While we are constantly telling children to "use their words" when they express themselves, this can be very difficult. Children often lack the vocabulary and capacity to truly express their emotions, but through the use of art, they have a more abstract way to demonstrate how they are feeling. If you are looking for some fun art projects for kids, here are a few that will fit the bill.

It's also cool when you can combine the fun of art with learning about actual artists. Consider having your child complete a collage based upon the work of a famous artist. You can actually download PDF murals of famous paintings from artists such as Van Gogh, Klimt, Kandinsky, Monet and more from a website such as ArtProjectsForKids.org. The PDF prints out as several pages, and your children simply color each page using crayons, paints, oil pastels or colored pencils. In the end, you put all the pieces in order and you have a beautiful piece of artwork that looks like a renowned painting. A cool idea would be to paste each section down on a canvas and then hang it in your home.

Getting messy is certainly a highlight of art projects for many children, and nothing is messier than making a huge creation out of paper mache. There are so many options, from making a little vase for plastic flowers to a colorful bowl or perhaps creating your own huge robot. One fun decorative option is to create a huge letter and cover it with paper mache glue, paint it and hang it in your child's room. The glue is easily created using a mix of water and flour and then boiling this together and letting it cool down. You also can mix regular Elmer's glue with water to form a paste. Newspaper provides a cheap source of paper. You will definitely need a lot of paper, so save a week's worth of newspapers or ask friends and family to contribute their papers.

To make the giant initial, first cut out two identical giant letters out of cardboard. Glue five or six Styrofoam cups or bowls onto one letter and then glue the other letter on to the other side of the cups. Let the glue dry and then cover the letter thoroughly with strips of paper mache. Once this is dry, you can paint the letter with acrylic paints and then once all the painting is finished, coat it all with Mod Podge. For other projects, such as a bowl, you will fill up a balloon and cover the bottom half of the balloon with paper mache strips. Once it dries, pop the balloon and paint and seal just as you would with the initial.

Sometimes the art you create can be art that you also wear. Tie dye is definitely an outlet for creativity, and kids will enjoy creating a piece of clothing using their favorite colors. All of the items you will need from gloves to bottles to dye can be purchased at a craft store, but if you have never tie dyed before, it's not a bad idea to simply purchase a kit, which includes all the supplies as well as helpful step-by-step instructions. Tie dye is better for older children, typically around age 8 or 9 and up, but there are tons of cool fabric paints that allow kids to really create a special t-shirt of their own design.

Every season brings a holiday, and each of these observances can be celebrated with a cool art project. Take a look around the internet and you will find something special for each and every major holiday, from Christmas to Fourth of July to Halloween. Folk art flags make a cool tabletop decoration for your Independence Day table, for example, and these can be created using popsicle craft sticks. Pom poms in vibrant Christmas colors can be glued to Styrofoam balls to make festive ornaments. For Thanksgiving, have the children create festive placeholder cards for eat table setting. The only limit is your imagination and that of your children.