The Little House Book & Craft

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton has always been a favorite of mine.

It’s the story of a house, built well and with a lot of love. The little house watches the days go by and then the years go by until eventually a city has grown up around her. Eventually the great-granddaughter of the couple who built the house see her and decides to move the little house back out to the country.

The whimsical illustration have always drawn me in, even at a young age. So, I wanted to do a art project with the girls inspired by the book.

I started the girls (and myself) out with a simple drawing of the house made with black crayon. After reading the book, we set down to make our own illustrations.

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We decided to draw the countryside around the house.

We drew hills, trees, flowers and even a path leading up to the house all with the black crayon.

After the drawings were completed, we grabbed our paintbrushes and some liquid watercolors.

The girls started painting and I joined in as well.

I just couldn’t resist a project based on The Little House.

When we were done, we had some bright, colorful illustrations that mimicked the illustrations in the book.

We made a few observations about art during the process as well. Most notably, Lizzie learned that the biggest paint brush is not always the most desirable.

Sometimes you need a smaller brush to get the job done. She also told me that she wants to learn to make pretty pictures. I guess I’ve got some art lessons in my future! (Don’t worry, I’m kind of excited about it.)

Here are our finished pictures! Lizzie’s is first, then AJ’s, then mine. I was glad I joined in this time, instead of just observing and assisting. I plan on doing this many, many more times!