Creative Art Project for a Rainy Day Using Lines, Yarn, and Patterns

Over the past few weeks we’ve had a very rainy few days here in San Diego and from what the weather report says, it sounds like we should be expecting more rain throughout the winter.  So, I decided to write a couple of lessons that would be easy to transport into the classrooms, as well as share with parents so they can have a variety of art projects to have on hand to do at home on a rainy day. This project is the first of a series that I will share throughout the winter months.

Enjoy, have fun and create with your children!

Rainy Day Art Project 1:  “Lines, Yarn, and Patterns”

Materials:

• A variety of colored yarn cut into 1-inch pieces
• Black construction paper
• White crayon
• Glue

Step 1: Have your child draw a line with the white crayon onto black construction paper.

Depending on the age of your child, this discussion will vary.  For the 2-year-olds, I shared with them what a line is, and helped them to draw a line.  The 3 and 4-year-olds enjoyed talking about moods and how a line can describe how they feel. The older children that I teach in the After School Program took this project to another level by exploring how lines can describe an emotion. Some questions you might ask are:

“In your own words, how might you describe a line?”

“Are all lines the same? Some may be straight, curvy or zigzag.

“What kind of words do we use to describe a mood (Happy, Sad, Funny)? Can we use lines to describe a mood?”

“What kind of lines can we use to describe these mood words such as energetic, happy, relaxed”? (Demonstrate happy lines, energetic lines, etc.)

Step 2: Apply glue to the lines that were drawn with the white crayon.

I used a small cup with Elmer’s Glue and had the children apply the glue with a paintbrush or popsicle stick — this helps them to develop fine motor skills and teaches them to work slowly and carefully when applying glue.

Step 3: Glue down the small pieces of yarn, gluing down only on the line or lines that were previously drawn. Encourage the children to draw more lines, if they so choose. 

Discuss patterns with the children and how colors can be applied in a pattern by closely laying down the yarn and in an A, B, A, B or A, B, B, A type of pattern, or simply allow your child to go with the flow and apply the yarn colors however they choose.

Blog by Julie Goldstein – Master Artist & Art Studio Teacher

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If you enjoyed this post we invite you to read our blog, “Out of the Box Christmas Project for Kids: Yarn Wrapping Stars.”

Carmel Mountain Preschool provides a safe and caring environment with hands-on, developmentally-appropriate programs for children. We also offer excellent care for elementary school-age students with our before and after school programs. CMP is located at 9510 Carmel Mountain Road, San Diego CA 92129, situated between 4S Ranch, Rancho Peñasquitos, Carmel Valley, and Santaluz For more information, please visit our website or contact us at 858.484.4877.