Making our studio toddler friendly
I reorganized our studio (which doubles as a laundry room) earlier this month to make it more toddler friendly. The goal was to make the studio accessible for Daphne and the toddler art group (mostly by lowering the table) while making it safe for them. I wanted everything within Daphne's reach to be be safe […]
Follow the Line Book for Kids
I have a fun new book hidden away in the closet called Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist. I bought it from Stubby Pencil Studio and love it!* Follow the Line is attractive, creative, and interactive — a perfect combo — and I plan to give it to Maia for Christmas (so shhhh…). The author/illustrator is […]
I commissioned the sun!
Oh, look at this magnificent sun that Maia painted for me! I love it, love it, love it! The painting is large—2 by 3 feet—and drawn with oil pastels and then painted with tempera on poster board. It is also Maia’s first “commissioned” artwork, which may need a little explanation… I’ve been rearranging our house […]
Tracing Shapes is an Easy Preschool Art Activity for Kids
Tracing shapes preschool – this is an is a fun art activity for kids to learn how 3D items translate into 2D drawings and paintings on paper. Maia has the croup, poor kid, and spent much of yesterday in a feverish lethargy. But she had a period of midday energy during which she asked for […]
Do New Art Materials Help Inspire Kids Creativity and Art?
Sometimes it takes new art materials to inspire a creative approach. I set out a new box of oil pastels and a sheet of paper on the table for Maia when she got home from kindergarten last week. I often do this — although the materials are not usually new. She’ll generally work on her […]
Repetition, symbols, and copying in children’s drawing
(One of two poster-board size works Maia filled with spirals after school yesterday.) Okay, after all the fuss, I thought I should at least share some of the drawings Maia’s been doing since starting Kindergarten. The change in her drawing style from before K to now (almost two months in) is marked and happened almost […]
Kai-Lan and 6 Ways to Inspire Creative Drawing
This is Kai-Lan, as drawn by Maia. Do you know her? We don't get TV, but do check out DVDs of some children's TV shows from the library. One that Maia really likes (and that I'm so, so about) is about a little Chinese girl named Kai-Lan. I'd like to say that her drawing of […]
Paper shapes with the toddler art group
The toddler art group was held at Iver’s house yesterday. It was just the two babes again, so feels a little funny calling it a “group”, but one family was sick, another was out of town, and a couple more haven’t started coming yet. Iver’s mama, Angie, made construction paper shapes before the meeting for […]
Big mazes on the chalkboard
Those do-it-yourself mazes I mentioned the other day? We've been making a lot of them lately. Mostly large ones on the chalkboard. I draw one for Maia (like above) then scootch back into the kitchen to work on dinner while she draws one for me (such as the one below). And so it goes, back […]
The Best Glitter Glue for Kids
I bought Maia this set of glitter glue for her birthday and she’s been using it almost nonstop since. We had previously tried a couple different brands of glitter glue pens (I don’t remember what kind) that were really hard to squeeze. I mean really hard. So I tossed them, and have been leery of glitter […]
eeBoo Tell Me a Story Cards
How do we get through sick days? Lots of stories; lots of games. And now eeBoo Tell Me a Story Cards, which combine the two beautifully. We have been a house full of sick people. Not too fun. But Maia’s back in school today and I’m starting to feel like a normal person again. Daphne […]
Fabric Painting with Kids :: Tape Resist
I’m finally posting the second fabric painting technique that Maia and I used a couple weeks ago (when she also did fabric printing to create her first day of kindergarten shirt). Tape! It was the easiest thing ever. When Maia was finished printing with round things, I asked if she wanted to try taping a design to […]
