We’re inching up on September, which means it’s time to release details for the September Art Challenge. This month brings us a brand new set of art prompts to inspire creativity in your family or classroom this month. With summer ending and school beginning, this time of year is a season of relaxation and business. In that spirit, the September art prompts reflect the ying/yang of this experience.

How to use the Art Challenge prompts

1. Print out the prompts
2. Gather sketchbooks or paper
3. Gather art-making materials: markers, paint, collage papers, glue, etc.
4. Give yourself a few minutes each day for this challenge. Try the morning after breakfast, after school, after dinner, before bed, etc.
5. Interpret the daily prompt. Use your imagination, be free, don’t hold back, and have fun.

September Art Challenge

TinkerSketch is a daily sketchbook practice that invites you to experiment and play with ideas and materials in a low-stress, fun, and mind-stretching way.

You’ll start each day with a new prompt and it’s up to you to interpret it however you like. For example, if the prompt is “tiny”, you could draw an object with tiny marks, make a small pattern, or paint a picture of small things like snails, sand, or chihuahuas. The possibilities are endless.

More Details

For more details on how the TinkerSketch Art Challenge works, click here to read for a full list of recommended resources and ideas on how to get started with this challenge.

I’m absolutely delighted to share that my newest book, Creative Adventures in Cursive, is coming sooooon to a store near you.

Let’s take the Curse out of Cursive

This playful book is written for all of the children who adore handwriting, flowing script, and experimenting with fonts. It’s also for children who want to learn how write cursive in a playful way and could use an artsy hand-lettering boost.

As I was writing this book I lost my mom to cancer. She was always my champion and her delightful script inspired my own love for handwriting from an early age. As you can imagine, this was one of the hardest times of my life. With a lot of time for reflection under my belt, it’s an absolute joy to see this book find its way into the world. And now I get to be that source of inspiration for my own kids, and maybe yours, encouraging them and delighting them with endless ways to express themselves with the written word.

Watch my unboxing video…

#bringbackcursive

Did you know that cursive writing has been cut from so many schools. My children attend one of the most promising public school districts in the country and they’re not learning handwriting in school. Maybe this is the case where you live, too.

Why is this? With limited teaching time, teachers and administrators have to make tough decisions on what they dedicate time to. As a former teacher, I know this challenge well. Typing and computer skills are more important now than ever. The argument goes that children won’t need handwriting because typing text is the reality of the present and wave of the future. Sadly, handwriting is becoming a lost art as a result.

However, the good news is that people like me, and maybe you, value hand written notes, flourishes, and personality in our communication and it’s easy enough to learn outside of schools. When my 7-year old came to me with a request to learn handwriting, I rejoiced. Intrinsic motivation is one of the best ways to learn and retain information, and I knew I could count on her to keep the letter-writing alive in our family for years to come.

My daughter’s request also rekindled my own love for handwriting. We wrote fancy letters, created hand-drawn menus, and created flourishes in our bullet journals. We were having so much fun with script that when  Quarto Books approached me to write this book, the pull was strong.

This book is written for all of the kids like my daughter who are hungry to practice handwriting. While it’s not a how-to book (there are plenty of those out there already), it offers playful ideas and inspiration for weaving cursive into arts and crafts.

Inside Creative Adventures in Cursive

Make posters, present school projects, design monograms, create greeting cards, decorate book bags and t-shirts, ice cookies and cakes — all while practicing cursive with all kinds of materials, including glue, pastry tubes, string and yarn, and of course brushes, pens, and crayons.

Praise for Creative Adventures in Cursive

Oh my goodness, where has this book been all my life? Rachelle’s book is the answer to my prayers. From the moment I opened the first pages and saw the cursive warm-up doodles, I wanted to be a kid again. Each page is more exciting than the next with projects like yarn art, glitter balloons, and cursive cakes. How interesting and unique to solidify the cursive movements through art and craft. Rachelle has always been an innovator, and this book proves to me again that she has the unequivocal power to turn small ideas into big movements.”

