Little J was asking how many days until school started the other day. When I told him that there was about a month of summer break left he was rather quiet. I noticed later that he still seemed off. When I asked him he told me that he was going to miss having all the fun we had this summer. I reminded him of all the fun he had at school and how much he would enjoy seeing all his sweet friends again. This cheered him up some.
It really cheered him up when I suggested that we do a project together that I knew he enjoyed- shaving cream painting!
It occurred to me that we could do something with our project to help him look forward to going back to school and let him know that while we won't have the lazy days of summer, we will still have Friday fun.
Friday fun is a little "I love you ritual" that we started when Little J was in kindergarten. With the busy weeks of school, extracurricular activities, homework, and earlier bedtimes, it's easy to miss each other. We started doing simple things that we usually don't have time for during the other weekdays. Things that help us spend time together and reconnect.
When they dried, Little J and I thought of a few things together that would be fun to do this September. We wrote them on backs of the leaves (on post it notes...I'm hoping to get them back for our autumn traditions tree) and then put them on his bedroom door.
- Take a walk on a nature trail
- Play at a favorite park
- Make ice cream for dessert
- Go to the science museum
- Go for an afternoon picnic
- Do a traveling story hour
74 comments :
So fun! I love that you have fun Fridays and that you have some ideas planned out!
That is gorgeous!
WE love shaving cream painting. I'll have to do it soon; last time we did it was around Easter.
I really love the Fall Friday fun ideas too.
Oh, and your leaves are gorgeous!
Love your leaves! Maybe we will have our own Friday Fun ritual this fall too. Our school year starts in 3 short weeks!
Love that the end result is as much fun as the process getting there!
This looks like so much fun, can't wait to try it with my son. Thank you for sharing.
This is fantastic. I've never seen this technique. Great results and looks like a lot of fun. If you have a moment, I would love for you to share this project on my Inspiration Board {link party}.
http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/2011/08/inspiration-board-link-party-9.html
Thank you!
carolyn | homework
Oh I love the colors and how they turned out. Never thought of using paint -- paper crafters usually say to use re-inkers which I don't have. I'll have to remember it works with paint too!
This looks like great fun and they look beautiful too.
Thanks for sharing - I will have to do this with my kids too
Lowri
http://papervinenz.blogspot.com
Cool! These turned out great! I think I'm going to do some and make a garland out of it. Thanks for sharing!
Not only does this look like loads of fun but the results are very interior design-esque. Talk about a kids' art project you're proud to display!?!? I love this and will be sharing it with my readers via my FB page soon. Thanks for sharing!
Can you believe that it is only 1 month till school? Great project- so colorful! Thank you for sharing this idea with us on The Sunday Showcase!
Such a sweet craft! You are so creative and organized!
Wow, these turned out BEAUTIFULLY!
So clever - and I love the colors!
Just to let you know, I featured your wonderful project today. Come grab a featured button if you'd like.
http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/2011/08/inspiration-board-link-party-spotlight.html
Thanks again for the beautiful inspiration.
Wow, those look amazing!! I've never seen this technique before and can't wait to try it. Your Friday Fun Day's sound wonderful.
Oh my goodness, I had no idea that shaving cream art could be so beautiful! Your post makes me nostalgic for my school days at home and the fall :-) Thanks for sharing!
I came over here from Homework...I love the results you got from your shaving cream painting. I got shaving cream a LONG time ago, because I read that some kids just like messing around with it, "painting" with it with their hands. My girls did not end up being good candidates for that! But I think this art project will be perfect for my older one to try!
What a fun idea! Totally pinning this!
Jenn :)
Wow! How pretty! I wish E liked the shaving cream:-( Maybe one day!!
Kerri
These look so pretty! Thanks for the great idea! I might use this with my class!
Better Than a Milk Mustache
Hi, friend! You've got so much creativity and I'm admiring them all. Can you please share your creative posts at the Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop? Hope to see you there at the party :).
