Visual & Performing Arts Activites
Visual Arts
In this activity you will create a mix media art piece that tells something about you.
Directions:
- Use a minimum of two materials from table (magazines, paint, markers, clue, loose parts, oil pastels, etc)
- Decide on a theme for your art.
- Create
- Add the title of your art and your name on the card and add it to the table. At the end of the class we will do a museum walk to see each other’s art.
Reflection:
- How did you feel with very little specific directions?
- Did you feel the time constraints?
Examples
Mixed media art combines two or more artistic materials, techniques, or processes into a single piece of artwork. Here are examples suitable for children, students, and classroom art experiences:
Paper-Based Mixed Media
- Watercolor painting with collage elements
- Tissue paper and tempera paint artwork
- Magazine collage with marker details
- Torn paper mosaics with watercolor backgrounds
- Painted paper collages
- Newspaper and acrylic paint compositions
- Drawing over painted backgrounds
- Scrapbook paper and chalk pastel creations
- Mixed paper texture landscapes
- Book page collages with illustrations
Nature-Inspired Mixed Media
- Leaf prints with watercolor accents
- Nature collages using sticks, leaves, and seeds
- Bark rubbings combined with drawing
- Pressed flower artwork with paint
- Sand and paint seascapes
- Rock and paper collages
- Nature mandalas
- Clay impressions of natural objects with paint
- Leaf weaving and collage
- Mixed media garden scenes
3-Dimensional Mixed Media
- Cardboard sculptures with paint and fabric
- Recycled material robots
- Clay and wire sculptures
- Papier-mâché with collage embellishments
- Found-object assemblages
- Painted cardboard cities
- Fabric and yarn sculptures
- Mixed media masks
- Recycled material animals
- Sculptures incorporating natural materials
Textile and Fiber Mixed Media
- Yarn and watercolor paintings
- Fabric collages
- Weaving with ribbons and paper strips
- Embroidery on painted paper
- Felt and drawing combinations
- Fabric scrap mosaics
- String art with painted backgrounds
- Textile self-portraits
- Yarn-wrapped sculptures
- Mixed media quilts
Printmaking Mixed Media
- Monoprints enhanced with drawing
- Bubble wrap prints with collage
- Stamp prints and watercolor washes
- Leaf printing with pastel details
- Gelli prints with collage layers
- Fingerprint art with painted backgrounds
- Foam printmaking and drawing
- Texture rubbings with paint
- Block printing with mixed materials
- Found-object printing
Sensory and Process Art Mixed Media
- Paint and shaving cream marbling
- Salt and watercolor paintings
- Glue resist and watercolor art
- Sand, paint, and collage creations
- Bubble painting with collage additions
- Chalk and liquid watercolor combinations
- Texture painting with household tools
- Ice painting with drawing
- Mud painting and natural collage
- Foil embossing with paint
Portrait and Self-Portrait Mixed Media
- Magazine-feature self-portraits
- Painted self-portraits with fabric clothing
- Collage face compositions
- Identity collages using personal symbols
- Mixed media family portraits
- Silhouette art with patterned paper
- Self-portraits using found materials
- Emotion portraits with varied textures
- Photo and drawing combinations
- Cultural heritage self-portraits
Inspired by Famous Artists
- Collages inspired by Romare Bearden
- Painted paper collages inspired by Eric Carle
- Cubist mixed media portraits inspired by Pablo Picasso
- Paper cut compositions inspired by Henri Matisse
Classroom Materials Commonly Used in Mixed Media
- Paint (tempera, watercolor, acrylic)
- Markers and crayons
- Colored pencils
- Chalk and oil pastels
- Tissue paper
- Construction paper
- Cardboard
- Fabric scraps
- Yarn and ribbon
- Buttons and beads
- Natural materials
- Recyclables
- Clay
- Wire
- Photographs
- Magazine cutouts
These projects work particularly well in early childhood and elementary settings because they encourage creativity, exploration of materials, sensory experiences, and open-ended artistic expression.
Create an Instrument and Perform
Create
- Choose materials from the table (recyclable materials, rice, tape, rubber bands etc).
- Create a simple instrument.
Perform
- Get into a group of 5-6 people.
- Each person in the group needs to create a steady beat with their instrument.
- Add one person on at a time
- Practice a few times.
- Each group will perform at the end of class.
Refection
- How did you decide what to use to make your instrument?
- How did it go performing with your group?
Examples
Simple Musical Instruments Elementary Students Can Make
- Shaker (plastic eggs filled with rice or beans)
- Maracas (plastic bottles filled with beads, rice, or beans)
- Rain stick (paper towel tube with rice and foil)
- Paper plate tambourine
- Tin can drum
- Coffee can drum
- Bucket drum
- Craft stick harmonica
- Straw pan flute
- PVC pipe pan flute
- Kazoo (toilet paper tube and wax paper)
- Box guitar (tissue box and rubber bands)
- Shoebox guitar
- Rubber band banjo
- Paper tube trumpet
- Cardboard tube horn
- Jingle bell bracelet
- Jingle bell stick
- Rhythm sticks
- Claves (wooden dowels)
- Castanets (cardboard and bottle caps)
- Finger cymbals (jar lids)
- Coconut shell clappers
- Spoon percussion instrument
- Bottle cap shaker
- Water bottle xylophone
- Glass jar xylophone (with varying water levels)
- Wooden block instrument
- Washboard scraper
- Ribbon dancing bells
- Nature wind chimes
- Shell wind chimes
- Bamboo chimes
- Tin can wind chimes
- Seed pod rattles
- Cardboard tube guiro
- Recycled materials percussion set
- Ocean drum (paper plates with beads inside)
- Hand drum made from a container and balloon
- Thumb piano (simple cardboard and craft stick version)
These instruments are inexpensive, use common classroom or recycled materials, and can be connected to lessons on sound, vibration, rhythm, music, engineering, and cultural traditions.
