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A roll of tape and a biro....

30/6/2018

18 Comments

 
My kids love it when I stop - stop tidying, stop 'doing stuff'.

Putting some music on and getting the coloring pens out is a great family activity - a rare moment when you can all be round the table, tv off, chatting, doodling - and all doing the same thing together. 
My kids really remember these precious times - I see these times as little injections of self esteem - when they get our full attention, it helps them know how important they are - more important than the hoovering, the mobile phone......

Coloring books are so 'on trend' at the moment, and we all know the relaxing benefits of switching off for a while.
However, sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and we don't always need expensive art materials and coloring books to keep kids creatively occupied.

I grabbed a roll of tape and a biro and started playing........ 
I filled a couple of pages with circular patterns, using the tape as a stencil to draw round.
The doodles look great with oil pastels.....especially on coloured paper.

The process has been quite addictive - if you scroll down this blog post, you'll see some more examples, using lids, tiles - any simple-shaped household objects will do.
I've experimented on music paper, old stamp album paper, maps - all to be found in local charity shops - the older and more yellowing the better!

If you enjoy doodling and art making with your kids, have a look around my website, check out my free summer printables collection - from flipflops to lollipops, teepees to sneakers, blank postcards, journal covers, geckos and more.


If you like my ideas, have a browse around my ideas-packed Teachers Pay Teachers Store - lots of handy art packets for all year round fun in the classroom or at home
- hope to see you again!
​

Have a fun summer,
Diane
doodle with a roll of tape
draw round a roll of tape and doodle
draw round a roll of tape and doodle
draw round a roll of tape and doodle
draw round a roll of tape and doodle

A couple of weeks on, I'm still experimenting with doodling and drawing around basic shapes that I'm finding around the house - it's really relaxing!

Here are a few more simple ideas .... I'm thinking this would be a great rainy day holiday activity as such few materials are needed.

circle doodles on a music sheet
square doodles on a music sheet
circle doodles on an old stamp album page
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Drawing around a butter lid
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Another butter lid doodle
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Using lined paper and a roll of tape.

27.7.15

Today I tore some pages out of my dad's old 70's yellowed, A-Z of London with the idea of doodling on maps.

Again, drawing round a roll of tape with a biro and then colouring in the circle.

They came out looking quite 'Mondrian'.

map doodles
map doodles of London
map doodles
map doodles of London
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mondrian map doodles
map doodles of London
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Roll of tape and biro on manuscript paper

7th August

My latest doodle has come from finding an old plastic lid - the shape reminded me of lemons and limes - I drew some overlapping shapes and experimented with pattern and colorblocking using felt tips, pastels and watercolours.

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September's here and I'm thinking about Autumn / fall doodles, here's a manuscript maple leaf

Head over to my Autumn page for free printables and templates.

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Maple leaf on manuscript paper
18 Comments

Tropical Summer Art

19/5/2016

0 Comments

 
We're celebrating sunny school holidays here with some fun tropical fruit art!
The diamond shapes on these pineapples are great for little hands to explore colour using all sorts of art materials - we used watercolours and oil pastels.
You can download a free pineapple template on my summer downloads page - you'll also find pears, lemons, watermelons.... Have fun!
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Download free templates here
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Are you looking for more creative project ideas for Summer?
You might like to visit these pages below or subscribe to my seasonal newsletter?
Thanks for dropping by, have a wonderful arty summer!
Diane :-)
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Squares and Circles

30/9/2015

1 Comment

 

I love the simplicity of working with squares and circles, repeating the same shape over and over again to produce a pattern.

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Tissue paper squares on acrylic painted canvas
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Repeat tree pattern (see my Christmas page for the template)
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'Elmer' style tissue paper squares, sealed with pva glue for a flat finish
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Oil pastel doodle squares, hand drawn
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Pastel squares, embellished with stickers
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Digital spiderwebs, changing the background colour (see my Halloween page)
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Felt squares, amazing colours
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Doodling on stickers, arranging them randomly
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Tissue paper circles, sealed with pva for a flat finish
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Felt tip doodle circles over tissue paper circles, playing with layers and transparency
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more tissue paper circle experiments
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Circles and stickers on felt, mixing circles and squares
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Felt tip doodles on card circles
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Spirograph circles, I spent hours doing this as a kid in the 70's :-)
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Printing with pen lids

I hope you find these simple ideas inspiring!

Best wishes

Diane

1 Comment

Kids! Let's get inspired by 'The World goes Pop' this Fall/Autumn

7/9/2015

1 Comment

 
oak leaf prints
pop art autumn free templates
Yippee! 
We've just booked our first family day trip to London with our 6 and 8 year olds to visit  'The World Goes Pop' exhibition at the amazing Tate Modern.
I''ve always been attracted to the fun, bold shapes and bright colourful imagery of Pop Art, a movement which began back in the 1950's. 

I've been developing ideas for Autumn/Fall free printable worksheets with a 'Pop Art twist'.
They are designed to encourage kids to explore design, shape, colour and graphic design.
You can download these free printable worksheets on my Autumn page

There's a link below to the World Goes Pop UK Exhibtion - 

Tate Modern: The World Goes Pop
17 September 2015 – 24 January 2016
You might also like my 'hidden modern art' free printables, colourful challenging colouring activities for kids  - and adults too!

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1 Comment

From small acorns.....

