Crafts for Kids

Beat the summer heat and boredom in one fell swoop with this great summertime art project for kids! Ice drawings are a creative way to let kids express their creativity.

Younger children may prefer to use cubes without sticks. Encourage them to make broad motions with their arm for wide strokes. Try drawing with your color cubes over a crayon or oil-pastel drawing to see what happens!

Materials:
- White cover stock
- Food coloring
- Craft sticks
- Prepared ice cubes (see Step 1)
- Egg carton

Step 1

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Begin by filling an ice cube tray with water. Select the food coloring that you would like to use, and drop four to six drops into each section. Once the tray is filled, put it into the freezer. When the water is half frozen, place a craft stick into each section to serve as handles for the “color cubes.” Leave some cubes without sticks to use directly with your hands.

Release the color cubes from the tray and put them into egg carton sections as a holder.

Step 2

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Choose a subject to draw, such as an abstract, portrait, still life, or landscape, and start drawing.

Step 3

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Try making new colors by layering one color over the other.

Step 4

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Use as many colors as you like, overlapping them and making new colors as you go.

This watercolor illustration by author Susan Schwake (www.susanschwake.com) was inspired by her fondness for hedgehogs. "It would be sad to see them out in the snow because there would be nothing to eat! I just thought they would look great making little footprints and foraging in the woods in December.”