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Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Kindergarten paper crafts are not just fun but build fine motor skills. Also, grab my other tips, ideas, and crafts for kindergarten on my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

Kindergarten is such a fun age to teach.

Like little sponges their minds are wide open and soak up all the knowledge that you and the world have to offer them. 

Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

It is exciting to introduce them to new art mediums, fresh techniques, and art styles.

Watching a budding artist is one of the great joys of this homeschooling life we chose.

Letting them linger over something they are really enjoying and perhaps cutting short those things they don’t. 

Simple kindergarten paper crafts are low prep, inexpensive, easy, and can be open ended for countless opportunities to use their imagination.

But first look at these fun must have art supplies.

Kindergarten Art Supplies

9 Must Have Tissue Paper Art Supplies for Kindergarten

Add these supplies to your craft list.

Also, grab some of these other kindergarten homeschool curriculum and crafts ideas.

Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum And Crafts

Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

Finally, look at how to make this tissue painting

Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

For this art activity you can let your child completely free hand their “painting”.

Or encourage your child to make something related to what you are learning, like a rainbow for a weather unit.

How to Tissue Paint

You will need:

  • Tissue paper
  • Spray bottle with water
  • Art Canvas
  • Masking or painters tape

First, give your canvas a clean edge and make it look like it has been matted for a museum showing.

Tape off a border all the way around the edge with masking tap.

Be sure to press it firmly into the texture of the canvas all the way around.

Cut or tear the tissue paper into small pieces, the more variety of sizes and shapes you have for them the better.

Kids really enjoy tearing the paper up themselves.

Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

Use the spray bottle to spritz canvas with water until it is soaked.

Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

Have your child create their picture by placing the tissue paper onto the wet canvas to form it.

Simple shapes or patterns will obviously be the easiest for them to create.

Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

Remind them to spray the canvas often to keep it wet while they work.

Once they have covered the canvas as much as they like, give it one final spray with the water bottle to soak it again.

Allow the water to dry completely.

Carefully peel off the tissue paper and admire the beautiful color that seeped out of the tissue paper to create their design.

Peel off the tape for a crisp white edge.

Kindergarten Paper Crafts and a Fun Tissue Paper Painting

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

If you’re looking for fun kids art history board game ideas. you’ll love Professor Noggins. Also, look at the other History Games on my page.

Too, sometimes instead of an art history board game, you can substitute a card game and that is what we did.

I love the Professor Noggin games because they contain a wealth of information in an easy to play format and cover a huge variety of topics.

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

In addition, the games cover nature, science, animals, birds, reptiles, history, and geography.

Today we are going to look closer at Professor Noggin’s History of Art.

Games teach children, critical thinking, curiosity, accepting failure, creativity, innovation, and more.

9 Things to Love About Art History

However, look at these nine things I love about Professor Noggin’s History of Art.

  1. Teach on a specific subject in a fun way.
  2. Are easy to learn and play.
  3. Build observation and memory skills.
  4. Have a quick play time.
  5. Are portable for road trips and waiting at doctors offices/restaurants.
  6. Have a great price point- around $10- $15
  7. Cover an excellent variety of topics- currently 39 titles on their website.
  8. Have two levels of play for players of different skill levels.
  9. Games have a variety of trivia, true or false, and multiple-choice questions.
Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

The only drawback is that they are small games with limited questions.

I like to get as much value out of things as I can so I started thinking of other ways we could use the games beyond their intended use.

First, look at some of these other fun history games.

Fun History Games Resources

Look at them below.

Moreover, Professor Noggin’s History of Art is an easy way to introduce artists and their masterpieces to kids of any age and ability.

Even if you do not know a lot about art, you can learn art history through a game.

Too, when you use this game, you teach so much more than just a particular artist or style of art.

Through art history you learn geography, get a better understanding of various time periods throughout history, improve reading and research skills, and more.

About Professor Noggin’s History of Art Game

However, look first at a few facts about how the game is intended to be played.

Professor Noggin History of Art comes with 30 cards.

The cards contain a famous artwork on one side and 6 questions on the other.

In addition, there are three questions for the younger or newer student and three for older children or more knowledgeable players.

Also, it’s recommended for ages 8 and up.

From this game you will learn about.

  • Famous artists
  • Major art periods
  • Works of Art
  • Art techniques
  • World architecture
Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

Next, look at these there creative and fun ways you can use the game to turn into a learning day.

8 Ways to Use a Art History Game

I have come up with 8 fun and educational additional activities  to do with this art history game to extend the basic game,

1. Get Artsy Fartsy

If you are not using a formal art curriculum, games like this are a great choice.

