Category: Arts or Education

Tots! Activity: Starry Night

As Cheekwood’s Tots program is temporarily suspended, we are sharing today’s activity for parents and tots to activate at home. Use our files to create your own starry night inspired masterpiece, then share your work with us by tagging @cheekwood on Instagram and using #cheekwoodtots!

Here’s what you’ll need:• Blue Paper

• Black Paper

• Apple Core (and apple snack!)

• Yellow paint

• Glue

• Scissors

• Q-tip

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Directions:1. Parent/guardian should cut up an apple so that the core is intact.

2. Dip the bottom of the apple core in yellow paint, and use as a stamp to create star shapes on the blue paper

3. Using the black paper, cut out some Van-Gogh inspired tree and building shapes.

4. Glue the shapes to the blue paper- It is okay to overlap!

5. Dip the Q-tip in the yellow paint and use it to dot yellow windows on the buildings.

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Try pairing the activity with one of these books:
My Museum by Joanne Liu

We Are All Works of Art by Mark Sperring

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Ask your artist: • Do things look different at night than they do during the daytime? How?

• Does this town look like a place you’ve been before?

• Can you describe the town you’ve made? What is it called? Who lives there? What season is it?

• How many stars do you see on your painting? How many windows?

Tots! Activity: Colorful Paintings

As Cheekwood’s Tots program is temporarily suspended, we are sharing today’s activity for parents and tots to activate at home. Use our files to create your own colorful paintings, then share your work with us by tagging @cheekwood on Instagram and using #cheekwoodtots!

Here’s what you’ll need:• Frame templates
*See template below

• Paper

• Paint

• Paintbrushes or anything to manipulate the paint

Frame 1  Frame 2  Frame 3

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Directions:1. Print out your favorite frame template or all three.

2. Paint or color the frame if you want or leave it as is.

3. Using brushes, fingers, cardboard, or any other utensils, tell your Tot to paint what they feel.

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Try pairing the activity with one of these books:
I Feel Teal by Lauren Rille

The Museum by Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds

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Ask your artist: • Which colors make you feel warm? Which colors make you feel cold?

• How does this color make you feel?

• Why did you choose these colors?

• How would your painting be different if you felt happy or sad?

• What is your favorite part of your picture?

Tots! Activity: Spiders

As Cheekwood’s Tots program is temporarily suspended, we are sharing today’s activity for parents and tots to activate at home. Use our files to create your own spider, then share your work with us by tagging @cheekwood on Instagram and using #cheekwoodtots!

Here’s what you’ll need:• Spider parts template
*See template below

• Paper

• Paint or markers

• Paint brush

• Scissors

• Glue

Spider Template

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Directions:1. Print out the spider part template. Cut out the pieces.

2. Cover a separate piece of paper in paint, using different colors and textures. Do more than one if you want! Let dry.

3. Find your favorite parts of your painting and place the spider parts on top. Trace the template, and cut out the pieces.

4. Put your spider together. Remember: spiders have 8 legs!

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Try pairing the activity with one of these books:
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin

Pete the Cat and the Itsy Bitsy Spider by James Dean

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Ask your artist: • Why did you choose these spots of your painting?

• What do spiders make?

• Do you think spiders are insects? How are they different?

• How many legs does your spider have?

Tots! Activity: Cupcake Liner Spiders

As Cheekwood’s Tots program is temporarily suspended, we are sharing today’s activity for parents and tots to activate at home. Use our files to create your own cupcake liner spiders, then share your work with us by tagging @cheekwood on Instagram and using #cheekwoodtots!

Here’s what you’ll need:• Bright cupcake liners in big and small sizes

• Googly eyes (optional)

• Markers, crayons or colored pencils

• String

• Glue

• White paper or construction paper

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Directions:1. Flatten cupcake liners.

2. Glue string onto the paper with the cupcake liner at the end so that it looks like your spider is hanging down

3. Wait for it to dry, or make sure not to touch and move the strings.

4. Add eyes and legs to your spiders! Remember: spiders have 8 eyes and legs!

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Try pairing the activity with one of these books:
Walter’s Wonderful Web by Tim Hopgood

The Weaver by Qian Shi

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Ask your explorer: • Why do spiders make webs?

