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Transient Christmas Art Activities

Transient art is like redrafting a piece of writing, you can keep changing it to get different effects! This blog has some great ideas to help you set this up in your classroom.

Posted on Tuesday 12th November 2019

If you’re looking to create a calming, absorbing and festive activity that children can revisit over a period of time then this transient Christmas art project is for you!

So, what is it? It is simply an art activity, minus the glue, which can be large or small scale, individual or collaborative.

Celebrate the magic of Christmas and set up a loose parts creative area in the classroom which promotes awe and wonder and explores the theme through a wide variety of materials, colours, shapes and form.

(As a build up to the start of the activity perhaps you could go on a nature hunt and find some natural resources to add to the collection too e.g. pine cones, leaves, pebbles, twigs etc! )

Girl making a Christmas tree out of craft materials.

Creating a transient Christmas art masterpiece!

Create Your Space

Step 1

We’ve created a defined space for the ‘artwork’ by cutting out festive shapes from paper backed hessian. The sensory texture of the material adds to the whole experience and as it is backed it doesn’t fray or curl around the edges.

Christmas shapes made out of paper backed hessian.

Christmas shapes made out of paper backed hessian. No fraying here!

Use a variety of shapes encouraging children’s decision making and curiosity as to what space they would like to work within and how they can build up their transient Christmas art masterpieces!

If you’d like to offer an alternative why not try our Vintage Card Picture Frames for a little golden glamour!

Present Materials in a Visually Appealing Way

Step 2

By displaying a selection of irresistible resources in an attractive and easily accessible way it will encourage children’s natural curiosity and encourage them to explore and ‘have a go’. We are all ‘magpies’ when it comes to sparkling resources after all!

There is no right or wrong, just endless creative possibilities to explore and as nothing is stuck down, these masterpieces can be revisited again and again and materials added, changed, moved and removed with new patterns constantly created.

Girl decorating her tree

All ideas and designs are catered for, no matter how many they have, as this art work can change.

Here we’ve used our Self Selection Lazy Susan with clear, angled, removable bowls which ‘present’ the selection of contents aesthetically.

Self Selection Lazy Susan filled with art resources

Using our Lazy Susan means little hands have easy access to all they need for their masterpieces.

Here’s a few more product suggestions to get you started with your transient Christmas art projects:

Holly and Berry Shapes

Mini Tinsel

Glitter

Colourful Gem Stones

Mirror Tiles

Buttons

Glitter Pom Pom

Wooden Tree Flakes

Wooden Tree Slices

Or view the whole craft and collage materials range.

We’d love to see what your children create.  Please tag us in photos  via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram