Art that incorporates an outline or full image of a child's hand presents many possibilities. Have the students trace their hands on large sketching paper and fill the outline with pictures that represent themselves such as what they like to do, what pets they have, or what their favorite things are. The students can then fill in the space around the hands with their favorite colors or designs. Another hand art project allows students to create a hand entirely out of the objects representing what they like to do. For instance, a student who likes to draw might turn one of the fingers into a pencil. This project is for third grade and up.
This project utilizes recycled materials as art. Students can bring in random objects they find around their house that would normally get thrown away like bottles, disposable cups, newspapers and magazines to use. The students can be separated into groups and each group is given a large piece of plywood, adhesive latex glue, scissors and paint. They can work together to create a design by cutting the objects they brought in however they choose, and glue it to the plywood to form a unique design. They can then paint the project to add flair. Examples of designs would be spirals, zigzags or words that go along with the recycling theme. This project is suggested for second grade and up.
This project is great for any age group. Give each student a piece of white paper, or white tag board if you prefer, and have them color the entire paper with their favorite brightly-colored crayons. Make sure they press down hard with the crayons and leave no white spaces. They can use as many colors and patterns as they want. Once that is done, the papers need to be painted black. This can either be done by the teacher or the students. Add a small amount of liquid hand soap to a large container of black tempera paint and paint over the designs the students just colored. Once dry, the pages are ready to be scratched. Each student gets a tooth pick and can scratch whatever design they want into the black page to reveal the colors underneath.
Foil painting is another fun project for kids of all ages. All you need is a regular piece of cardboard, heavy duty aluminum foil, coloring book pages or regular sketching paper, a dull pencil, a black permanent marker, and tempera paint and brushes. Have the students wrap the cardboard with the foil, shiny side out, and tape it to the back. The younger kids can pick out a sheet from a coloring book and the older kids can draw their own design on the sketching paper if desired. Lay the coloring book sheet or sketch sheet on the foil and trace over the lines with the pencil, pressing hard enough to transfer the picture to the foil. Then go over the lines in the foil with the black permanent marker. All that's left to do is paint the design. The glowing colors on the foil make a beautiful keepsake.