–Barbara Rucci, Art Educator and Author of Art Workshop for Children: How to Foster Original Thinking with more than 25 Process Art Experiences and owner of ArtBar Blog

This edible paint was my go-to back when I was a working gal running the infant room at a daycare. Part of my job was coming up with art activities for the twelve to eighteen month old babies, but when you think about it there aren’t too many things infants can actually do art-wise so that was a challenge.

Tiny humans don’t have very good scissor skills and they aren’t very good at squeezing a bottle of glue, but one thing they are REALLY good at is finger painting. And eating paint. So we did a lot of finger painting. And A LOT of eating paint. 😉
Super gloopy gel paint is totally perfect for little paint-tasters because it’s made with all food ingredients, but it’s also great for artists who aren’t into eating their mediums because it works great on paper, tabletops, or even the bathtub and it’s texture is second to none.

Supplies for Homemade Gel Edible Paint:

1. 2 tablespoons sugar
2. 1/3 cup cornstarch
3. 2 cups water
4. Food coloring or liquid watercolors — definitely food coloring if it might end up in a tiny mouth

Directions:

1. Put the sugar, cornstarch, and water in a medium saucepan and heat it up over medium-high heat. Keep a close eye on it and stir it pretty consistently, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan.
2. While it’s heating up, set out one container for each color you’d like to make.
3. After a few minutes, it should start transforming from a milky liquid to a hair gel-like consistency and be almost translucent. Once it gets to that point, don’t cook it much more, otherwise it will be really hard to paint with.
4. Scoop the gel out of the pan and divide it evenly amongst the containers you set out.
5. Add the food coloring or liquid watercolors and stir them up well.

Once it’s cool enough to touch comfortably, you are ready to paint!

 

If you are using this paint on paper, you will probably want to use a ton of food coloring or liquid watercolors. I always quit adding color when it looks bright and saturated, but when it dries it never ends up very vibrant. If you use more than you think you need and apply the paint super liberally, you’ll probably have a brighter end result.

Another great thing about this paint is that cleaning it up on any surface, or even skin, is a breeze with just a little soap and water. It’s never stained a shirt or tiny hand in my experience.

One last tip: you’ve gotta use this gel paint the day you make it because it does NOT store well. It all turns into a hard gunk chunk which I guess would still be pretty rad for sensory play, but paint-wise, not so great.

There you have it! Happy squishing…and tasting! 😉

More DIY Paint Recipes

Make a pulled string art painting with paint, paper, liquid watercolors, and string. The process is captivating and the results are beautiful.

A couple of years ago, my daughter and I joined in on Rachelle’s ArtStart Challenge and instantly became complete and total process art addicts. Messy or clean, wild and crazy or calm and thoughtful, rainbowy or brown sludge, we love it ALL! We make up our own methods and search Pinterest and Instagram for new ideas regularly, but recently we tried one that we had seen on Facebook: pulled string art.

Have you seen that video? Kinley and I gave it a go with our beloved liquid watercolors and it’s just as amazing and irresistible as it looks — we could NOT STOP! Wanna try it, too?

It’s easy-peasy but the paint does tend to fly, so make sure you get your smocks or paint clothes on before you get started.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links

Supplies for pulled string art

• liquid watercolors
• small jars or cups
• string, cut into 18 inch pieces
• a book that you don’t mind getting a few paint splatters on, we used an adult coloring book
• printer paper

How to make pulled string art

Step 4: Move the string into position

Arrange the string on the side of your paper that will stay on the table when you shut your book. You can make loops, squiggles, whatever you want. There’s no wrong way to place a string!

Step 5: Close the paper in a book

Shut the book and, while pressing on the cover firmly with one hand, use the other to pull that string out of the book.

Step 6: Check out the results of your pulled string art

The first time you go hunting through your book to find the art page, you’ll be hooked guaranteed. It’s like a gorgeous surprise!

More string art ideas

String painting with tempera paint

Make abstract art critters with string and markers

Stringing beads for toddlers and preschoolers

About Cara

Cara Huff is a homeschooling stay-at-home momma of one with a passion for picture books, hands-on learning, & ALL things creative! If you like this project, you can find all of Cara’s other rainbow-colored ideas on Instagram, her blog RaisingKinley.com, and on Facebook.

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