The leaves are beautiful. I am gonna try this style of painting soon. Pinning it. Thanks for sharing.
I like the Friday Fun idea. It gives the kids something to look forward to.
I am hosting my first link-up party - Tea Time Thursdays @ Kreative Korner. Would be glad to see some of your awesome posts there. Hope to see you at the party.
http://tanyaanurag.blogspot.com/2011/08/celebrating-one-party-time.html
Thank you so much for telling me about your I love you ritual, my son starts kindergarten this fall and I am struggling with the idea of letting him go. I have a feeling I love you rituals will help make al the difference :) Thank You!! These are beautiful by the way!!
This is wonderful! I am so going to make this with my preschool class this year! Thanks for the great idea!
What a great idea!! I love this! Will be doing with my son!!
What a great idea I shared it with my friends on facebook!
This is great. I pinned it so I wouldn't forget! I have a group of homeschoolers that come over for art lessons and I'm going to do this with them!
Easy and cute! I hope fall doesn't come too soon! I'd love it if you shared this with WorkShop Wednesday. It would make a nice addition to the party!
Thanks for sharing this project! We tried it today and had good luck BUT it was sooooo very messy (that could just be me...). Does anyone have a suggestion on how to control the mess when you squeegee off the excess shaving cream? We just slapped our card stock shapes on the vinyl table cloth and ran the squeegee over them, then had piles of painted goo all over the table :)
Hi Indy mom- There is a lot of shaving cream and paint that comes off the project! We did our painting close to the sink and I just kept some paper towels close by and wiped the squeegee off each time.
So long as our projects aren't making a permanent mess, I usually don't worry about it until the kids are finished. They help me clean up what they can and then I clean them. I usually have an independent activity waiting for them, like books or snack time, and that gives me enough time to clean whatever else needs it. Hope this helps.
I love the idea of doing this then making a fall bucket list for the boys. Thanks : )
beautiful! Thanks for the tips!
THese are so Great! Thanks for sharing! I will share this on FB!
I love these!
Wonderfull!!
these look so beautiful! great idea :)
Lovely!
I am going to try this with my oldest son!! I don't have acrylic paints, would tempera paints work?
Thanks!
I've done this before but never as leaves, and It's so lovely! Still very process but the product is nice too. I'm going to share this on my blog, if it's ok, and I will fully credit you and set it up for people to click over to your site.
OOps. My blog is: maryannfkohl.typepad.com/blog/
My website is: www.brightring.com
L. Starbuck- Yes, you can use tempera paint. The colors are just not as vivid. We used them in this post: http://littlewondersdays.blogspot.com/2011/06/we-read-rainbow-fish-and-did-shaving.html
MaryAnn- I'm thrilled that you would post this on your blog. Thank you.
these are so cute!!
Great idea! Thank you! They are SO cool looking. I'm looking for a class project for the fall party. Do you think it would be too messy with 23 kids?
Thanks!
I think it can be done with a large group of kids. I would make sure you have extra adult hands and maybe try it at home first. It is very easy to do, but there is shaving cream and paint to deal with once you squeegee it off the leaf. We did it close to the sink and just rinsed it down the drain and wiped the squeegee dry. Hope this helps and have fun!
Kelly
Just stopping by to let you know that I have featured your project on Fun Family Crafts! You can see it here
http://funfamilycrafts.com/swirled-shaving-cream-leaves/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, I'd love it if you would submit them :) If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above.
My girls love this activity. I really like how you did the swirls on the shaving cream. So pretty! We did a similar project http://www.messforless.net/2011/08/twins-will-be-starting-at-new-school-in.html
Love how versatile this idea is!
Stealing this idea. Thank you!
Does the squeegee not mess up the beautiful design? Also, maybe I'm just slow tonight...did you use like a shower squeege or a specific one for art? Thanks!
Yes, I used just a regular shower squeegee. I've had some people tell me they didn't have one and used a ruler and another used a craft stick. I've never tried it where I don't squeegee the shaving cream/paint off. I think that the design is actually made when you swipe away the shaving cream/paint. If you try it the other way, I would love to hear about it. I'm curious now...I may have to try it myself!
