henri's scissors by jeanette winter

It's always great when a book is not only entertaining to read but also provides inspiration after the reading is done.  I love reinforcing the ideas we have read about in story time with a fun craft.  Today, we read Henri's Scissors by Jeanette Winter, and it inspired us to create some scissortastic art of our own.  

Henri Matisse was a famous French painter during the first half of the twentieth century.  His painting were known for their avant-garde nature and colorful composition.  Late in his life, he became very ill and would remain bedridden.  His physical state left him unable to paint, and instead of giving up on art entirely, he just changed his way of thinking.  He swapped his paint brush for a pair of scissors.  Instead of applying oils to canvas, he cut out wonderfully abstract and color rich paper art. 

Without leaving his bedroom, Matisse created a world of color and form that surrounded him with happiness. 

"You see, as I am obliged to remain often in bed . . . I have made a little garden all around me where I can walk. . . there are leaves, fruits, a bird."

The craft for this book is the best kind of craft - the kind that takes almost no prep work or special trip to Hobby Lobby.  All you need for this is construction paper and scissors, possibly some glue or tape.  Henri called his paper cut out collages gouaches decoupes.  To make your own, just take scissors in one hand, paper in the other, and cut free form shapes (Matisse's have a sort of frond like plant shape.)  There is no wrong way to shape them.  We created shapes in a variety of different colors and scales.  We arranged and glued ours down on white poster board, but the possibilities are endless!  Put some sticky tack on the back of each shape, and let a toddler stick them on a window.  Make a baby mobile by attaching them to a coat hanger with yarn.  These collages made Matisse happy, so do with them what makes you happy!  

story time crafts: the noisy paint box by barb rosenstock and mary grandpre

"Vasya mixed red with yellow; then he mixed red with blue.  As the colors changed, Vasya heard a whisper.  HISS!  Louder. HISS! Then louder still.  HISS!"

Vasya Kandinsky was a boy who loved to paint and would grow up to be one of the first major abstract artists.  This book by Barb Rosenstock and Mary Grandpre follows the artist through his childhood and into adulthood where he created some of his most iconic works.  Kandinsky possessed synesthesia, the ability to hear color.  His paintings were composed almost like a composer creates a symphony.  One style the artist was famous for was the concentric circle.  If you search "Kandinksy Kids" on Pinterest, you will find so many great craft ideas working with and learning about his circles. We chose to keep it simple and paint some abstract circles of our own.

We started by painting four yellow circles with plenty of space in between followed by painting circles around the center as many times as you want.  This is so simple that it almost feels silly to call it an official "craft", but it was really fun to read this great story and experience a little bit of what we read about in an easy way.  Everything needed for this activity is probably already in your house, and anyone can do it from toddlers to teenagers!  We found the painting to be fun and almost meditative.  Have a wonderful day!

"I let myself go.  I had little thought for houses and trees, drawing colored lines and blobs on the canvas with my palette knife, making them sing just as powerfully as I knew how." - Vasily Kandinsky