NT & CHILD
This fish puppet was created with an envelope.
kid stuff »
ECIAL TO PHOTOS SP
SWFL PARE
SIMPLE CREATIVE
Local artists share easy art project ideas for kids to do at home. BY ANDREA STETSON
T Molly Bogen, 7, shows off the stained-glass chalk art project she made on a backyard fence.
oilet paper tubes become a cardboard zoo. An envelope transforms into a puppet. Tape and chalk create a stained-glass look on a backyard fence. As parents continue to look for creative things to do with their children, we set out to find art projects that can be made with common household or backyard items. Bronia Ichel, a Naples artist and retired elementary school art teacher, recently started creating videos on YouTube to help parents and children delve into the arts. “These are specifically using materials that children already have at home, so parents don’t have to run out and get stuff because parents are not going out,” Bronia says in late April. Her videos include simple projects, such as how to fold paper and how to make a cup. She is also giving easy painting and drawing lessons. “I am also teaching about world-famous artists,” Bronia says. “I am reading stories about artists. I am introducing techniques that children can use. For the younger children, it is wonderful for them to learn cutting skills and shapes and how to draw shapes. I do a cityscape and they use a lot of shapes to draw buildings.” She does origami since paper is something almost everyone has at home. She also offers step-by-step drawing instructions. One day in late April, the project was a blossoming tree. “It was how to paint or draw a tree,” Bronia says. “In it I give children choices. You can make a tree of any season.
Margaret Mankiewicz, an art teacher at Sea Gate Elementary School in Naples, has one project that involves cutting boxes into small shapes and piecing them together to make a mosaic. SOUTHWEST FLORIDA PARENT & CHILD » JUNE 2020 » 25
