Heart String Art
Skills: Small motor skills. Painting. Pinch-hold. Hammering.
Letters/Sounds: S (string), H (heart).
Supplies:
Drywall, cut to a square 8"x8" size with a hand saw or utility knife (you can get small pieces of drywall for repairing walls at a hardware store).
Small nails (3/4" or 5/8" works well).
Colorful yarn, thread or string.
Hammer.
Heart shape printed out on plain paper (see printable heart below).
Step 1)
Place the heart shaped printable on the drywall where you want your string heart to be and gently hammer the nails in around the heart shape, leaving about 1/2 of the nail exposed (This step can be done by an adult depending on the skill level of the kids, however, drywall is a great medium for learning hammering skills).
Step 2)
Remove the paper heart pattern by gently pulling the paper up away from the drywall.
Step 3)
Get ready to paint the drywall with water color paints.
Step 4)
Wet the drywall with water first, then begin painting with the watercolr paints. Choosing two or three colors works well for a varied tone, or paint the background a solid color.
Step 5)
Use the water and paintbrush to mix and blend your colors together.
Step 6)
When you have finished painting and blending the watercolors, tie your yarn or string to one of the nails. Begin to go around the outline of the heart by looping and stretching the string around the heart shape.
Step 7)
Once the heart shape has a nice outline, you can then start having fun stretching and looping the string back and forth between the nails. This is where you can either follow a pattern (like up-down, then across) or just randomly place the string. Just be careful not to place the string across the top two nails, as that would ruin the heart shape.
Step 8)
When you are finished with your string pattern, tie your string with a double knot to one of the nails and trim the left over string off.
Step 9)
Place your art on a shelf, or attach a hanger and hang it on a wall. Heart string art makes a great gift for a good friend or relative any time of the year.
Let’s Think About It/Talk About It
Did you enjoy hammering the nails into the board? How did you do? Were you able to hold the nails straight while you were hammering?
Did you like painting with the water colors and the brush? What is your favorite color?
What was it like to string the yarn back and forth between the nails? Was the yarn stiff or a little bit stretchy?
Today you did “Heart String Art.” Did you know that there is something also called “heartstrings” that is all one word?
Do you know what the word “heartstrings” mean? It isn’t actually a kind of string at all, but it is a very strong feeling of love for someone else.
Is there someone you love a lot that you would like to give your Heart String Art to?
