanuts

Macaroni Pom Pom Necklaces ~ Willowday

For more pasta art follow me on Pinterest.

More erupting art:

Fizzing Rubber Band Snap Painting ~ Erupting Soda ~ Erupting Ice Chalk Paint

Dyed Pasta Eruptions

2015-04-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

We've been overdue for a new batch bin of dyed pasta, and this time I thought it would be fun to make eruptions while dyeing our pasta.

Sensory Play with Pasta

Typically when we dye pasta for art and sensory play we use this simple vinegar and alcohol free recipe. Pasta is one of our favorite sensory materials for many reasons, one of them being because it lasts forever. It's so easy to dye a few boxes then store for months and months of sensory play. I buy our dried pasta at Dollar Tree when I it's for play, so this ends up being a frugal sensory bin filler. This time instead of using my standard method to dye the pasta, I thought it would be cool to dye the pasta using erupting dye. My boys are more than a little obsessed with creating eruptions, so I knew they would be all over this.

How to Dye Pasta with Erupting Dye

This post contains affiliate links. Here is my full disclosure policy.

Supplies:

dried pasta
liquid watercolor paint or food coloring
bowls/containers
baking soda
vinegar
squeeze bottles
wax paper

Directions: I put roughly 1/4 cup of baking soda in the bottom of six containers. I covered the baking soda with dry pasta. I filled squeeze bottles with about 1/4 cup of vinegar and plenty of liquid watercolor paint. A little paint goes a long way, but the more you use the more vibrant your pasta will be. Food coloring could also be used. I set up the bowls of pasta and squeeze bottles full of colorful vinegar and invited my boys to join me.

They had no idea the bottles contained vinegar, and they didn't notice the baking soda. They were in for an awesome surprise.

At first they squeezed the bottle gingerly, and while the color was nice there wasn't enough to cause a reaction. I encouraged them to squeeze hard, and that's when the fun began.

They giggled with delight and moved on to the other colors. Please note that in order to get a good reaction I recommend not using too much pasta in each bowl. The baking soda and vinegar will still fizz when combined, but it won't rise above the pasta if there is too much. After all of the bubbles calmed down I shook the bowls well to be sure all the pasta was colored. Then I spread out the pasta on wax paper to dry overnight. You can also put dyed pasta in an oven on warm if you want to speed up the process. On a hot day you can leave it outside to dry. If all the baking soda doesn't dissolve your pasta will have small patches of white on it when dry.

For more recipes for play follow me on Pinterest.

More fun sensory materials to dye:

Colorful Eruptions ~ Painting Toast ~ Rainbow Slime Recipe

Melted Crayon Art

2015-04-23T20:56:00.001-07:00

Melted crayon art is the perfect way to use up old crayons and broken pieces. Plus, it's gorgeous!

I remember "painting" with crayons on a warm skillet back in kindergarten, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Throughout the years I've found a variety of ways to make art with melted crayons, and some of my favorite bloggers have come up with clever creations. Before you get started, use this simple trick to peel crayons, so they are ready to go for your art projects.

16 Art Projects with Melted Crayons

See what happens when you stick some crayons into an old glue gun.

Draw on sandpaper then heat it up! ~ Buggy and Buddy

Make a pointillism inspired masterpiece using crayons and a candle. ~ 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Decorate Easter eggs with melted crayons. ~ Kids Play Box

Make splatter paintings with crayons. ~ Artistic Junkie

Melt crayon shavings between wax paper then mix the colors together. ~ The Vintage Prairie

Make paint from melted crayons. ~ Babble Dabble Do

Use crayon shavings to put the final touch on a gorgeous painting. ~ Happy Hooligans

Collect sea shells then decorate them with melted crayons. ~ Fun at Home with Kids

Paint with crayons on marble tiles. ~ Tiny Rotten Peanuts

Use a blow dryer to melt crayons. ~ Pink Stripey Socks

Leave broken crayon pieces on a canvas in the sun. ~ Clumsy Crafter

Make melted crayon drawings. ~ Picklebums

Decorate your own wooden blocks with melted crayon art. ~ The Artful Parent

Create gorgeous suncatchers to hang in your window using melted crayons. ~ Housing a Forest

Set up a toddler friendly crayon melting session. ~ Meri Cherry

For more ideas for crayon art follow me on Pinterest.

More awesome art activities:

Fizzing Snap Painting ~ Homemade Tempera Paint Recipe ~ Painting with Ice Chalk and Oil

Play Dates

2015-04-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

We love hosting messy play dates, especially in the summer when we can get messy and rinse off in the sprinkler!

My kids are super social creatures, and they constantly ask when we are having our friends over again. There have been seasons of our life when we have hosted regular Friday play dates with our play group. We had a busy year, so the play dates have slowed down. With the weather warming up,and now that we've gotten into a better school routine leaving our Fridays free, my wheels are turning with some fresh ideas for play dates. Stay tuned this summer for more play date posts. In the mean time, here are 12 ideas for epic play dates.

How to Host an Amazing Play Date

Grab a few cans of shaving cream, and invite your friends over with their kids for a messy play date.

Don't drink the Kool Aid. Instead, play with it!

Collect old boxes and let the children build a box tower. After building, they can paint and decorate it. ~ Meri Cherry

Use old newspaper to make a fake snowball fight.

Stock up on pool noodles from the dollar store, and play backyard games with them.

Mix up a batch of playdough together, then let the little ones create and play. ~ The Pleasantest Thing

Fill up a bunch of water balloons, and get creative with the water balloon games!

Set up an obstacle course, and let the kids run through it again and again.

Cook up a giant batch of rainbow spaghetti, and the kids will have oodles of fun. ~ Meri Cherry

Set up a color lab for toddlers. ~ Twodaloo

Discover new ways to play with sidewalk chalk, and invite the neighborhood kids over to join in the fun.

Make a giant waterbed for kids (Play at Home Mom) to roll around on and stay cool, or make individual mini water blobs (Hello Wonderful). The original idea came from Play at Home Mom, but we had better luck using the iron method from Hello Wonderful.

For more ideas for play dates follow me on Pinterest.

More awesome kids activities:

Fizzing Sidewalk Chalk Recipe ~ The Best Playdough Recipe ~ How to Make Rainbow Slime