• Are spiders helpful in our garden or home?

• How long do you think spiders spend making their webs?

• Do you think spider webs feel like the string, or do you think it feels different?

Tots! Activity: Painted Butterflies

As Cheekwood’s Tots program is temporarily suspended, we are sharing today’s activity for parents and tots to activate at home. Use our files to create your own painted butterflies, then share your work with us by tagging @cheekwood on Instagram and using #cheekwoodtots!

Here’s what you’ll need:• Butterfly template
*See template below

• Paper

• Paint

• Paint Brush

• Scissors if cutting out your butterfly

Butterfly Template

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Directions:1. Print the butterfly template. Fold the butterfly in half down the body so that the two wings meet.

2. Dab paint on one of the wings.

3. When finished putting paint on one of the wings, fold the paper in half again along the fold that you previously created.

4. Rub the paper and gently press the paint around.

5. Open the paper and lay flat to dry.

6. Optional: Once dry, cut out your butterfly!

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Try pairing the activity with one of these books:
Butterfly Park by Elly MacKay

Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert

A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Aston

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Ask your explorer: • What happened when you folded your paper with the paint inside?

• What do the wings look like? They are the same, it’s called symmetry.

• Can you see or think of anything else that has symmetry?

• Do you know what butterflies eat?

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Here are a few tips on how you can make your backyard butterfly friendly:• Make sure that there are areas in your garden that get plenty of sunlight throughout the day. Try putting stones down in those sunny spots for butterflies to rest on. Butterflies are cold-blooded insects that like to warm their bodies by basking in the sun.

• Create a butterfly puddle. Place a shallow dish in your garden, fill with sand and top with a little bit of soil. Push your thumb gently into the center and add water as needed. This puddle will act as a source of nourishment for many butterflies passing by.

• Grow butterfly and caterpillar loving plants such as native honeysuckle, milkweed, lantana, purple coneflower and phlox. Make sure to grow only native varieties of these plants!

Tots! Activity: Caterpillars

As Cheekwood’s Tots program is temporarily suspended, we are sharing today’s activity for parents and tots to activate at home. Use our files to create your own caterpillars, then share your work with us by tagging @cheekwood on Instagram and using #cheekwoodtots!

Here’s what you’ll need:• Paper

• Paint

• Black Marker

• Pompoms, cotton ball, bottle cap, or use your fingers

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Directions:1. Using a pompom, cotton ball or your finger, dip it in the paint. Stamp the paint in a line. The line can be curly, straight, zigzag, or any other way.

2. Using a different color paint, stamp one dot on one end to make the caterpillar’s head.

3. Let dry completely.

4. Draw a face on the head and some legs on the body.

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Try pairing the activity with one of these books:
Caterpillar Dreams by Clive McFarland

The Amazing Life Cycle of Butterflies by Kay Barnham and Maddie Frost

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

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Ask your explorer: • What does a caterpillar become? How does it do that?

• What do you think caterpillars eat?

• Why are there different kinds of caterpillars?

• How many dots did you make for the caterpillars body?

Tots! Activity: Twirling Ladybugs

As Cheekwood’s Tots program is temporarily suspended, we are sharing today’s activity for parents and tots to activate at home. Use our files to create your own twirling ladybugs, then share your work with us by tagging @cheekwood on Instagram and using #cheekwoodtots!

Here’s what you’ll need:• Ladybug template
*See template below

• Crayons, markers or colored pencils

• Glue

• Scissors

• String

Ladybug Template

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Directions:1. Print 1-2 templates. Color or cut out of colored paper

2. If using only two sides, glue them together with a string in the middle. Hang up.

3. If using 4 sides, fold each ladybug in half down the wing line. Glue the ladybugs together with a string between them to make a more 3D ladybug.

4. Hang them up and let them twirl!

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Try pairing the activity with one of these books:
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

Look Out Ladybug! by Jack Tickle

The Very Lazy Ladybug by Isobel Finn and Jack Tickle

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Ask your explorer: • How many spots are on your ladybug?

• How many spots do you think a ladybug can have?

• How many different colors do you think ladybugs can be? Can you name the colors?

• How do you think ladybugs help our garden and plants? They eat other bugs that want to eat plants.