Review: Super Fun Art Activities for Kids

If you’re looking for new art activities to do with kids in the classroom or at home, Super Fun Art Activities for Kids by Susan Schwake is a fun place to start.

The book focuses on experiments with drawing, painting, printmaking, paper and mixed media, allowing kids of all ages to explore different media and styles of artwork.

Each “lab” includes information on how to set it up and needed supplies, step-by-step instructions and a “go further” section that suggests other ways to try the lesson (such as doing scribble art with watercolor instead of colored pencil).

There’s also information about an artist and usually one of their art works that relates to the lesson, so you can show your students artists who might work in the same media or a similar style to what is being performed in the lesson.

The book offers a wide range of ideas, including things like still life, painting on small pieces of wood, reverse-color landscapes, found-object printmaking, monotypes, large paper fish, monsters made with paper embellished by texture plates, ink abstracts, using a photograph on a painting and larger than life self-portraits. Each lesson shows kids making the projects, which should help your kids to feel confidence to do ti themselves.

The book also includes a lengthy list of supplies you might want if you’re setting up a new art space and some basic ideas for setting up areas for doing the particular types of art outlined in the book.

These ideas are great for adults, too, if you want to make alongside your kids or just want some approachable art experiences you can try for yourself.

Super Fun Art Activities for Kids is a great reference for adding some different ideas to your art curriculum or for doing on a rainy day at home if you have a well-stocked craft room.

About the book: 96 pages, paperback, 33 projects. Published 2023 by New Shoe Press. Suggested retail price $16.99.

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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