First, you can choose cards and have your child attempt to recreate the art piece including using the same medium.

These little tubes of acrylic paints really help you feel like an artist.

Next, do an artist study.

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

However, I also want you to know about this wonderful Art History for Kids curriculum.

2. Do an Artist Study

Randomly choose a card and study that artist for the week.

Focus on their art, techniques, life story, what period or style they were.

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

Add in this fun book The Story of Paintings.

3. Focus on Art Period Definitions

Additionally, there are plenty of great vocabulary and spelling words to choose from in this game.

Flip through cards to list all the great art periods and list them. Have your child define each one.

4. Guess the Story

Further, have your child write a poem or a story about an art piece before they learn anything about it.

Then check out the real story or at least the name behind it and see how close they were.

5. Reverse Pictionary

Another one is to pull a random card or one of your choosing and describe the photo for your child and have them draw it from your description.

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

This can end up being funny and entertaining.

6. Teach Geography or World Culture

Also, pull a random card and locate the country on the map where the artist is from as well as the museum where their artwork is displayed.

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

This scrunch map gets a lot of use as a favorite resource for just about any theme we choose.

7. Place the Cards in Timeline Order

Give your child a stack of 5 random cards and have them lay them out in timeline order.

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

They either from memory if they can or allow them to research the time periods in a book or online.

8. Host a Fun Share and Tell

Finally, host a share and tell.

Go through the stack of cards with your child.

Each of you choose your favorite artwork, share it and tell why. And you can include extended family members.

Kids Art History Board Game Ideas

Encourage your child to use descriptive words to help strengthen their vocabulary.

What do you think? Ready to turn a game into a fun and full day of learning?

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

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If your kids are looking for winter watercolor art projects, they’ll love this easy diy salt project. Add it to a winter season unit study for more learning fun.

If you live in Texas like I do, you won’t see a lot of snow unless you’re vacationing somewhere else.

But it’s still nice to dream about beautiful forests under a blanket of snow.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

So, today we are going to create our own winter watercolor art project to capture some of that snowy magic with a few different types of paint.

I’ve seen a technique like this done using snow but obviously that’s not an option for us.

Instead, I set to thinking about how I could make it happen here and turn into a fun art lesson too.

Over and Under the Snow

And my solution was a spray bottle filled with water instead of letting the snow melt over my picture.

You will probably want to take this one outside or put a plastic tablecloth on the table under your craft to help contain the mess.

No matter what you’re studying this winter or where you live, snow or not, it can still be fun and informative to learn about snow.

Topics like snowflakes, ice, hibernation, glaciers, icebergs, and everything else winter entails keep it fun.

Add a fun book to this winter watercolor art project like Over and Under the Snow to investigate what happens when that white blanket of snow covers the earth.

As a matter of fact, the book which inspired this project progresses from day to dusk to night as the child and father ski over the snow noticing it all.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

I love the darling images of creatures sleeping beneath the earth.

Winter Subnivean Zone

And above there are busy people, squirrels, owls, and a big full moon.

It is a great way to introduce snow, hibernation and terms like subnivean zone (it’s the network of open spaces and tunnels between the snow and ground) to your kids.

The word subnivean comes from the Latin “sub” (under) and “nives” (snow). 

There is a fantastic appendix of animals at the back of the book.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

It introduces animals and gives a bit of information on each spotted throughout as well as suggestions for more winter books.

More Winter Season Unit Study Resources

Then, here are some other winter unit study resources you’ll love.

Add in a few of these activities to make a fun learning about winter day.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

Let’s make this watercolor art project.

How to Make DIY Winter Water Art Project

You will need:

  • Watercolor paper. It really makes a difference with this paper.
  • Fine Salt
  • Food coloring
  • Black craft paint
  • White craft paint
  • Paint brushes
  • Water in a spray bottle
  • Baking sheet
Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

First, place watercolor paper on a baking sheet and spritz the entire paper well with water.

Pour a few tablespoons of salt into a small container.

Mix with a few drops of food coloring and repeat for as many colors as you would like to have.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

Scoop colored salt all over paper randomly and in different sized piles with different thicknesses to create a mottled watercolor effect.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

Spray the colored salt until completely saturated with the spray bottle.

You want to make sure that the salt is very wet so that the food coloring can absorb into the paper.

Allow it to sit undisturbed for 20 to 30 minutes.

The longer it sits the more saturated the image will be.

Too, you can let it dry overnight if your little one has the patience to wait.

Flip over your paper quickly to remove all the salt and use a dry brush to remove excess or just wait until it dries naturally and brush then.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

Now you should have a beautiful watercolor paper that resembles a dusky night sky or the aurora borealis.

