Customer Reviews

The Big Messy Art Book: But Easy to Clean Up

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is my kids' favorite! Everything is either very LARGE and exciting, or SILLY and exciting, or ADVENTUROUS and exciting, or extremely INTERESTING and exciting. Don't buy this if you want your child to sit in a corner with crayons for the rest of her/his life and never look beyond the expected. This is for the kids that will challenge their imaginations and explore art from a new view, building who they will be as adults.

I used the stained glass project from the book with a group of 21 children, ranging in age from 4 to 12. The instructions were super-easy to explain to my group, and it was a real pleasure to see all the kids working so independently!At the end of the hour, each child had a great looking project and a sense of accomplishment! Ms. Kohl has another winner!

I thoroughly enjoyed the great ideas presented in this book. I can't wait to use them during our outdoor days. The activities are age appropriate and very open-ended. I appeciated the variations at the end of each activity. The icons are a great idea to inform us of the safety precautions and age experience. This book is not only filled with great ideas but also offers choices of tools to use as we wish. Kudos to Mary Ann Kohl!

I am a special education teacher and I am always looking for new ideas to enhance my sensory awareness program. This book has some awesome ideas and I can't wait to start using them this year.

I have been teaching preschool for many years and I love messy media... this book had some really neat ideas, things I had never tried before. When I got my copy, I couldn't wait to try out some of the ideas right away.

I turn to The Big Messy Art Book when I'm looking for a totally engaging activity for my preschool class. Children can't believe they are actually getting to do something as fun as dipping a tennis ball in paint and throwing it at cardboard taped to the school fence, or strapping sponges to their feet, stepping in paint and going "paint walking."

MaryAnn Kohl has a wealth of ideas that work well for a group or individual children. Her lists of materials and directions are clear and easy to follow. The tone is light-hearted and playful. This book is a winner.

The projects presented are super ideas with clear directions that are suitable for school art classes, bible school, camps, or home. Children will love doing these messy, but creative art activities and will be pleased with their end products, too. This book belongs on your shelf if you work with children in any of the areas mentioned above.

I'll make this short and sweet: I love this book. It is the best -- for creativity, excitement, joy, laughter, and some pretty cool art projects that make kids proud and happy.

This book has been out in the hands of good teachers/parents/child care folks/kids for awhile now, but I've found that it is new to many kids who are just discovering it. One little guy I worked with recently as a visiting author to his school told me: "I didn't know a tennis ball could be so interesting, did you?" He was referring to painting with tennis balls. Our group tried several approches with painty tennis balls....rolling them around in a wading pool covered with paper, tossing them at a wall of paper outdoors, holding and pressing on paper, bouncing on paper on the floor, and a few other ideas that kids thought up that are NOT in the book, but should have been. Read on: The little guy who told me tennis balls are interesting had thought up a idea where he rolled the ball deliberately through paint and then along the border of large paper. Within the border, he made dot-prints with different colors of paint. When it was dry, he outlined each dot with a black marker. The result was a huge bubbly design painting. I was impressed with his process, and the resulting painting was delightful and all his own! I love when my books give kids a boost to be their own artists and live in their own creativity. What a great day spending time with kid-artists. Someday I'll collect all their unique ideas and write a new book called "Kids Are More Artistic Than I Am!" Keep having fun with kids, from your friend, MaryAnn Please visit my website for free art ideas: www.brightring.com.

THIS BOOK IS A FOR-SURE WINNER. IT ENABLES THE KIDS TO HAVE FUN AND GET DIRTY AT THE SAME TIME. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID FOR MY CHILDREN TO GET DIRTY! IT'S CLEAN UP IS EASY TOO. IT'S AN ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR FUN.