Process not Product

One of the things I have been learning over and over in my classes is how art should be about the process and not the end product. Process Art. I've got a few great books with tons of fun ideas that I can't wait to try out. Here's today's:

What you need:
Paper
Ruler
Something to color with (we went with markers)

How to:
Draw lines all over the paper (lines must go all the way to edges of the paper)
Color in the areas

Pretty simple huh?

My son did this one on his own. Next time, I'm going to do all the lines and then have all the kids help color it in. 

My 3 year old's attempt

My 5 year old is having fun with it!

Another Process Art idea:

Put a few dots on the paper and using a ruler, draw lines going out to the edges of the paper from the dot. This is my son's. This one was his favorite (mostly because he likes using a ruler). :)

Spaghetti spaghetti all over the place...

"...up to my elbows, up to my face."

Shel Silverstein has got to be the best poet alive (that statement is probably why I didn't do so hot in my Creative Writing class' poetry unit). He does have a ton of great poems though. The spaghetti one has been a long time favorite of mine and as much as I hate to admit it, I say it to myself every time I make, see or even think of spaghetti.

Anyways, I'll get to the point. Spaghetti is fun. To eat and to play with. It's especially fun with food coloring and construction paper.

The how to:

1. Cook spaghetti, strain
2. Divide spaghetti into plastic Ziplock bags and then drop in a few drops of food coloring. Mix up until all spaghetti is covered.
3. Put spaghetti back into strainer and rinse well. This will only rinse off the extra food coloring so little hands (and big ones, I had fun with this one) stay clean.
4. Children then stick spaghetti to paper. No glue needed. Perfect for little ones since it's safe to eat. :) 

Just a heads up, this is not a craft that should be kept for very long. The spaghetti will eventually dry and it doesn't look as cool... And if it cracks, it could make a mess (which is not allowed in my house).
Enjoy!
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And just for fun, here's the rest of the poem in case you haven't heard of it.

Spaghetti

Spaghetti, spaghetti, all over the place,

Up to my elbows—up to my face,

Over the carpet and under the chairs,

Into the hammock and wound round the stairs,

Filling the bathtub and covering the desk,

Making the sofa a mad mushy mess.

The party is ruined, I’m terribly worried,

The guests have all left (unless they’re all buried).

I told them, “Bring presents.” I said, “Throw confetti.”

I guess they heard wrong

‘Cause they all threw spaghetti!