Winter Crafts

Allow your paper to dry completely.

Then, paint a few straight lines straight up from the bottom using a thin flat brush. Draw any amount of trees you want, just leave room for the branches.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

Take the same brush dipped in black paint and start at the top line and drag it away from the line in a downward stroke.

This creates the shape of an evergreen tree.

Also, draw some scraggly spindly trees with just limbs and branches using a small, pointed tip brushed if you like.

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

Finally, allow your black paint to dry a little and then dip your paintbrush in white paint.

If it’s thick, add a tiny bit of water to loosen it up.

You’re gonna want your paint a little runny so that you can tap it on your hand over the paper and create splatters for snow.

Paint a moon if you’d like up in the corner. 

Easy DIY Fun Salt Winter Watercolor Art Project for Kids

Let your completed painting dry.

Because the paper was so saturated it may crinkle up a bit. Lay a couple heavy books on top once it’s dry to help smooth and flatten it.

What do you think? Easy winter art?

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

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If you’re wanting fall crafts for middle school for a fall unit study you’ll love this project. And look on my page homeschool middle school for more tips.

It may not quite be fall but pumpkin season seems to already be in full swing.

The stores have already begun to release all their fabulous pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavored goodies.

And the craft stores have had their decor out since summer.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

So, it feels like a great time to begin working pumpkins into a fall unit study. 

This art project adds some fun decor for the house which also works in fine motor skills and practical living skills (learning to use a hot glue gun, hammer and nails).

This is a fantastic activity for middle schoolers to do completely on their own with a bit of instruction.

But this activity can also be done by kids in upper elementary with a little more help.

Too, I was able to get all the supplies from Dollar Tree making this project a grand total of $3.75.

And I barely put a dent in the yarn and have plenty of nails left.

If you have any of the items lying around already you can make yours cheaper or even free.

Pumpkin Unit Study Ideas

You can easily turn this into more than just an art project by giving your middle schooler a few other activities to do before or after completing their string pumpkin art.

  • Research the different varieties of pumpkin.
  • List 10 pumpkin facts.
  • Complete the journal prompt – One night while I was walking in the pumpkin patch . . .
  • Research a recipe for pumpkin pie and bake it.
  • Find out which state grows the most pumpkins.
  • Find out how Native Americans cooked pumpkin compared to the colonists.
  • Weigh, measure, and compare a variety of pumpkins.
  • Make a pumpkin catapult – large or small.
Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

I know those ideas will get you started and use the beautiful book Farm Anatomy as a science reference to learn about pumpkins.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Here is a beautiful page from Farm Anatomy to research the different varieties of squash.

Pumpkin Art Supplies

Next, look at the easy supplies you need to make this diy string pumpkin art.

  • ½” to ¾” nails
  • Orange yarn
  • Green yarn
  • Small piece of stick
  • Glue gun/sticks
  • Scrap board
  • Hammer

Again, some of these supplies you may already have.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Here is how you make your own pumpkin string art:

DIY Pumpkin String Art

First, choose whether to make your pumpkin art horizontal or vertical.

This depends on your piece of scrap wood.

Then lightly draw out the shape with a pencil.

This piece of wood was in the craft section at Dollar Tree and they have several sizes and shapes to choose from.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Once you are satisfied with the general shape of the pumpkin you can begin to place the nails.

You can either guesstimate the space as you go or make little dots that are roughly the same distance all the way around.

You know where you will start and end with the nails when you do it this way.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Tap the nails into place, knocking them in about halfway because you want them secure.

Continue all the way around until you have the outline of your pumpkin completed.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Knot one end of the orange yarn around one of the nails.

Then wrap it all the way around the outside of the nails to make an outline.

Your child can do this once or twice to create a thicker outline.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

This next part is fun and easy.

We are going to fill in the pumpkin.

So all you have to do is crisscross vertically and horizontally around the pumpkin until you have filled it in completely.

Each nail should allow for the yarn to wrap around at least 5-6 times.

Tie the end of the yarn around a nail and cut off the excess.

Press your yarn down so that it is against the wood to show your nail heads.

This adds more texture and contrast to your art piece.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Once your pumpkin is filled in you can add your details like the vine.

Wrap green yarn once around the top center nail head.

And then twist it around the top and sides of the pumpkin.

Secure it down at the loops with a bit of hot glue.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Hot glue a small piece of a stick/limb from the yard to the top to make the stem.

You could also use a wine cork piece or another small bit of scrap wood.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

To make a hanger, flip your piece over.

