kid stuff

This fish puppet was created with an envelope.

Molly Bogen, 7, shows off the stained-glass chalk art project she made on a backyard fence.

SIMPLE CREATIVE

Local artists share easy art project ideas for kids to do at home. BY ANDREA STETSON T 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.

I read a book to them. The story goes through all the seasons and how the tree changes through all the seasons. It is a wonderful way to teach children through art. It is a lot of wonderful skills, and children are learning while they are having fun drawing and painting.”

The whole thing started when Bronia began creating projects with her three grandsons, ages 4, 5 and 8.

“They looked forward to it every day,” Bronia says. “Their neighbors started asking if they could join into my lessons, so I decided to make a video and spread it to the other children. All of these videos are free to anyone. I am not advertising anything. I am just doing this to help. I want to help the parents and help the children through this challenging time.”

In the videos she goes by Mrs. B, and her puppy Pablo often makes an appearance.

“With the school closure, I really wanted children to stay engaged with learning,” Bronia says. “It is very important to stay engaged in learning and not to focus on the pandemic. Art is really something that is scientifically proven to be good for the soul. It is a great stress relief. Art can heal many emotional feelings. We want to have positive and uplifting experiences right now while we are home. I am going to continue creating these videos until we can all go back to our normal schedule.”

Margaret Mankiewicz, an art teacher at Sea Gate Elementary School in Naples, transitioned to teaching online during the coronavirus pandemic. She also started doing art projects with her 7-year-old granddaughter.

“One thing is we made a toilet paper zoo out of empty toilet paper rolls,” she says. “It was just painting them and adding ears and things like that. I know everybody probably has toilet paper.”

She uses old cereal boxes to cut out shapes that become a mosaic. Another favorite is placing masking tape in a

Margaret Mankiewicz, an art teacher at Sea Gate Elementary School in Naples, turned empty toilet paper rolls into a cardboard zoo with simple cuts and paint.

design on a surface and using chalk or paint to color in the spaces between the tape. When the tape is pulled up, the result looks like a stained-glass window. She made fish out of empty water bottles.

“You can make puppets out of envelopes,” Margaret says. “You take an envelope, cut off the back, for where you put your hand in, then make the mouth of the fish and the fins.”

Sarah Severson, an art teacher at Gateway Elementary in Fort Myers, also keeps it simple.

“So many of these kids don’t have any art supplies at home,” she explains. “This is a really good time for some of the older kids to do origami projects. There is an endless amount of videos, and they can start with something small and get more complicated, and all they need is paper.”

Sarah likes combining a book and a project. She recently read the book “If You Give a Dog a Donut” and then had children draw the sweet round pastry.

“I like to bring in literature, so they are getting a story to go with it,” she says.

Nora Beyrent, the new vice president of the art district in Naples and owner of Art Lab, has suggestions for simple art projects.

“I know there are a lot of people that do the kits and order fancy things. I think the simple things are more important,” she says.

Her top choice is paint pouring. She takes an acrylic paint and mixes it with water to thin it out. Then she pours it on a piece of canvas or paper and moves it around to make a design of colors.

“It’s super fun,” Nora says. “Even adults love to do it. There are so many different ways to do it. There is creativity to it, mixing the colors and knowing when to stop moving it around.”

“Paint coconuts,” Nora continues. “That seems to be fun for kids to do. And the boots of the sable palm are also fun to paint. People do animals out of them. You can use your imagination.”

Another project Nora recommends is taking shapes, putting them on a piece of paper and spray painting the paper. When the shapes are lifted, the design is seen.

Crayola recently announced it is posting art projects online for children called “At Home with Crayola Experience.”

“Almost all of our activities are things that you can use everyday household items or things that you already have in your house,” says Connie Walker, the communications manager. “We have a ton of stuff there already. We are highlighting one of them each day. We are regularly updating and adding more activities.”

The activities are designed for ages 3 to 12. Some incorporate games.

“Some of the ideas are for sidewalk chalk, which is very popular right now,” she says. “We outline some games they can play, like drawing your board game outside and then playing the game. The experiments are fun to do, too. They have to do with color. It is not just sitting down and coloring all day.”

ONLINE ART LESSONS Art lesson videos for kids by Bronia Ichel: www.youtube.com/channel/ UCEpDf3bYkXuqp7w3Acyk9Sw • At Home with Crayola Experience: crayolaexperience.com/creativity-at-home