Thursday, November 13, 2008
Free Custom Color Photobook For Your Child's Artwork
Oprah's viewers and fans can take advantage of a FREE custom cover photo book by going to this link. But you have to be quick, this free offer expires tomorrow, November 14, 2008 at midnight!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
To Save or Not To Save Your Kid's Artwork
By Cindy Dampier
Chicago Tribune
You're in for it now, moms and dads. If you have kids in elementary school, the deluge of crayoned cows, fall-leaf collages and tissue-paper wreaths is in full force. It's an onslaught that has buried many a refrigerator, not to mention dining-room tables, kitchen counters and whole family rooms.
Before you rent off-site storage to preserve every precious scribble, take a calming piece of advice from Jennifer Farrington, president and CEO of Chicago Children's Museum. "Art is not a receipt of your child's childhood," says Farrington, a mother of two kids, ages 7 and 9. "We as parents have to get over that."
In other words, it's OK not to keep every scrap of paper they produce.
"I think it's good to teach kids not to be accumulators, but to save what's special and memorable," says Kathy Peel, organizational guru and author of "The Busy Mom's Guide to a Happy, Organized Home" (Picket Fence Press, 304 pages, $16.99). "It helps us to live better because things are not taking up all the space in our homes."
Here are the best ideas we found to help you get a handle on that artful clutter:
1. The gallery: Create a display space where new artwork can be displayed for a week or two. Think beyond the fridge/magnet combo: Try a clothesline hung in your child's room or, in a more public area, a retractable clothesline — when guests come over, simply unclip the artwork and snap the clothesline back into its base. Or hang an artsy arrangement of empty frames on a wall, then use adhesive putty to stick artwork inside, allowing for a rotating display of kid art — which instantly can be transformed into an artsy wall display by emptying the frames again.
2. The boxes: Once pieces have had their run in the gallery space, it's time to consider where (and if) they'll be stored for the long term. Peel recommends a two-part system: an easily accessible box (use simple cardboard storage boxes your kids can decorate) for things children would like to keep until the end of the school year. These can store under beds or even under your sofa. And a long-term plastic bin, for things you plan to save indefinitely, can live in the attic or basement. At the beginning of the summer, sit with your child to sort through and pick out the year's best for the long-term bin. "Compliment their work, and make it kind of a game. Say, 'Let's save the 10 best from this year,' " Peel says.
3. The albums: One way to convince your kids that it's OK to consign some of their creations to the recycle bin is to create art albums. "Photograph it and get your child to document what it was," says Farrington. Put the photos and your child's quotes into artwork-themed albums. Create easy albums with plain-paper scrapbooks, or go all out and create your own bound volume of favorite pieces — an easy project to accomplish through photo sites such as kodakgallery.com. (Three-dimensional works, which are hard to store and imminently breakable, are great subjects for photography.)
4. The computer: Peel suggests using scanned or photographed artwork as rotating screen savers on your computer. Farrington suggests simply making files on your computer for each year. To go one step further, try creating an online gallery at a photo-sharing site that can be viewed by grandparents or other family members.
5. The fragment: For those large pieces that just won't store (or display) neatly at home, Farrington suggests trimming them down. Favorite parts of oversized pieces can be cut down to 8 ½ x 11, punched with a three-hole punch and kept in a binder until they are ready to be stored or purged.
Two of my favorite solutions - particularly at this time of year:
- Use some of your child's paintings or drawings as wrapping paper for holiday gifts.
- Create a calendar with your child's artwork. You can easily do this on Kodakgallery.com for $19.99. Makes a wonderful holiday gift for grandparents!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Aspen Trees - Ages 3 and up
- Children tear masking tape and put strips of it on watercolor paper to make tree trunks. Tiny pieces of tape can be used for branches. For youngest children, have strips of tape already available.
- Use a brush to wipe water across the paper and the tape.
- Now paint the background with color. Children can choose colors to make a day or evening background.
- When paint is dry, remove the tape. The white spaces are the tree trunks.
- Add some tiny brown or black lines on the tree trunks. If you want leaves on your trees, use a sponge dipped into your watercolors to sponge on leaves.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Recyle That Pumpkin!
