We had our first beach day of the year recently, and it was just so lovely! As I was watching my kids splash and play in the water, the waves gently rolling in, it reminded me of the straw blowing art project we created as part of our Ocean Unit Study.
So today, I thought I would share with you exactly how we created the art and learned all about waves in the process!
An Ocean Unit Study for the Whole Family!
This straw blowing art project is one of the hands-on activities from my Ocean Family Unit Study. In my unit studies, we take one big topic, like the Ocean, and break it down into 10 manageable, bite-sized learning topics. This format gives you the freedom to dive into learning at a pace that works for your family.
You can take a peek at the 10 topics included with the Ocean Unit Study and view a sample in the shop right here: https://shop.howweelearn.com/products/family-unit-study-the-ocean
An Ocean Art Project: Straw Blowing Art!
Waves in the ocean are caused by wind blowing over the surface of the water. We can see the impact wind has on wet surfaces with the simple art technique of straw blowing!
Materials
For this straw blowing art project, you will need:
- Shades of blue and white paint
- Paper
- Straw
- Bowls and spoons for mixing (optional)
- Water (optional)
Directions
First, get out some blue and white paint. Washable tempera paint is great, or acrylic will work too. You might need to add a little bit of water to make your paint really move when it is blown.
Take some time to mix a few different shades of blue if you like, adding color mixing into this activity as well. As you do, you could chat about the difference between tones (mixing with grey), tints (mixing with white), and shades (mixing with black).
Now you’re ready for the fun part!
Drop some paint onto a piece of paper and blow the paint gently with a straw, observing what happens.
Repeat this again and again, creating a beautiful work of art!
I would definitely suggest putting your piece of paper onto a cookie sheet or covering your table beforehand. Partway into the ocean wave art project, we realized that the paint was not going to stay contained to the piece of paper, but it was looking so cool that we didn’t want to risk moving the paper!
The colors mixed so nicely and ended up looking almost like a view of an ocean or water planet from space. Mesmerizing!
Straw Blowing Art Extention (Optional)
If your little ones want to keep going with this activity, you could:
- Try the same art project, but use sandpaper. How did it change the results?
- Try the same art project, but use different colors. How did they mix? Did you create any new colors as they mixed?
- Turn your art into something! Perhaps you stick with the ocean theme and add some fish, dolphins, or other aquatic life to your picture. Or perhaps you turn it into a beautiful greeting card. Anything goes!
And, of course, you can chat about ocean waves as you create your art! In the Ocean Family Unit Study, we learned about the “anatomy of a wave” as well as three different types of waves:
- waves formed by the wind,
- waves formed by underwater earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic eruptions,
- and waves formed by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon.
I hope you and yours enjoyed this ocean wave art project!
And if you did, you’re going to LOVE the Ocean Family Unit Study. You can see a sample and learn more about this fascinating, hands-on unit right here: https://shop.howweelearn.com/products/family-unit-study-the-ocean
You can also check out our bundles and growing library of unit studies—including The Ocean Unit Study!—right here: https://shop.howweelearn.com/collections/family-unit-studies
Thank you so much for reading, my friend!
xo
Sarah
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