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The Artful Parent Best of 2013

by Jean Van't Hul
December 31, 2013

The Artful Parent Best of 2013

What a year it’s been!

A year in which I turned 36 and my kids turned four and eight. A year in which my world both expanded (with my book being out there, etc) and contracted (by my choice to focus more on family life and personal sanity and less on “scaling,” as the experts put it).

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A year in which my book was published, started off with an awesome blog tour, and then went on to receive a bit of acclaim with the Amazon Best of the Year list and the Family Choice Award.

A year in which I had the opportunity to learn that while some people love publicity, I don’t. Not really. In fact, it seemed to send me in a tailspin and I had to press the restart button to get back on my feet.

Creating Creative Kids Article

However, when the focus is on kids’ art and creativity, rather than on me, I’m just fine with it. I loved being part of this FamilyFun magazine article on Creating Creative Kids!

The Artful Year eBook Series

A year in which I finished my Artful Year eBook series, a whopper of a project, and realized how much fun I have working on the design side of things (even though I wouldn’t even begin to call myself a designer).

So, anyway, as this is the last post of 2013 and we’re all in reflection mode, I am going to include a few “Best Of” lists.

Here goes….

The Artful Parent Top 10 Most Popular Posts from 2013

10 Most Popular Posts of 2013 from 2013

(according to Google Analytics)

1. 8 Sensory Activities to Fill the Witching Hour (Thanks, Rachelle of TinkerLab!)

2. Bend and Shape Candy Canes

3. Drawing with Kids Using the Monart Method

4. 89 Indoor Activities to Keep Your Kids from Bouncing Off the Walls this Winter

5. Drawing with Kids Using the Monart Method :: Lesson 1

6. Best Art and Creativity Quotes for Children and Adults

7. Colored Foam Paint (Better than Shaving Cream for Kids’ Art & Sensory Play!)

8. Glitter Rock Valentines :: A Fun Valentine Craft Project for Kids

9. Hand Sewing with Kids :: Getting Started

10. My Kids’ Favorite Building Set — Using Straws!

The 10 Most Popular Posts on The Artful Parent from 2013 --from all years

10 Most Popular Posts, Period

Most popular in 2013, but from all years (again according to Google Analytics). Most aren’t even from 2013—I suppose I should be worried…

Actually The Kids’ Arts and Crafts Directory and its various sub-pages took all but five of the top 20 spots. But if we ignore that for now, these are the most popular posts…

1. Making Melted Bead Suncatchers (2012)

2. 8 Sensory Activities to Fill the Witching Hour (2013)

3. Melting Ice Science Experiment with Salt & Liquid Watercolors (2012)

4. Shaving Cream for Kids :: 67 Ideas for Art, Play & Learning with Shaving Cream (2012)

5. 35 Homemade Art Materials Kids Can Make (2012)

6. 39 Ways to Play and Learn with Playdough (2012)

7. Model Magic :: Crayola vs Homemade (2011)

8. Homemade Mod Podge vs The Real Deal :: Which Works Better with Autumn Leaves? (2012)

9. Melted Bead Suncatcher :: A DIY Baby Mobile (2012)

10. Bend and Shape Candy Canes (2013)

Artful Parent Favorites from 2013

My 10 Favorite Posts of the Year

In no particular order… And because my faves are rarely the round-ups that seem to be so popular on the web.

1. Why I Framed My Ten Thousand Villages Bag

2. Thank You for Breathing Life Into My Book!

3. Kids in the Kitchen :: Baking Up A Mystery Chocolate Dessert

4. Art for Playdates :: Making it Work

5. Studio Changes (Again)

6. A New Kids’ Art Display Wall

7. Kids’ Mixed Media Art :: Creativity Inspired by Fabric Scraps

8. Shaped Crayons = Creative Drawing for Little Kids

9. My New Book Came in the Mail!

10. Art Space for Kids :: 6 Simple Ways to Make a Creativity-Inspiring Space

 

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