This recycled materials art project idea is brought to you by Melissa & Doug, written by our Blog Ambassador Valerie Deneen of InnerChildFun.
Have fun exploring art with your kids! -Val
We love our wooden bead sets from Melissa & Doug! The beads are high quality, and the girls enjoy making bracelets and necklaces. Once the beads are all used up, we're left with a reusable wooden tray. There are probably 50 gazillion ways to reuse this tray, but here's one of our absolute favorites: wooden painting canvases!
Invite your child over to paint on the back of the empty tray. My kids adore painting, and they especially love that no matter how they paint, their paintings have an instant professional look with these wooden trays!
I love how these empty bead trays hold up so well to layers and layers of paint! I try to encourage the kids to experiment with texture in their paintings. Many times they will let the paintings dry, and return to them later to continue the painting fun!
Once their paintings are completely dried, I will add some black tape around the outer edges. I highly recommend displaying these in a prominent place in your home! Add a small "plaque" for a nice finishing touch to your child's at-home art gallery!
Right now, my daughter Emily is working on a series of "Fiesta" paintings! I would say they are aptly named, wouldn't you?
Have fun!!
P.S. Here are some of the Melissa & Doug products that come packaged in wood trays:
-Beads: Sweet Hearts and Butterfly Friends Bead Set Bundle, Bead Bouquet Deluxe)
-Stamps: Alphabet Stamp Set (also available: Animal, Dinosaur, Friendship, Horses, Princess, Vehicles); Baby Farm Animals Mini Stamp Set
-For preschoolers: Lacing Beads in a Box (also available: Primary Lacing Beads); Lace & Trace Farm, Lace & Trace Pets
