September 23, 2018

4BoysToys on YouTube

New YouTube Channel!

It's been awhile since I've made a new blog post. No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! We still do fun projects and experiments regularly, but the big difference now is that the boys do their own projects. Gone are the days of me setting up invitations and creating new ways to play. They use their imagination and go where that leads, and the best part is, they do all the set up and clean up!

Their latest creative venture is a YouTube channel! Presenting 4BoysToys! The four of them worked together to create, write, film, and edit this video. All I helped with was the editing and uploading to YouTube.

They would be beyond thrilled if you'd take the time to watch their video and leave a comment. Better yet, subscribe, so you get notifications when they make new videos!

Thank you for being excited for us and following our 4BoysToys YouTube journey.

Painted Pasta Art

I can't help but look at dried pasta and see an empty canvas. Can anyone relate?

Today I am joining forces with my fellow Rockin' Art Moms for #themacaronichallenge. What is the challenge? Create your own unique pasta project. My boys thought dyeing pasta with erupting dye was the coolest thing ever, so I decided to set up an open ended art project for them using baking soda paint and pasta. The whole process took a few days, and it evolved into erupting pasta art.

Dyed Pasta Eruptions

We've been overdue for a new batch bin of dyed pasta, and this time I thought it would be fun to make eruptions while dyeing our pasta.

How to dye pasta using erupting dye - Kids will love this new recipe for play!

Sensory Play with Pasta

Typically when we dye pasta for art and sensory play we use this simple vinegar and alcohol free recipe. Pasta is one of our favorite sensory materials for many reasons, one of them being because it lasts forever. It's so easy to dye a few boxes then store for months and months of sensory play. I buy our dried pasta at Dollar Tree when I it's for play, so this ends up being a frugal sensory bin filler. This time instead of using my standard method to dye the pasta, I thought it would be cool to dye the pasta using erupting dye. My boys are more than a little obsessed with creating eruptions, so I knew they would be all over this.

Melted Crayon Art

Melted crayon art is the perfect way to use up old crayons and broken pieces. Plus, it's gorgeous!

16 amazing art projects using melted crayons

I remember "painting" with crayons on a warm skillet back in kindergarten, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Throughout the years I've found a variety of ways to make art with melted crayons, and some of my favorite bloggers have come up with clever creations. Before you get started, use this simple trick to peel crayons, so they are ready to go for your art projects.

Play Dates

We love hosting messy play dates, especially in the summer when we can get messy and rinse off in the sprinkler!

My kids are super social creatures, and they constantly ask when we are having our friends over again. There have been seasons of our life when we have hosted regular Friday play dates with our play group. We had a busy year, so the play dates have slowed down. With the weather warming up,and now that we've gotten into a better school routine leaving our Fridays free, my wheels are turning with some fresh ideas for play dates. Stay tuned this summer for more play date posts. In the mean time, here are 12 ideas for epic play dates.

Homemade Watercolors

Watercolors are one of our favorite art mediums, and homemade watercolors are simple to make.

8 frugal and fun recipe for making homemade watercolor paints

How to Make Homemade Watercolors

We might be slightly obsessed with making our own paint recipes. Homemade watercolors are high on that list. There are several ways to make watercolors, and all are quick and easy! Here are eight of my favorite recipes for homemade watercolors.

Homemade Easter Egg Dye

We love dyeing Easter eggs, and it's so easy to make your own dye. No kit is needed!

How to Dye Easter Eggs

Can I make a confession? As much as we love crazy sensory play and fancy art projects we are pretty vanilla when it comes to dyeing Easter eggs. We make our own egg dye, and I let the boys take the lead. We do enjoy painting with Easter eggs and coming up with creative art projects with plastic eggs, but our egg dyeing is low key.

Art with Nature

Spring is in the air, and the blooming flowers mean it's time to create some art with nature.

25 art crazy cool art projects for kids inspired by nature

Of all our favorite spring activities for kids, those involving nature and art are at the top of our list. My boys love open ended art projects, and nature provides a beautiful palette for our creations. These nature inspired art activities are sure to spark creativity and imagination in little ones and provides hours of outdoor entertainment.

Painting with Eggs

It's that time of year when Easter eggs abound! We usually go a little over board in the egg painting. Why? Well because it's fun of course! We still have the same stash of plastic Easter eggs from the very first year that I filled them for JZ and J-Bug who are now seven and five. I'm pretty sure I bought them at the dollar store or another value store. With all of the fun art projects we've done with eggs, we've certainly gotten our money's worth!

12 amazing ways to paint and create with eggs!

In addition to creating art with plastic eggs we love to extend the creative play of dyeing real eggs. I'm not an advocate for wasting food, but for these ideas the eggs were eaten first! Be sure to check out all the ways the egg shells were used for art and other fun ways to paint with eggs, both real and plastic!

Drip Painting with Plastic Easter Eggs

Do you have a couple dozen plastic Easter eggs saved from years past? We do, and I'm always dreaming up fun activities to do with them.

Painting with Plastic Easter Eggs

Last year we made prints with plastic eggs. This year I decided to try something different. The little holes in plastic eggs has always screamed art and sensory play opportunity to me, so I finally stirred up something I thought of awhile ago.