And hot glue a small length of yarn to either corner.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Make several of these to hang around the house for fall.

Also, this makes a great family night or co-op activity. Start with pumpkin and build your ideas out from there.

Other Fall Unit Study Resources

Look at some of these other fall unit study activities:

This was so fun to create. You’re ready to ring in the fall season.

I guarantee you and your kids are going to want to come up with more shapes to make for all the seasons and favorite themes.

Don’t forget to check at Dollar Tree. They carry a ton of yarn and wood pieces in the craft section now.

Easy Fall Crafts for Middle School: DIY String Pumpkin Art

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

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Your kids will love this glue and watercolor pumpkin to include in a pumpkin unit study. Too, you can add this activity to my huge fall unit study.

Besides loving unit studies, I love watercolor as a medium for art.

I put the two together to give you a start for your own pumpkin unit study. 

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

Watercolor is forgiving. And whether child or adult, you don’t need to be an artist to make wonderful images to display.

If you are hesitant but want to give it a try, then, today’s tutorial is the place to start.

This fall watercolor painting goes great with a pumpkin unit study.

And besides the simple tutorial I have some great ideas for you to create your own study.

Pumpkin Art

This dramatic pumpkin watercolor painting is great on its own as a simple art project.

One easy way to create contrast and drama in a simple watercolor picture is to make the outlines black and raised.

We do this with school glue colored with black craft paint.

The other way to make the watercolor stand out is to cover the entire page and leave no white space.

We are doing both of these today.

First, to make your own pumpkin unit study, always start with a couple of books that draw in your kids.

The Anatomy Series by Julia Rothman is great for so many studies.

They are worth the investment

Here is a beautiful page from Farm Anatomy to research the different varieties of squash.

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

They make for great art inspiration as well.

For younger children Pumpkin Jack is a great read aloud, but also teaches about the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Hands-on Activities for a Pumpkin Unit Study

  • Make a pumpkin watercolor
  • Pumpkin Experiments
  • Taste pumpkin in different ways-fresh, canned, seeds, pie, muffins,etc..
  • Bake a pumpkin pie
  • Roast pumpkin seeds

  • Use pumpkin seeds as manipulatives for math.
  • Measure, weigh, and compare pumpkins.
  • Label the parts of a pumpkin-stem, ribs, pulp, tendrils
  • Visit a pumpkin patch and talk to the farmer.
  • Test the density of pumpkins and seeds

  • Draw the pumpkin life cycle
  • Write a poem about a pumpkin
  • Give pumpkin related journaling prompts
  • Make a list of questions for your child to research online or in books
  • Create a fall bucket list – great writing practice

In addition, have your child research about pumpkins. Look at these questions below.

Research Facts about Pumpkins

  • How many different things can be made from pumpkins?
  • What state produces the most pumpkins?
  • How long do pumpkins take to reach maturity?
  • What vitamins do pumpkins contain?

Finally, gather up all your items and enjoy your delicious pumpkin themed unit study.

Begin with this fun watercolor painting.

How to Do A Pumpkin Watercolor Painting

You will need:

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

You can create any pumpkin design you like- an entire patch, a side view of a large pumpkin, or a close up view of the top of a pumpkin.

Today, I’m giving you step by step directions for the top view.

Start by drawing your design in pencil until you like the general shape. 

I started with a stem.

Easy Fall Art

Then drew the ribs of the pumpkin starting from the stem and working my way out all the way to the edge of the page.

Keep the curve moving in the same direction all the way around.

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

Now we are going to create a dramatic black outline and give it some texture.

You want to start with a bottle of glue that is no more than ⅔ of the way full.

This is a great way to use up those partial bottles.

Add black paint and shake the glue and paint up. If need be use a craft stick to stir it a bit more.

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

Once it is mixed well trace the drawing you made in pencil with the black paint, allow it to dry completely.

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

Once the glue is dry, lightly spritz the tray of watercolors as well as the entire page with water.

This is a trick I learned that helps the color spread better easier and allows you to layer color. This will create some dimension.

Next, mix orange watercolor and a little brown, black, or red with it.

This will make it a little darker than the rest of the pumpkin.

Go along each of the ribs with this darker color to create shading.

Make sure you do it on the same side of the ribs all the way around so it looks like the light is coming from one direction.

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

Fill in the rest of your pumpkin with color, adding water as needed.

Once the painting is dry add some more watercolor with less water to deepen the color.

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

Dry the remaining of your painting and it’s ready to share.

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

What do you think? Are you read to get started on a fall themed unit study?

Kids Fun Glue and Watercolor Fall Pumpkin Unit Study

Other Fall Unit Study Resources