Any invitation to create yields wonderful benefits for children! Self-expression, fine motor skills, and creative thinking are all brought to the table every time. Art can even be therapeutic! But there’s something special that happens when you work on a bigger scale. With big art projects, larger motor movements are often encouraged, strengthening both the small muscles in the hand, used in most art projects, but also inviting the larger muscle groups in the arms, and sometimes even the whole body! With a larger project and bigger movements, kids who typically steer clear of the art table are often more easily enticed. Big art projects also add a social and linguistic element as kids often work together to fill up such a big canvas. And with such big projects and big movements, outdoors is often an ideal studio — perfect for this time of year! [Read more…]
Secrets of the Fearless Mess-Makers
Isn’t it Time to Create?
Faige Kobre’s guest post here about the therapeutic nature of art was a reminder to me to be more intentional about pulling out art supplies to provide an invitation for my boys to create. I’m not sure what’s been holding me back, but it certainly wasn’t their interest!
The Artful Parent: Jean Van’t Hul
I’ve been so excited to tell you about a new book, The Artful Parent, written by my friend Jean Van’t Hul, who you may already know from her popular blog, The Artful Parent. This book is amazing, and so much more than just a collection of art activities!
Multi-Sensory Paint!
One of the things that makes young artists so great, is that they are concerned more with the whole experience than with the product alone. Expand your next painting experience by trying out these tips that encourage children to use more than just their eyes to experience art. (Originally posted January 2010.)
If you’d like to incorporate a few more senses into your painting projects, add some regular salt generously to your tempera paint and use as fingerpaint or with a brush. The resulting project will have a bit more texture and grit that becomes even more visible as it dries. [Read more…]
How You Can Encourage Your Child to be Creative Even When YOU Are Not
I’m posting on a Tuesday this week as part of today’s Ultimate Blog Swap! You’ll find me posting about one of my other passions – cooking- over at Mostly Food and Crafts. I’ll cover both the food and the crafts by sharing one of my favorite pasta recipes, Butterfly Noodles, and some fun insect activities to go with it. And I’m so happy to share with you this wonderful post from Kelly of the blog Wisdom Begun, as well as a fantastic discount for the ebook Art Not Craft! Read on to get all the goodness! [Read more…]
Amazing Art Adventures
I love that place where Science and Art collide. When truly creative projects focus on the process over the product, they lend themselves to more inquiry, experimentation, and seeing things in a new way. Children are free to wonder, “What would happen if…” and then experiment. It’s the scientific process in action!
Art Not Craft
“Arts and crafts” is a common label in the early childhood world. And while the label implies that they are two different but similar categories, it is unfortunately used too often as one overarching label. But the two have subtle differences: the difference between process and product, creativity and the created, following inspiration and following directions. Of course there is rarely a black and white separation of these two, rather a spectrum of sliding degrees. While I would never want to completely exclude one in order to elevate the other, one must be cognizant of the differences in order to be intentional in the creative experiences that are planned for the children we love and teach.
Book of Textures
I’m really excited to share this guest post with you from Rachelle Doorley of Tinker Lab:
A Few New Takes on an Old Favorite: Shaving Cream Painting
Whoever coined the phrase “less is more” certainly wasn’t under the age of six. Young children love piling it all on, especially when doing art. It’s more about the experience than the exhibit, and that’s the way it should be.