Don't throw that pumpkin in the trash after Halloween! Instead, you use it to give your kids a great/easy lesson in recyling (and make your trashman happy with a lighter load).
Here's what you can do with that pumpkin after Halloween:
1. Put it in the compost heap - it will make good fertilizer
2. Bury it in the garden - it will decay quickly and enrich the soil
3. Wash, dry and save the seeds to plant next year (they will grow!)
4. Wash and roast the seeds - they make good eating.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Lasdon Park
While the weather is still mild and the Fall foliage is at it's peak, take a trip with your kids to Lasdon Park in Somers. Lasdon Park is one of the Westchester County Park system's gems. Located on Route 35 in Somers, NY, Lasdon is a magnificent 234 acre property consisting of woodlands, open grass meadow and formal gardens with flower and shrub specimens from all over the world. While there's no playground equipment for kids, it's a great place for a family walk or hike.with lots of paths to follow.
Make it an adventure for the kids by giving them one of the free colored maps of the park and letting them figure out which paths to follow. Along the way, take time to point out to your kids all the different specimens of trees, plants and grasses. Don't miss the "Historic & Famous Tree Trail." This trail features species that commemorate historic events and famous Americans from our country's past. At each station, one can read about a famous person or event to which the original parent tree was witness. The trees were grown from seeds of the original trees provided by the American Forestry Association. Another interesting site in the park to visit with your kids is the rain water basin which is show in the attached photos.
Starting Saturday October 24th through Halloween day October 31st, Lasdon will be holding it's first "Halloween Hair Raiser" exhibit. This exihibit will be in the Lasdon Arboretum . It will feature a miniature “Eerie Railroad” winding its way through a miniature haunted village. There will be Venus flytraps, Dracula orchids, pencil trees, weird cacti and other curious botanical specimens and much more to view. While access to the paths, museums and grounds at Lasdon is free, there is a charge to visit the Aboretum and this special Halloween exhibit.
There's so much more at Lasdon Park for people of all ages.Click here for full information on Lasdon Park.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Paper Bag Pumpkins - Ages 3 and up
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Chameleon Collage - Ages 3 to 6
Materials required:
- 1 piece of white paper for background
- Crayons in various shades or green or red
- 1 round piece of red or green construction paper for the chameleon's head
- Leftover pieces of green or red tissue paper
- Glue - a non-toxic glue stick or you can make a mixture of Elmer's glue and water which the child can apply with a paintbrush.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Katonah Museum Of Art
This fall, the interns weren't there and things were more quiet, but we still had a very enjoyable time by engaging some other parents and children that were there and making fun and creative use of all the art materials provided in the center.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Brown Paper Bag Art - Ages 3 and Up
Monday, September 29, 2008
Non-Toxic and Safe Art For Kids
First, materials and tools should be age appropriate (e.g. pre-schoolers should not be given sharp scissors or tools or very small objects that they might swallow). Second, make sure that art materials are non-toxic by checking to be sure they have the AP seal for non-toxicity & quality and they conform to ASTM D-4236 (this is a US labeling regulation and this is what it looks like). Also check that the products are washable by checking for washability on the label. Finally, to ensure a safe art experience, make sure that the space in which the art activity is done has proper ventilation.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Why Environmental Education Is Important For Your Child
2. Nurtures their sense of wonder, imagination, and creativity
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Why Art Is Important For Your Child
2. Art develops cognitive and creative abilities.
3. Art strengthens problem solving and thinking skills.
4. Art is important for fine motor, language and social development.
5. Art teaches children that problems can have more than one solution.
6. Art celebrates multiple perspectives.
7. Art teaches children that small differences can have large effects.
8. Art helps children to say things without words.
9. Art enables children to have experiences unlike any other learning situation.
10. Art is the one curriculum area in which there are no wrong answers.
Sources: Learning and the Arts: Crossing Boundaries Jan. 2000, Americans For The Arts Benefits of Art Education Preschool Arts Education Fact Sheet 2002 and Young Children and The Arts: Making Connections, 1998