Create an interactive archaeological experience for children without having to leave the library or spend big bucks. Recommended for school aged children, or younger children closely supervised by caregivers due to a potential choking hazard from small items. It gets messy, so it is best for outside, or atop a tarp.


SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Large underbed storage containers OR a small kiddie pool
• Small skewers that can be used as stakes, and any kind of string or ribbon
• Sand, can be found at low cost at home improvement stores
• Shark teeth or fossils, can be easily found online at low cost
• Cups or bowls to place fossils in when found

SUPPLIES NOT STRICTLY NEEDED, BUT WOULD BE ADDED FUN:

• Small plastic pincers
• Small brushes, like paint brushes

PREP WORK:

Fill container with sand. Mix in fossils, making sure to spread them as equitably as possible. Use the stakes and string to measure off equal-sized sections of the “dig site.”


EXTRA ENRICHMENT:

Create a picture sheet identifying the different kinds of fossils in the mix so children can identify what they’ve found. Have children estimate how many they think there are of each type, based on what they’ve seen, then create a wall chart to show how many of each kind were found.


Check the outside of your building, especially any stone work, to see if there are any small shell fossils visible in the rock.

Click here for printable cheat sheet from my Google Drive.

So, if you weren't already aware, dadaism is pretty weird.
Kids love weird.

PROGRAM BLURB
Study artists from the past and create your own art based on their style.


SUPPLIES NEEDED
Literally anything, honestly --

I used:

• stretched canvas (or multimedia paper)
• oil and chalk pastels
• different bizarre duct tapes
• cut out letters in different backgrounds
• glue
• scissors

Poor Cynthia. [image cred]

Well-loved doll hair can quickly become a hot mess express.

You can be the hero that brings them back to greatness.

Not recommended for American Girl dolls or anything fancy.

PROGRAM BLURB:

Refresh your Barbie's hair at this pop-up salon where we will wash and detangle her hair while you wait.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Liquid fabric softener, unscented/free and clear preferred
• Gloves if kids are doing it, or if you have sensitive skin
• Spray bottle
• Paper towels
• Vinegar
• Sturdy comb

PROGRAM BLURB:
Study art from the past and create your own work inspired by their style. Best suited for ages 6-12.



SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Heavy weight mixed media paper. I like this kind from Target.
• Small stretched canvas. You can get packs like this from Michael's and, when you have a coupon, they are crazy cheap.
• Washable tempura paint. No matter how careful you are, it will get one someone's clothes and hair.
• Paint brushes
• Styrofoam disposable plates make the best artist palettes because they can go directly in the garbage when you're done.
• Cups of water for rinsing brushes

Here is a good website for his biography and for viewing his paintings.

I prefer to only use red, yellow, blue, white, and black paint and have the kids mix their own colors. Kids love color theory.


PROGRAM AGENDA:

Introduce Claude Monet and impressionism, while showing them some of his artwork -

Claude Monet was not the first artist to start painting in the impressionist style, but he is the most famous. He was born almost 200 years ago in France. He was very talented at art, but instead of studying the way artists used to paint, he decided to start painting the people and places that he saw outside.

Impressionism was a new way of painting. Instead of painting perfect, photograph-like portraits of famous people, or scenes from mythology, history, or the Bible, they would do quick and imperfect paintings of people and places from everyday life. Some of Claude Monet's most famous paintings are of a Japanese bridge, water lilies, or garden scenes.

The great thing about creating our own impressionist work is that it doesn't have to be perfect! Their work wasn't perfect, either, but it was still beautiful and important. As we're making our own impressionist art, don't worry so much about whether or not you are making mistakes -- as long as you are happy with how it looks at the end, there weren't any mistakes at all.


It's true. Give the kids a sheet or two of the mixed media paper to begin experimenting, and to achieve the colors they'd like. When they're ready, pass out the canvases, and they can get to work. EXTRA ENRICHMENT, IF TIME ALLOWS: Many artists would make their own paint to get the perfect color they were looking for. A good exercise in this is mixing eyeshadow with white school glue to make your own paint. You can hit a dollar store for eyeshadow or ask staff if anyone has any to donate. Additionally, if weather permits, set up painting stands outside and paint something you can see in real life. If weather is crummy, you can paint each other, painting each other. Very meta.

Artist Saturday is a recurring program where we look at some works of a particular artist, discuss how he or she created the artwork, and then individually create something inspired by their techniques using available supplies and modified for time.

This awesome kiddo wanted to do something a little lighter and more cheerful, and that is A-OK with me.

The Artist:

Garth Erasmus is a South African artist who has worked in many different kinds of media. His work is featured in collections around the world. Depending on how in-depth you want to go and the age of your participants, you can look at the way his Khoisan ancestry is reflected in his work and how he addresses apartheid and its impact on South Africa's past and present. For a more in-depth biography, you can check out his [Wikipedia page].

His Art:

You can get a feel for his art by checking out [the Africa South Art Initiative website]. For this program, I'm focusing on the artwork you can find by clicking on the "Mantis Praise" tab on that website.

The [Smithsonian National Museum of African Art website] describes how the art was made.

"The artist applied layers of color with acrylic onto a board, then added a final layer with black crayon. Scratching off the various layers to create skulls, figures and some inscriptions may have been a form of meditation for the artist."

The [On Set Productions website] has more information from the artist on the feelings and techniques that went into the Mantis Praise project. It's worth reading in its entirety, but here's a good blurb:

"My work process consists of much over-layering of paint and images, mimicking, in reverse, the archaeological process of 'un-layering' in order to discover. Khoisan cave paintings often show images painted on top of older images by subsequent generations of cave painters, and I have used this process of working-over as a symbol of the destructive events of South African history in the gradual 'obliteration' of this country's aboriginal nation."

Simple art for kids inspired by his technique: