Batik peacocks

This is the last of my series of around-the-world art projects with kids.  This one is really easy and really fun!  We learned a little about the process of batik, or wax-resist dying.  To do it in a kid-friendly way, we colored on printer paper with crayon all the way out to the edges of the paper and then crumpled the paper and watercolored over it with blue watercolor and let it dry.

So pretty!

Then we cut those pieces of paper into feather shapes and mounted them into construction paper peacock bodies!  We glued the whole thing to textured (read: crumpled) craft paper for structural stability.

So cool!  

Salty Watercolors

This is one of my favorite art projects for just about any age kids or adults.  Different papers react to the salt differently, so try this one out before you do it with a group.

Did you know if you sprinkle salt on a still-wet watercolor it makes absolutely gorgeous crystal shapes on it?
Here are some dinosaur silhouette sunsets I did with 6-8 year olds.

We added construction paper cut-outs on top

Make sure the salt is the last step- painting over it will ruin the effect.  Different wetnesses provide different effects.  I've found it looks best when the paper is still quite damp to the touch, but not puddling.

This effect is also fun if you draw a snowman with white crayon on white paper, then paint over with blue and add salt.  It looks like snow!

The salt transformation is really fun and happens over the span of a couple of minutes.  When it's dry you may want to brush off the salt crystals with your hand, or leave them there because sometimes it makes the picture look sparkly!