Art Project #93: String Art

I've been wanting to do this art project with the boys for quite some time!  I found some discounted wooden blocks at Michael's back at Christmas time and then I tucked them away in our craft closet and the project slipped to the back of my mind.

I knew I had to buy special, small nails and I wasn't sure HOW to go about doing this project with the kids.  I finally decided we just had to jump in and give it a try.  I knew that getting to use wood, nails and a hammer was a surefire way to get all three boys to participate in this 100 Days of Art Challenge activity.



We settled on printing some free string art patterns off the internet and I sized them on our printer to fit their craft squares.

The boys taped the paper to their squares to keep them from moving around and set to work.

Using our hammers and 3/4 in nails they set to work banging in nails to follow the lines of their patterns.  They didn't add in every nail that was shown on the pattern since they all had a little bit of a struggle to get the nails in, stay in, and not bend. It was a great learning opportunity!







Once they each had all the nails in, I helped them tie the embroidery floss to one of the nails and then they wound the string around following their pattern in whichever way they wished.



When they were finished I had them end at the nail they had started with and then knotted the end string to the tail of the beginning string.  Once I trimmed the string off I helped the boys remove the paper.  (We probably should have removed the paper before stringing but I was afraid that they would loose their pattern and not know which nails to use).


Finished star with the paper removed and the string trimmed down


Ian's superman symbol was so difficult!  But he was thrilled with how it turned out.  

I do wished that I thought to buy an extra piece of wood for myself; it looked like a lot of fun.


Other Projects in this series:
Project 1: Painting with Hexbugs
Project 2: Tissue paper flowers
Project 3: Star Wars Crafts
Project 4: Watercolor compass circles
Project 5: Floral pens
Project 6: Watercolor outlines
Project 7: Scratch art jellyfish
Project 13: Water gun art
Project 14: Watercolor Kits
Project 15: Dragonfly Silhouettes 
Project 16: Painting pet rocks 
Project 17: Spray Paint Resist
Project 18: Water bottle windsock
Project 20: Tin can windsock 
Project 21: Firework glue art
Project 22: Qixel art kit
Project 26: Spray Painted Canvas
Project 28: Tin Foil Art
Project 29: Oil Pastel Bubbles 
Project 32: Drip Painted Pots
Project 33: Sun Art 
Project 36: Art Museum field trip. 
Project 39: Painting Pikachu 
Project 40: How to Draw Books
Project 42: Splatter Paint Canvas
Project 46: Tissue Paper Leaf Art
Project 50: Drawing Cat Faces 
Project 51: Making Homemade cards
Project 53: 3-D printing 
Project 54: Gingerbread Train
Project 57: Candy trees 
Project 66: Washi Tape Cookie Cutter Ornaments
Project 67: Learning Origami 
Project 68: Art Books and Artist Study
Project 69: Playing Go Fish Art
Project 70: Edible Chocolate Art
Project 71: Geometric Hearts 
Project 72: Marble Swirled Hearts
Project 73: Solid Tempera Paint Drawings
Project 74: Qixels 3-D Maker
Project 75: Making Cupcakes
Project 76: Window Marker Art
Project 77: Shamrock Zentangles on Scratch Paper
Project 78: Painted Pandas 
Project 79: Minecraft Digital Art
Project 80: Charcoal Drawings
Project 81: Chalk Pastel Lighthouse Drawings
Project 82: Dying Easter Eggs With Bleeding Tissue Paper
Project 83: Painting Pottery
Project 84: Drawing En Plein Air
Project 85: African Savannah Paintings
Project 86: Woven CD Garden Decoration
Project 87: Working with Clay
Project 88: Art Lessons with Art Academy
Project 89: Melted Bead Wind Chimes
Project 90: Perler Bead Projects
Project 91: Ivory Soap Carvings
Project 92: Ice Cube Tie Dye


Comments

  1. Karen Del TattoJune 8, 2017 at 9:51 PM

    I wish string art was around when I was homeschooling my kids. My big claim to fame was having the kids make things out of pipe cleaners. ;-)

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3June 9, 2017 at 11:56 AM

      I am hopeless at making any thing recognizable out of pipe cleaners! :)

      Delete
  2. ΙΩΑΝΝΑ MPISKOTOUPOLIJune 9, 2017 at 4:18 AM

    I love the superman sign!!!(from the link party)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3June 9, 2017 at 11:56 AM

      I was quite impressed with what a great job he did; I didn't help him at all!

      Delete
  3. Megan RussellJune 9, 2017 at 6:00 AM

    Good job! My son also did a cat. We have done several of these! The less detailed the pattern, the better for young ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3June 9, 2017 at 11:56 AM

      Yeah, We found simple, open designs much easier to do.

      Delete
  4. Julie NyanyoJune 9, 2017 at 6:27 AM

    They are all great but the superman one came out especially well considering it could have so easily just been a hot mess! What a fun craft/art project.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3June 9, 2017 at 11:57 AM

      I had not thought of how awful it could have turned out until he started using the thread and I wondered how he would know what to fill in and what to leave blank. It's certainly not perfect but we were both happy with how it turned out.

      Delete
  5. Melissa CliftonJune 9, 2017 at 7:19 AM

    I love this idea for kids! I attempted my own a while back and I bet my kids would love it. Your boys did a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Annette VJune 9, 2017 at 12:37 PM

    that is a great design. I really like that. Pinning to my art board. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Audrey HumaciuJune 10, 2017 at 5:54 PM

    Fun idea, I think I will have to give this a go with my son soon. Thanks for sharing on #FridayFrivolity

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shannon @ Of The HearthJune 13, 2017 at 10:32 PM

    Love this idea! I've actually been wanting to do some string art myself, but I love the idea of using simple patterns for the little ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3June 14, 2017 at 6:33 AM

      Yeah, I found very simple patterns like hearts and stars worked well for younger ones.

      Delete
  9. Mary K.- The Boondocks BlogJune 15, 2017 at 5:20 AM

    Oh my these came out wonderful. I have seen others done but never tried it myself. This is a great project for the kids and it must make them feel so proud to be able to accomplish this!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Gregor FamilyJune 16, 2017 at 2:08 AM

    This is such a great idea! I think my kids would have fun with this. Thanks for sharing at the Friday at the Fire Staton link-up!
    Jen

    ReplyDelete

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