Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Mirror & Craft Foam Art for Toddlers & Preschoolers

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If you're looking for process art ideas for kids, then you definitely should give this fun mirror and craft foam art activity a try. It's perfect for toddlers and preschoolers!

You know what's awesome about craft foam? It sticks to stuff when wet.  

With this special property in mind, I set up a fun process art project for the boys. It's a quick activity to set up, uses materials that I already had on hand, and is mess free. And it kept the boys busy for quite a while, which is always the goal with activities like these. 

Let's dive in and make some mirror and craft foam art!

Mirror and craft for art for kids


Mirror & Craft Foam Art: What You'll Need

Here's what you'll need to make your own craft foam mirrors process art:

  • Small mirror - This will be the "canvas" for this art project. Don't have a small mirror? Use a mirror in your house or a window instead. I found these ones at the dollar store.
  • Water - This will be the "glue" that sticks the craft foam to the mirror
  • Paint brushes - We're "painting" here after all
  • Scissors - To cut up the craft foam sheets into different shapes and sizes
Before I set up this activity, I actually set out just some craft foam scraps and some scissors on a tray. Since the boys love to use scissors, I knew they'd love to help prepare this activity. And the boys took my bait! They cut the craft foam scraps into smaller pieces, in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Once they were done cutting the craft foam, I set out a bowl with some water, two mirrors, and two paint brushes. Then it was time to create some art!

Time to Create Some Colorful Foam & Mirror Art

Originally, my oldest J wasn't interested in "painting" a picture. My youngest K, however, jumped right on in. I was surprised by how much he loved this activity! He got right to decorating the mirror with craft foam accents.

Toddler painting with water on a mirror

Toddler painting with water on a mirror

Seriously there's nothing cuter than a picture of adorable little toddler toes while doing an art project. And as you can see, K may have been a little generous with his water...but hey, it's just water after all. Can you imagine if that had been paint though?

Toddler painting with water and decorating a mirror with craft foam

K was so quiet and focused during this activity. I mean just look at his focus here. It's clear that he takes this process art project very seriously.

Toddler's reflection in a mirror

Oh and there's a reason why we don't paint with regular paint much around here. Case in point...which is funny because I have a similar picture here from almost a year ago...This is why we paint with water.

Toddler chewing on paint brush

After seeing how much fun his younger brother was having with this art activity, J eventually decided to join in. The kids worked side by side painting the foam paper with water and sticking it to their own individual mirror.

Two kids making process art for kids with mirrors, water, and craft foam

When J was done creating, he posed momentarily with his finished artwork to let me take a picture. I especially like how he held the mirror just high enough to cover the mountain of unfolded laundry sitting by the couch. Yeah, I am terrible at folding laundry, but I am okay with that. Anyway, here's J's finished craft foam art project.

Preschool child holding up mirror and craft foam art

I really love how this mirror and craft foam art project turned out. The colors look so pretty together. Besides, it was so easy to set up and the kids had a lot of fun. 

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