Balloon Painting

Have you tried any new art projects with your wee artist lately? After completing our fun bubble art, Charlotte was begging for another new activity. She loves being crafty and artistic, but I think she really loved being crafty and artistic outside. Thankfully, I already had an idea in mind and all of the supplies on hand.

A little back story: Charlotte has been fascinated with caterpillars and butterflies lately. We recently had a caterpillar take over our lemon tree on the back porch. It was a funny looking caterpillar, but we had a blast watching it eat and roam our little tree for days. I contacted Butterflies and Moths of North America and they identified it as Papilio cresphontes (aka a Giant Swallowtail). We patiently checked on it several times a day and eventually watched it go through chrysalis and form a cocoon. It's no wonder why Charlotte has been so intrigued!!! My MIL found this Butterfly Life Cycle Stages set . It has been great for helping Charlotte understand the different stages a caterpillar goes through to change into a beautiful butterfly. We've pulled it out numerous times and used while reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar .

This sudden interest inspired our latest art project: balloon painting!!! We decided one morning to venture out back in our pajama and paint some of our very own Eric Carle caterpillars. Here's what you'll need:

Paper (I use this watercolor paper )
Paint ( we always use Crayola Washable Kids Paint )
Balloons
Paper plates

That's it and it's just as easy as it sounds! I slightly blew up two balloons that we had leftover from Charlotte's recent birthday party. I put red paint on one plate and blue, green and yellow paint on another. Then gave her the balloons and let her figure out the rest.

She  had a blast using the balloons to stamp out little circles ..... and stamp she did. We both did several pictures and Charlotte even requested that she make another art hat. Once she was done painting with the balloons, I brought out a few paintbrushes and that started the activity all over again. Yea for art projects that are both fun and entertaining!

I love the slight swirly print the balloon leaves on the paper once you stamp it down. It's the perfect item to use for making a caterpillar. It definitely has my mind reeling on what other images we can create using this technique!

We set them out to dry and I quickly realized that her masterpieces would make the perfect butterfly just like at the end of Eric Carle's beloved story. The next day I grabbed some scissors and glue to make our colorful transformations. I used a scrap piece of yellow felt to make the body. Charlotte collected all of the pieces and generously coated the backs with glue so I could piece together our butterfly. I think it turned out quite cute.

If you have some spare balloons laying around, I urge you to give this project a try. It was really fun and super easy to set up. I would love to see any creations that you and your little artist make using this technique!