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Art activities
Thanksgiving Printed Leaf Art Activity
Try this slow-art project while you wait for thanksgiving dinner.
Paper Weaving
Watch the video and follow along with the instructions to make your own paper weaving with easy-to-find materials.
Poem Prompt
Read the following poem by AGA French Bilingual Educator Gwladys Jousselme and create an artwork inspired by it!
Cyanotype Magic
With long days and intense summer light, get creative with cyanotypes!
Road Trip Landscape
Inspired by your memories and experiences of road trips close to home, create a multi-layered artwork with help from our step-by-step video.
Plasticine Landscapes
Drawing inspiration from the late American artist Mike Kelley's Memory Ware Series, campers from Green warriors created landscapes using plasticine and found objects.
5x5 Nature Vignette
Channel your inner film director and make your own 5x5 art film/video inspired by nature!
Art Journal
Bring along a sketchbook or art journal, crayons or watercolours and paint or draw en plein air just like artists before you! Check out our video tutorial to make your own art journal.
Slideshow Activity
There is a world to discover this summer! Grab your camera, channel your inner photographer and document whatever catches your eye. Then, head to a computer and follow along with our easy instructions to create a slideshow of your adventures.
Bubble Dance Party
With a few easy-to-find at-home materials, you can mix up your own bubble solution and customize a bubble wand for yourself or a friend.
Father's Day: Bubble Wrap Resistance Card
Celebrate the father figures in your life and make a special card using some easy materials at home.
Summer Solstice
Celebrate the summer solstice Barcelona-style! The longest day of the year is a national holiday in Spain and traditions include large bon fires, sparklers, a swim in the Mediterranean Sea and a special cake called Coca de Sant Joan.
Bee Hotel
Did you know it was World Bee Day on May 20? This special day inspired us to create a step-by-step guide to build your own bee hotel!
Clay Insect Sculptures
Love them or leave them - insects are all around us! Check out our newest insect-inspired art activity. Using paper clay, wire and a few wooden pieces, you can create your own swarm or nest (group) of brilliant bugs!
Asian Heritage Month Photo Collage
Celebrate Asian Heritage month with this identity-inspired collage activity from AGA Educator Helen Zhang.
Courtesy of Helen Zhang
Mother's Day Card
Send a unique greeting to someone special this Mother’s Day! In a few easy & creative steps, your mom will be delighted to receive a digital postcard designed by you! Get started here.
DIY Greenhouse
Inspired by the life and work of landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, we invite you to explore the art of gardening and the endless inspiration that comes from the growing season. Start with a DIY greenhouse and end with a carefully designed garden to observe, create and draw from. Start your garden here.
Bird Loot Nest Helper
Create an artwork that will assist returning birds to create the nest of their dreams here.
Hidden Garden Collage Painting
Click here to create a painted garden of your wildest imagination, using work from Edmonton artist Emmanuel Osahor as our inspiration.
Lunar New Year: Papercutting Activity
To celebrate the Year of the Ox, we’re going to explore the art of papercutting. Click here.
Musical Portraits
Create a song-inspired selfie inspired by the exhibition Bacchanale: Music in Picasso’s Linocut Prints. Click here.
Reductive Soap Sculpture
Create a reductive soap sculpture inspired by the work of four distinguished artists here.
Mythical Self-Portraits
Spring is here! We are looking at the classic ‘Cottingley Fairies’ photographs and creating some magical portraits of our own. For full instructions, click here.
Easter Activity
Gather some oil pastels or crayons, watercolour paper, watercolour paints, a brush, rinse water, scissors and glue to create an artwork inspired by a Ukrainian Easter tradition. Pysanka are richly decorated eggs inscribed using a wax resist technique and hold a special meaning of hope, new life & prosperity. Our activity pays homage to this tradition by exploring the wax resist technique on paper and then, we cut and paste our decorated sheets to create a collage:
- Using your oil pastels or crayons, fill your watercolour paper with lines, shapes and textures
- Mix up your favourite colours and paint all over the oil pastel. Watch as the oil resists the paint like magic! Repeat steps one and two until you have a few sheets
- Allow to dry and then cut your decorated paper into shapes (eggs, bunnies, flower petals, whatever the season inspires!)
- Play with composition (the placement of your shapes) before gluing everything down to complete your artwork
The Northern Lights
The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, inspired AGA architect Randall Stout in his design of the building. Can you guess which element that was? Create your own Northern Lights-inspired artwork using black or dark blue construction paper, chalk pastel, card stock, scissors and an old toothbrush.
- Cut a wavy line through your cardstock with scissors; this is your stencil
- Colour the stencil with chalk pastel and place it on your construction paper
- Use the toothbrush to transfer the chalk from the stencil to the paper in sweeping strokes
- Repeat and layer with different colours, making more than one image to create the illusion of movement
- Use a stop motion app to create your own video and share it with us using #AGAcreate!
Video: HZhang
Music: bensound.com
Bullet journals
Photo by H. Zhang
Photo by H. Zhang
Photo by H. Zhang
Design your day with a bullet journal! Bullet journaling is an artful way to organize your daily activities, thoughts and habits. Starting out as blank pages, bullet journals offer endless creative possibilities and personal customizations depending on your chosen theme and passions. It’s also a great way to use up scraps and doodles from your previous art-making ventures! Grab a notebook and some markers and experiment with a range of mediums and materials to add different textures and colours to your journal. Rip up some scrap paper, add colorful tape and stickers, cut out illustrations, put your old markers to use, practice hand lettering—the sky is the limit! Try it out and tag us with #AGAcreate.
Edmonton Entrances colouring pages
In 1974, Hubert Hohn undertook a comprehensive project entitled Edmonton Entrances, in which he photographed the decorated doorways of the 1940s and 1950s fieldstone and stucco bungalows that popped up around Edmonton. Here you will find six images inspired by his photographs that you can print and colour at home:
Edmonton Entrance one
Edmonton Entrance two
Edmonton Entrance three
Edmonton Entrance four
Edmonton Entrance five
Edmonton Entrance six
Hubert Hohn: Edmonton Entrances and Suburban Landscapes was organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta and presented by PCL Construction as a part of the Poole Centre of Design in 2018.
Melted crayon creations
FOR KIDS (& their helpers): While colouring with crayons can give your art a unique look and texture, melting them is another fun way to create a masterpiece.
You’re going to need: a couple peeled crayons, a sharpener, a piece of cardstock or paper, wax paper, an old rag or cloth, an optional tool (ex. toothpick, paper clip, pencil), and something to cover the table with since things can get messy when working with melted crayons. You’ll also need an iron so make sure to ask a grownup for permission and help.
Before you begin, plug in your iron so it's ready when you are.
- Take your peeled crayons and sharpen them. Take the crayon flakes/shavings and set them aside.
- On your piece of cardstock/paper, place your crayon shavings where you would like.
- Using a piece of wax paper, cover your cardstock and crayon shavings. Place your old rag on top of the wax paper.
- With the help of a grownup, gently place your iron over top of the old rag. Be careful! The iron is hot!
- Remove the old rag and wax paper to unveil your beautiful piece of art!
- Optional Step: Using your tool, make scratches in the warm wax before it cools down too much! Make lines and circles and different shapes and form. This can help you make cool textures in your piece.
Show us your melted crayon creations by tagging us @youraga and using the hashtag #AGAcreate!
