This fun little project combines some fun straw blowing process art into a artwork loosely based on the infamous “Bouquet of Peace.”  Picasso for kids becomes easy, fun, and ever so pretty.  

Why Picasso…..

A splash of art history and then some straw blowing, color mixing fun is a gentle introduction to a new artist.  Picasso for kids never looked so easy.

Picasso is such a fun artist to introduce kids to for a couple of reasons.  One, his works is so varied.  He uses so many different materials, styles, and techniques.  The second reason I love Picasso for kids is that most of his work is abstract.  There is no mistaking a Picasso painting of a woman for a photograph.

I enjoy pointing out that one of the most famous artists ever produced work that was not lifelike and yet was still highly valued.  “Good” artwork is not necessarily artwork that is a photographic realistic copy of it’s subject.  Food for thought for your little people.  

Click here for a free four page printable Picasso artist study!

Hands with Flowers….

This particular piece of art goes by several names; Bouquet of Peace, Hands with Flowers, Hands with Bouquet, and Flowers and Hands.   All titles refer to this bright and simple work below.  It was originally made as a watercolor and then Picasso later produced it as a color lithograph.

This work was  done in 1958 for a peace demonstration in Sweden.  Today it serves as the inspiration for our fun combination of painting and straw blowing below!

Let’s paint Picasso inspired flowers….

In order to make these flowers you need two things; liquid watercolors or some other runny paint, and straws.  We have this set of liquid watercolors by Sargent.  They are inexpensive and we have gotten so much good out of them!  

This is the process art part!

Use straws or eye droppers to drop liquid watercolor in blobs on paper.  Use a straw to blow through and direct the paint every which way.  This results in very organic blobby flower-ish shapes.  Remember, we’re not going for real here!  

Set these aside to dry.

Straw blowing flower stems…

Every flower grows on a stem, right?  We’re going to make our stems in the same blow-y method.  Except this time drop your paint in drops in a loosely vertical line.  (We used yellow and green  for the stems but use your imagination; they can be any color you want!)

Starting at one end of the paper blow towards the other end.  Encourage kids to turn their paper, not their body, when trying to change the direction they blow the paint.

Sharpen those scissors skills…

Use scissors to separate your page of blobby flowers into individual blooms.  Leaving some white around the edges adds some definition to each flower as well as making it easier to cut out.  But however your child fancies their flowers cut will be fine!

Cut the flower stems out in the same way.

Painting hands….

I think it’s worth pointing out that in the original “Bouquet of Peace” there are two hands that each belong to a different person.  One person is the giver and the other hand belongs to the receiver.  

There are two ways to make to make hands to hold their flowers. The easy way would be to trace both of your kiddo’s hands on construction paper and cut them out.  Done.

Why take the easy way out…

We decided to get out the tempera paint and mix it up a bit.  Construction paper “flesh” tone only comes in so many colors, right? 

Mixing neutral color like flesh tones is a good exercise for kids.  It’s no joke. 

Start with lots of white and add teeny tiny bits of red and green.  Mixing red and green will create a muddy color because they are complementary colors.  (Now is the perfect time for a little color theory lesson & free printable!)

Trace hands, either both of your child’s or a giver and receiver like Picasso’s work.  Paint and cut them out after they are dry.

Assemble your bouquet of peace….

Let your little people put it all together to create their own bouquet of peace.  

If you enjoyed this Picasso for kids project please pass it along by sharing it on your favorite social media!