kid's art projects: Kandinsky circles in squares

For a long time I've looked at the wall above our dining table and dreamed of creating an original artwork to replace the poorly-framed print which was hanging there. So during the school holidays the kids and I created our very own Kandinsky-inspired Squares with Concentric Circles.

The beauty of this art project is that it's super-easy and suitable for any level of artistic skill, so everyone in the family can add a square. Here's the one we made. It makes me happy every time I look at it!


Here's the artwork which inspired it, by Wassily Kandinsky.

The kids really enjoyed making it.

In fact, they enjoyed it so much that Thomas (6) decide to create his own,

and so did Andy (3)!

Here's how we did it.

• I cut some squares of heavy textured white paper using a craft knife and cutting board. We made ours about 15 cm square to fit our frame, but my friend Jenny filled her frame with a large number of much smaller squares, so take your pick!
• We used good-quality oil pastels to colour the circles. I like oil pastels for their dense, bright colours, but you could use permanent markers, textas, paints, or anything else that takes your fancy.
• We started by colouring a small circle somewhere near the middle of the squares and adding thick and thin rings of different colours. They don't need to be perfect: in fact, squarish, crooked and off-centre look better than perfect rings.
• We arranged the squares and taped them together with masking tape, put them in our frame, and hung the finished product on our wall. Voila!

If you want to see some other art projects for kids based on Kandinsky's painting, see Art Projects for Kids and No Time for Flash Cards.