“Let’s raise creative thinkers who explore their world, express their dreams, embrace differences, and never lose touch with their inner artist.” – Barbara Rucci
My friend Bar Rucci of Art Bar Blog teaches art classes for children in her home in Connecticut. I’ve often thought how lucky those kids are to have her to encourage them creatively and to offer beautiful process art activities and invitations for them every week. Any child I know would thrive in that environment and enjoy the art activities she offers.
Art Workshop for Children
Well now, even if we can’t all go to Bar’s home for art classes, we can bring Bar and her art classes into our own homes. Because she has a new book, Art Workshop for Children: How to Foster Original Thinking with More than 25 Process Art Experiences, that presents her art activities and philosophies together in an accessible and encouraging way.
Heads Up :: I’m giving away three copies of her new book at the end of this post!
Bar’s new book is a beautiful introduction into process art for kids, with conversations about art spaces, materials, displaying art, and parenting throughout.
Above all, though, the book is full of lovely art activities that would work as well with one child as with a classroom full of children. Each activity includes the materials needed, set up tips (great to have!), instructions, and ways to extend or vary the activity.
Plus gorgeous photos!
Here’s a sweet peak into the book ::
Doesn’t that look nice?
We made the cardboard collage faces project from her book and got SO into it, it’s taken over our studio!
We’ve kept the materials out in the studio for over a week, working on our big cardboard faces (and other creations) every day through three separate playdates and with kids ranging in age from 7 through 39. (Did I just call myself a kid? I still feel like one sometimes!)
Cardboard Portraits for Kids
To make the cardboard portraits, I followed Bar’s instructions and cut a variety of big and small shapes out of cardboard for the project. I set these up on the art table, along with glue.
We glued necks on our heads. Added cardboard shapes for eyes and noses, ears and mouths, and even necklaces.
We used black Sharpies to add details such as eyelashes, teeth, etc. to our faces.
Then got out the paints to add color.
In subsequent days and rounds, we drew and painted more, added extra embellishments and got even more 3-D with egg carton eyes and exposed cardboard ridges, etc.
Maia, my 11-year-old, enjoyed making a cardboard portrait as much as my 7-year-old and her friends. In fact, while process art is traditionally associated with younger children, I think that many of the activities in this book can be easily adapted for a range of ages.
We found this activity so inspiring and could keep going and going. Our windowsill is lined with our cardboard faces and I have more ideas for variations. I love ideas like this that continue to influence.
And this is just ONE of the inspiring ideas from Barbara Rucci’s new book!
The Kids Art Book
Bar Rucci shows that process art can be beautiful as well as creativity enhancing and developmentally appropriate. She wrote Art Workshop for Children in collaboration with Reggio-educator Betsy McKenna, who says ::
“All children need just one adult in their life who will cultivate the dawning of their creative process.”
How true!
I highly recommend you do yourself and your children a favor and get your hands on a copy of this beautiful, colorful, and inspiring book.
It is available wherever books are sold, online and off.
(And if you like to get your books at the library, check to see if they have it there, too. It’s brand new, so if they don’t have it yet, remember that they usually take requests!)
The Book Giveaway
For a chance to win one of three copies of Art Workshop for Children by Barbara Rucci and Betsy McKenna, simply leave a comment to this blog post by Monday, October 24th at 11:59pm EST and then tell the rafflecopter widget that you’re entering the giveaway. The winners will be chosen randomly and announced here on Tuesday the 25th. Giveaway open to readers in the United States who are over the age of 18. Good luck!
Pin It for Later
These are too cool and look like so much fun! Art Workshop is now on my Amazon wishlist… I have a feeling it’ll make its way into my cart sooner than later! ;)
I love following the art bar blog and was happy to see that she wrote book. That would be an awesome addition to my homeschool art curriculum.
Thank you for the wonderful insiprations!
I would LOVE LOVE that book! I think I entered to raffle correctly!
-Lauren
How cool! I would love to use this book in my lessons!
I love the cardboard faces project. This looks like such a fun book! Fingers crossed. :)
I love art and my kids would love to make carboard faces from this new book.
Art it is very important for children. I agree!
These are very cool. I like the idea of leaving materials out for progressive work sessions (we don’t have space). I’d adapt it for character portraits from books we are reading.
I need to get my hands on this book! Looks incredible!
Oh, wow, this looks like a fun and inspiring book. My 2.5-year-old and I have been having a great time delving into the world of process art together, and I’ve even started an informal art group with her and a bunch of other little ones (heavily influenced by all your wonderful ideas here, Jean). Would love to add this title to the mix!
Love the cardboard portraits. Looks like a fun book!
