Mod Podge

We used mod podge, construction paper, and bits from the Indianapolis Star newspaper to celebrate mod podge day. Since Covid was very prevalent in the news there was a theme for the art.

We also did a balloon dodge exercise and mod podge phrases game.

Monograms for Rebels

 A simple art project turned out well. Squiggles on a canvas, a traced letter for a first name, and color in each area created by the squiggles. As usual, the patients made this artwork their own and I love how they turned out.

Homemade Tartans for Tartan Day

 Patients took strips of colored paper, in their colors of choice, to overlap on a page until they had a homemade tartan they were please with. Afterwards, we laminated the designs and it gave them something intricate and peaceful to admire.

Do you know that many U.S. states have their own tartans?

Celtic Knots

 I may not have worked on St. Patrick's day, but I still wanted to make a lucky charm with the patients. We used mold-able clay and a simple pattern that worked well with 2 colors.

Feed the Birds Day

On Feed the Birds Day we chatted about what food is good to feed birds, watched lovely bird videos, played bird BINGO and made freestanding bird art with feathers.

MLK Jr. Day

I had a dream of our patients successfully making origami birds of peace. That dream came true on MLK Jr. Day.

Bean There, Done That

 A bean farmer's daughter created bean day in January when there "aren't many holidays". We celebrated with bean bag tosses, BEANgo, and these pretty bean mosaics.

Bacon my Art

After reading a newspaper article about food trends of the last decade, bacon was on my mind. Do you know there are sleep videos of frying bacon on youtube? We watched that while talking about the comfort food. We also did sizzling bacon art which made me hungry, personally.

Put a Different Spin on It

 We used a lazy susan to make spin art on put a spin on it day. We talked about homespun gifts and played BINGO a different way than we normally do.

Tree Weaving

Weaving is believing.

If you can tape strips of paper to two sides of a sheet, you can weave.

And once you weave, if you can tape down the overlap, you can cut into another shape of your choice.

We choose to make green trees for the season.

The patients were quite impressed with themselves.

Dotted Leaves

The patients used dot markers in a variety of ways to design leaves.

Dream Catcher Day

We learned the fascinating oral history behind dreamcatchers, then made some from doilies and with our own special meanings.

Dictionary Day

For Dictionary Day we discussed the meaning of our hospital's name, played a word guess game, and made adorable bookmarks.

Halloween 2019

 The "When The Frost is on the Punkin" poem was written by a Hoosier so we read it for patients. We also had candy corn guessing, candy corn parfaits (made of whipped topping, pineapple, and mandarin oranges), pumpkin circle paintings, and white out tape mummies.

Indigenous Peoples Day

Columbus Day made me a little nervous. There is a trend to celebrate Indigenous Peoples instead, or in addition to and I wasn't sure who would be offended by what. We did talk about both and at the end of the day created crests for our families with meaningful colors and words.

You're the Number 2!

 In October our gift for the staff was useful and cute. We made pencil toppers from pipe cleaners. I ordered pre-sharpened pencils since we all know how useless an un-sharpened pencil can be.

Falling for Wreaths

 Paper Plates with holes cut into the center became festive wreaths of the first day of Autumn. We learned about equinoxes and solstices and got glue all over our fingers.

Fly a Kite

Kite bookmarks are not difficult to make. We used the corners of envelopes cut into diamond shapes. Patients decorated with tails of their choice (it would have been cuter with little bows). We discussed what makes kites so appealing to children.

Arbor Day

 On a locked unit, we cannot go outside to plant a tree. However we did have many good chats about why Arbor Day is good for children, adults, and the planet. I read a-corny jokes about trees and we made tree art. I stenciled hearts on the canvases and let the patients paint the designs of their choice. Then we glued trees to the top. I love the way they turned out.

Rainy Day Triangles

 Pre-cut triangles made for some cute rainy day designs. I can't wait to use this technique for other art projects.