Meet the artist - Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama inspired art project for 3+ year olds

I absolutely LOVE Yayoi Kusama's work and find her art super whimsical and inspiring. She has been making the world so much more fun by putting polka dots on pretty much everything, from paintings, to sculptures, to clothing and even animals... and has devoted her entire life to art!

Here is a simple yet fun project that can be slightly adjusted to fit the skills of 3, 4, or 5 year olds, and even school age children. It's always a good idea to start by briefly introducing the little ones to the artist they'll be drawing inspiration from, so that they feel more connected to what they will be creating. I find this is also an awesome way to nurture the love for art in children (win win!).

So who is Yayoi Kusama? 

In very simple words, Yayoi Kusama is a female artist from Japan that has been creating works of art for a really long time (80 years, wow!!). She is famous for her repetitive work with dots and nets, and for her installations with soft sculptures, lights and mirrors, called infinity rooms. Now, depending on the age of your child, you can simply show them a few examples of Kusama's art, emphasizing her love for polka dots and in this case, her colorful pumpkins, or you can elaborate a little more on the info. There are also a few great videos about YaYoi Kusama (for example here and here), geared towards children that can help with this introduction and are informative and super fun to watch. 

Now, gather your supplies and let your child do the work!

YOU WILL NEED:

- White or yellow paper (I used cardstock) to print the PDF pumpkin provided below 

- Black construction paper for the polka dots

- Circle hole punch (I have a cheap set of 3 large ones I got online)

- Glue (liquid school glue with brush or a Q-tip, or glue stick, depending on skills)

- Kids scissors 

INSTRUCTIONS
1. PRINT AND CUT OUT YOUR PUMPKIN
Start by printing the PDF pumpkin provided below. I used yellow cardstock but you can use any paper, white or colored, that you have on hand.
Next, you can cut out the pumpkin yourself with scissors or have them do it, depending on their age and skills. This step was a little challenging for my 5 year old, who can cut with scissors on regular paper without a problem - but since the cardstock is thicker it wasn't an easy job, but he was proud to do it all all by himself, even if the edges weren't perfect.

2. MAKE YOUR POLKA DOTS
Then, and again depending on the age of your child, cut out your polka dots with a hole punch (or 2 or 3 hole punches with different sizes) OR have your kids do this step themselves if they are able to. My 5 year old really enjoyed working with the hole punch and punching the dots. 

3. COMPOSE YOUR PUMPKIN
When you have enough circles, just have them apply some glue and place them in their pumpkin however they want. When working with glue I always remind them "dot, dot, dot, not a lot" so they know that just a little bit of glue is enough. For my 3 year olds I poured some glue in a small bowl and had them dip a Q-tip in, and then apply it on the circle and glue it on their pumpkin. They can also use a glue stick if this is something they are used to or prefer. 

I love to watch how sometimes children steer away from "the rules" of the process and find different options to do things. Halfway I had one child dipping the circles directly in the glue; another one decided to first apply several dots of glue on the pumpkin and then gluing the paper circles on top. Talk about problem solving skills and self expression! Adults should try to interfere as less as possible (hard sometimes!), and just guide and let them create freely. Even if the end product doesn't look exactly as we expected. The process is what really matters here! 

This simple activity is great to improve fine motor skills - that are super important to later perform basic tasks like writing and drawing. Cutting with scissors, punching dots and then gluing the dots are all great ways to strengthen those tiny hand's muscles. Also, exposure to visual arts from a young age is a powerful tool for a healthy social, emotional and cognitive development.

I hope you and your children enjoy this project and to get to know Yayoi Kusama and her work! And that this sparkles some more of their interest and curiosity about art! Stay tuned for some more artists and fun projects coming soon! 

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Download the pumpkin PDF below 

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