I love having inspiring books like this on hand for my seven and five year old to page through. Art Bar Blog is one of my must-reads, so we’ll have to own this book sooner or later. :D
I would have loved this book when I was teaching art in the classroom but I know it’ll be even more fun to create with my babies at home.
Can’t wait to get these going with the boys! We love self portrait projects!!!
I loved the idea of these faces so I set it up for my three year old and she had a blast. I’d love to have the book and do more activities like this!
This looks so fun! I will be trying this with my art students very soon!
This activity looks so fun and I will be trying this with my art students very soon!
This book is on my list. Wonderful blog too!
What an appealing-looking book. I’d love the chance to win a copy! I adore your cardboard portraits; we might need to do some immediately!
I was following the process of creating these masks on IG with pleasure and it’s great to read more datailed about it here. If all the project are as good as this one, the books sounds like a dream!
I would LOVE this book. I have been following Bar’s Instagram feed and love her work. I loved your review!
These cardboard self-portraits look like such a fun idea – and we have a TON of cardboard in our recycling, I’ll have to go pull it all out! The book looks awesome! Thank you for this generous giveaway, keeping my fingers crossed that we might win a copy!
Such a great idea with beautiful results. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so looking forward to reading this book!
What a fantastic project! This would really appeal to my girls! What a great project. Looks like fantastic book!
Looks like Bar has compiled an amazing book. I would be thrilled to have a copy and get to making with the little people on my life. Your cardboard portraits turned out good.
This is so cool! We love to get messy and paint, this would be awesome!
Always looking for fresh ideas and this book looks like a winner! Thanks for sharing!
My daughter loves creating art projects of all types and thus would be a wonderful resource to add to our home!
This book looks like a lot of family fun.
This looks like such a beautiful filled with inspiration.
What a great idea! Can’t wait to try it with my daughter!
We love your blog and follow it all the time. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions!
Bar’s book (and your blog!) are so very helpful for anyone living or working with little artists! Thank you for supporting the arts :)
What a wonderful book! I can’t wait to try out some of these art activities. I’m always looking for new art ideas for my students.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this book! It looks great & my sons & I would love to have a copy at home! I love your blog & your friend Barbara’s blog too! So inspirational! Keep up the great work!
Thank you for the opportunity to win this book! My sons & I would love a copy at home! Also, I love your blog & your friend Barbara’s blog too, so inspirational! Keep up the great work!
Can’t wait to try these with my class.
As a mom of two little ones this would be a wonderful source of creative ideas!
Thanks so much for telling us about this book. It looks AMAZING! Wish I still had little ones in the house. :-)
Fun project! super excited for this book – we love all things from Art Bar!
Would love to win!
sounds like a fun project!
Thanks for sharing, I would love to win this book!
This looks like a must-have for this artful parent/art teacher. Thanks so much for another wonderful post on your wonderful blog- and for the giveaway!
I am an elementary art teacher and think my students would love the activities in this book! Thanks for the opportunity!
When entering the raffle, I inadvertently submitted the comment without actually commenting :-) Oh well! This book looks gorgeous, my kids and my students would love it–I want to make one of those cardboard self portraits too!
These portraits look so fun. They remind me of a Todd Parr illustration!
This book looks like a lot of fun and a ton of inspiration. I would love to share it with my kiddo and my kiddos in class too!
I really would like to get this book because I have a hard time transitioning the wonderful ideas I see online to my time with my two kids. They always want to “make art” but I haven’t quite figured out how to guide them. I think this book would be great for that.
As a totally un-crafty parent, I truly appreciate all the help from this blog. A book to refer to would be more awesomeness.
Our family has thoroughly enjoyed your art books, Jean, and I’m sure we’lol love your friend’s book as well. Looking forward to making cardboard portraits!
Those cardboard portraits are just stunning!
Love the vivid colors and fun ideas.
Love this project! Think this will be so much fun for our afterschool outreach program.
These are great ideas to do with my little one! Thanks for the suggestions.
Congratulations! The trailer was really cute and my kids and I got excited about making a cardboard cake to decorate. Art is fun!
This looks like so much fun. I’m always looking for creative ideas to share with my 6 year old daughter.
I love the ideas of the cardborad masks. I am a mental health therapist who works with children and adolescents. I can see using this activity in a very therapeutic way
I do not consider myself an artsy person, so I can use all the help I can get, and this book looks like just the ticket! I also have both of your books, Jean, and I love them! Thanks for helping me along in the art dept!!! :)
The book sounds so interesting!
This book looks fantastic! My grandchildren and I have so much fun creating. I can use some new ideas! Thanks for the giveaway.
Awesome idea! I could really use a resource like this for my art loving child.