1/9/2015

0 Comments

 

I love this time of year, the change in light, the smell in the air, moisture on the windows, blackberry picking, waiting for the apples on our little tree to ripen....

Pattern making and doodling can be fun and relaxing whatever age we are.

I'm continuing to use my charity shop stamp album squared paper, I love it's yellowed appearance and the way it soaks up the felt tips.

Here are a few acorn and oak leaf doodles that we created today.

I'll be working on a collection of free Autumn/ Fall free printables next week once my little ones are back at school so I hope you come back and visit soon!

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Download doodles

31/7/2015

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Doodling can be such fun for all age groups, from preschoolers, to teens, parents and grandparents.

I found a really useful website today, where you can print for free, all sorts of patterns and shapes to doodle in - manuscripts, graphs, hexagons, squares, circles, dots.


www.printablepaper.net

Why not print a pack of these free patterns, grab the felt tips and you have an easy travel pack for those much needed quiet moments or when they shout, 'I'm bored mum!'

Here are some ideas that I came up with, I'll be sharing them with kids later!

join the dots geo doodles for kids
Join the dots and get geometric
mark making in the squares
Filling one inch squares with marks and squiggles
pattern making doodles
Filling squares with pattern
If you like these quick ideas, have a read of another doodletastic blog post,
adventures with a roll of tape and a biro!

If you are a homeschooler or teacher looking for more detailed lesson plans and art lessons, why not visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store?
It's packed with fun, affordable, low prep art activities.
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Modern Art Shamrock for St. Patrick's Day

24/2/2014

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Following the 'Modern Art' theme I've been developing, here's the latest addition - a
shamrock. Go to my downloads page to print off a free template. 
Explore as many shades of green as you can to colour the shamrock and then explore contrasting colours for the background. I chose pinks and purples, just because i like them!  
This artwork has been coloured digitally - you can explore felt tips, watercolours, 
oil pastels, collage..........

What is St. Patrick's Day all about?
Every year on March 17, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart across the globe observe St. Patrick’s Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green. See http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day for more information on this event.


For further St. Patrick's Day ideas and activities for kids, take a look at my Pinterest board 

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'Modern Art' Horse, celebrating the year of the horse

21/1/2014

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Following the popularity of my 'Modern Art' Trees, Angels and Stars at Christmas, I've continued this 'hidden / abstract' theme for Chinese New Year and to celebrate the Year of the Horse. This has been coloured digitally in rich reds, ochres and monotones. 
On my downloads page, you'll find a black and white A4 free colouring sheet to print out. It takes quite a while to colour in, so this should keep children, age 4+ and adults occupied for a while. 
I am going to 'track the horse' on pinterest. The modern art tree was downloaded in over 25 countries. I'm really hoping this little horse will be as popular!
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The Power of Pinterest and my Most Pinned Pin!

13/12/2013

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I began this website about 3 months ago as  a way of documenting and sharing my work from the past 10 years and have had great fun learning about blogging, website design (thanks Weebly, so user friendly), social media and especially the growing worldwide creative community that is Pinterest.

My most pinned pin on Pinterest is the Modern Art Christmas Tree, pictured below.
It is also the image that has brought around 80% of my visitors to this website, via Pinterest - far more than Twitter or Facebook.

My 'statcounter' has told me that people have been downloading this activity in the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, India, Australia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and the Netherlands - what a well travelled tree! 

I have used this idea in my workshops, with young mums at risk of post natal depression, young adults in hospital fighting cancer, in community and mental health settings and schools - and at home of course with my children and their little friends.
Colouring can be a very relaxing, meditative process, proven to de-stress us, stop our busy minds working overtime and lower our heart rate.
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You can download this activity and visit my pinterest boards for more creative ideas.
Happy Christmas folks!
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Christmas Activities -  Free Printables

11/12/2013

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Are you looking for some festive Christmas projects to do with your children?
Take a look at my free downloads page where you'll find lots of printables, colouring activities, cards and more.
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Creative Christmas Countdown - post 2

24/10/2013

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Modern Art Christmas Tree


This festive activity is suitable for children age 3+. Free templates are available to print  from my downloads page. Use paint, pastels, pencils, felt tips, add some glitter if you want!

A sheet of 4 smaller images has been included for making Christmas Cards.
Have fun! Let me know how you get on, I'd love some feedback.


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Introducing Pixel People!

24/9/2013

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I'll be blogging alot about 'squares' over the next week or so. It's important to remember not to try too hard coming up with ideas, sometimes the simplest ones can work the best!
Pixel people are a great project for children - invite them to do a self portrait! You can design and download graph paper online - for younger children, I recommend larger squares, older children can challenge themselves with more detail. Follow the link below for squared paper and more, a great resource for general doodling...have fun!http://incompetech.com/graphpaper

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    Diane Pagan, The Imagination Box
    Welcome!

    Welcome!

    Hello! I'm Diane Pagan from Manchester, UK.
    My ideas are road tested by my 11 and 9 year olds - or at workshops I run with all kinds of kids and adults in schools, hospitals and community settings :-)

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Favourite quote:
  “ The imagination needs moodling, long, inefficient happy idling, dawdling and puttering. ” 
Brenda Ueland

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The ImaginationBox
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about Diane Pagan

Diane Pagan uk

Hello! I live in Manchester, UK with my partner, and our two children. Luckily our house has a converted basement, where my art studio is packed full with art materials of all shapes and sizes!
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