Hope this helped,
Kelly
WOW I can't wait to do this with my class. I wanted to do something diffrent and you just did that for me!!!!THANK YOU FOR SHARING
Beautiful leaves! I loved looking at your tutorial, and linked to it on my blog with our shaving cream painting. Thanks for the inspiration!
i love the idea of fun fridays. and i love how your leaves turned out. what a great project. thanks for sharing.
Hi
Would ready mixed paint work for these do you think?
Thanks
Question: Would ready mixed paint work for these do you think?
Answer: I'm not 100% sure if I know what ready mixed paints are, but I'm assuming they are similar to poster paints and intended for use by children. I would think they would work just fine. Just be careful as to how many or what colors you mix so you don't end up with brown.
I've used tempera paint, food coloring, and acrylic paints. Acrylic paints were the most vivid, but the others were attractive too. Cardstock paper has been my favorite paper to use.
I'm glad you were able to cheer up your son. Summer is really fun, especially spending painting moments with your family!
We've used food colouring with the shaving cream and it sounds like it works the same. I've done a few projects with it but never the leaves which look so cool. We'll be doing it with our after school gr 1 & up.
What a cute project! I love it so much that I decided to feature it in our roundup of autumn leaf crafts! Check it out here: http://www.favecraftsblog.com/link-love-fall-leaf-crafts/
These are beautiful!! I'm going to try them with my kindergarten class next week. Thank you!! :)
Little Miss Glamour Goes to Kindergarten
We love using paint and shaving cream to create this technique, but have never done leaves with it.. how beautiful! Pinned to our Fall Fun board, thanks for sharing.
How much shaving cream does it take for one leaf? Just wondering if I have 25 students how many cans I would have to buy. Thanks...these are beautiful!
You have been featured on Monday Funday. Come grab a button. http://melsdaisypatch.blogspot.com/2012/10/monday-funday-6fall-decorations-and.html
I featured you today on my links and lovely things. :)
These are so beautiful...we are making them at preschool this week..thanks for the inspiration.
I featured your post on my blog..please pop by http://www.pumpkinsandginger.com/2012/10/fall-crafts-from-inspiring-blogs.html
Thank you so much
Debbie
I want to make these this weekend but am wondering if it would work using tempera paints? Or do I have to use acrylic? I'm wanting to use what I have instead of buying more paints....
Thoughts?
Tina
http://familyliteracy2.blogspot.com
familyliteracy2(at)gmail
Would it work to use tempera paint or do we have to use acrylic? I would like to use up what I have instead of buying more....
thoughts?
Hi Tiinaj1,
Tempura paint does work, but the outcome will be different. The colors aren't as vibrant, but still pretty. I tried them in this post, see what you think.
http://littlewondersdays.blogspot.com/2011/06/we-read-rainbow-fish-and-did-shaving.html
Kelly, Little Wonders' Days
I would love to try this with my Kindergarten class. Would you need new shaving cream and paint for each child, or can you reuse it?
Hi Lori,
You won't need to empty the container, but you will need to add a little more shaving cream each time and then add a bit more paint. I would recommend either having a set of colors that each child uses or grouping kids together that want to use similar colors.
Have fun!
This looks like an adorable craft! But I'm not sure where to buy a squeegee.... Is there anything else I could use instead?
Hi Shirley,
You can use something else that has a flat edge, like a popsicle stick or ruler to wipe the excess shaving cream/paint off the paper.
Question for you. I'd like to do this in an Art Program with up to 20 kids. How many times can the tray of paint be used, or does it need to be fresh each time?
Thanks
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca,
We "freshened" the paint each print (either by redistributing it or adding a bit more). I don't think you need to empty the tray each time though. We had to add more shaving cream after several prints. I recommend trying it out before doing it with the kids. It's a really fun and easy project. Best wishes,
Kelly
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