The cardboard faces are quite a nifty project.
I think the book will encourage me to do more art activities with my grandchildren.
I love the masks! and would love to win a book! :)
Wow! This looks like such a fun book!
This looks like so much fun! I’m constantly looking for new art ideas. My son has autism and loves painting and glue. Anything slimy and sticky goes all over his hands!
Love working on art projects togethers and sharing our creations.
Love this project!! And your book looks so interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Looks like an amazing book!
I love your ideas an my kids do too. Thanks for such a lovely blog! Even if I don’t win a copy, I’ll definitely check out this new book. ?
I love your ideas. I am working with kids with autism an have to simplyfy a lot. Card board portraits are perfect! I am gonna to win this book. I am gonna to win this book. I am gonna to win this book!!!!! ;)
I love these ideas and they’re inspiring me to do more art projects with our son – thank you! ;-)
Beauty in in the eyes of the beholder and the little hands that create it. With a dob of paint here, and blob glue there and giggles everywhere a happy world is is ours to be apart of. I run a family daycare at home and when the children have returned to their own home and I reflect on our day my laugh muscles ache. Thanks for inspiring me to inspire them.
Wow…looks like it is a very fun project and all the faces turned out great! I am sure the kids had loads of fun. Can’t wait to try myself! Thanks for sharing.
Another inspirational activity! Thank you for sharing!
Gorgeous! I love all the activities you share! Thank you!
Looks like the kind of resource I need. Homeschooling two grandchildren (twins age 12) and three great grands from 9 to 5 years. The projects look adaptable to various skill and interest levels.
I love when the masks we wear are made from the stuff of our creative imagination — portraits as hand-made expressiveness almost as sweet as those real faces pleased with their creations. Love our collective beauty; thanks for sharing.
This would be a welcome book for our granddaughter a budding artist with lots of talent.
This looks like such a fun project and is a great way to recycle bits of cardboard lying around!
Love this post! I’m planning an after school art class next semester and that book looks terrific!
Love the open-ended nature of this project! I’m thinking about trying this with “monster faces” because my students are so intrigued with extra eyes and fangs!
Such a great idea — especially given it’s close to Halloween. Not that anytime of year isn’t great for monsters:->
I teach 4th grade and have 4 daughters. This would be a great book to have.
At my son’s school they do a few rounds of self portraits each year in art class. The life-size cardboard renditions would make a fun twist on the project. I am excited to read more of the projects and ideas in this book!
What a great idea- already put it to use today!!
These look like a super fun craft! And the book looks marvelous!
Love the 3D eyes!
I LOVE the quote by Betsy McKenna about cultivating the dawning of children’s creativity! What an awesome joy!
This book looks lovely… I would love a copy for some inspiration for my work as a preschool teacher.
I teach an art class for homeschool co-op with ages 5-8 and this book looks very inspiring and practical, too.
Oh My Gosh i would love to win this book, you teachers are so inspiring. Im an artist living Australia, and am contemplating teaching kids art classes, and have been gathering ideas, which is totally fun. Love your website thanks for sharing.
Ironically, I was admiring this book over the weekend. Amazon sent me the update on it.
It looks perfect for my Montessori elementary art classes, as well as the projects I enjoy with my grandchildren:)
“Pick me! Pick Me! :)”
Hello from another Montessori art teacher! I would love to connect and chat about where you teach and what you’re up to in your classes! I am located in Ann Arbor, MI. If you’d like, my email is [email protected]. Would love to hear from you! – Emily
What a great book! Thanks for the giveaway.
This book looks amazing! I am an art teacher teaching toddlers – 8th graders and I have a feeling I would find some great inspiration in this book!
This looks like so much fun! We will certainly be trying this out at our house. I have 2 art loving kids, so the book would be awesome!
I would love to win this book, sooo inspiring. I have 2 kids who would truly enjoy making all those fun things. Thanks for the giveaway. Tunde
What a beautiful book! We truly believe it’s all about the process and that it’s important that everyone’s masterpiece is unique and special and unlike anyone else’s. This book would be perfect in our classroom.
Love this blog. Will love to have this book.
My daughters would love this book! We’d have so much fun!
Looks like a great book to have!!
This look so amazing! I am a volunteer art teacher at my children’s Montessori school, this would be such an asset to my tools.
What an amazing art project! So expressive!
This looks so fun!
I really want this book! Beautiful, beautiful cardboard portraits. Want to try this project with my first graders.
Thanks for the post! Bummed I missed the giveaway, but glad the book is now out there!
-Emily
Yes! It’s a great book, Emily!
What a beautiful, colorful, inspirational book of art ideas! If I’m not a lucky winner, I will definitely be purchasing!