Red, Blue and Yellow

The little artist has final finished his first painting series, here is Red

and Blue

and the final piece is Yellow.

They are all now proudly hung on the wall and each time he walks past he makes a comment such as "Oh, very nice" or " ahh they look good" hahaha he cracks me up.

For those with their own budding artists this is how we did it...
you need:
canvas - you need 3, one for each colour
General use glue, the stuff that dries clear
A selection of 'bits' we used pasta shapes, rice, paper clips, cotton balls, cotton buds, nuts, beads, string, ribbon, various types of card/paper, drinking straws, shells, bits of old toys.....
*plastic doesn't paint so well*
Acrylic paint - 3 colours
varnish

Simply cover the canvas with glue, be generous with the glue and allow 'little one' to stick on bits until their heart is content.
Allow to dry over night - to prevent a meltdown I recommend explaining that it will take a long time to dry and schedule a painting time with little one for the next day, keep 'little one' in the loop, they are less likely to 'kick off' if they understand what is going on.
Once it is dry cover with one colour paint. It is a good idea for a big person to help 'little one' to make sure the whole thing is covered. It is a good time to talk about the colour being used, what else is that colour, how does that colour make you feel etc.
Let it dry overnight again. I think older children will be OK with doing the varnish but I did BabyEbi's varnish for him.

This project led to many a discussion about colours and shapes, how paint stuck well to some objects and not to others etc. It also introduced the concept of patience - something toddlers don't seem to have! After we had done the first one he 'got' that he had to wait for each part to dry and the concept of an on-going project. he even explained to my mom that it (the project) wasn't finished yet after he had done two pictures because he had to do the yellow one still.

The rice was an interesting thing to use, it went quite gooey and we could sculpt it, it did take quite a while to dry and was difficult to paint afterwards though.

Right, what wil the next project be.....