It's easy and fun for kids to make their own painted papers for collage. The resulting textures, patterns, and color variations will add extra delight to every project. Making painted paper is a perfect "process-art" activity for the first day of school or anytime you need some "art therapy"! What you'll need for making painted papers: 9 x 12 white construction paper, at … [Read more...]
Puzzled About Creative Gift Ideas?
With the holiday season coming up fast, I'll be sharing some art-related gift ideas you might not have thought of! These gifts will encourage creative problem solving, divergent thinking, and all kinds of skills that are necessary for art and life! This is part one in a series of posts for creative gift giving. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss discovering a perfect … [Read more...]
The Healthy Benefits of Coloring for Kids
Today’s world can be a stressful place for kids! The pressures kids experience come from a variety of places…. school, friends, family, health problems (their own or a loved one’s), social media, and on and on. The amount of stress each child can tolerate will vary. But eventually the effects of stress can begin to show, often with stomach aches or headaches, sleeping or … [Read more...]
How to Care for Your Art Room Brushes
Let’s face it, art room brushes take a beating. But don’t throw them away - rejuvenate them instead! I used to think “The Masters” Brush Cleaner and Preserver was only for my expensive art brushes at home. Somehow the brushes in my classroom didn’t seem ‘worthy’. How crazy is that?! Now that I’ve started using it on my classroom brushes, I’m completely hooked, and here’s … [Read more...]
Giving Back with Art
Have you ever been inspired to ‘give back’ to your community as a way to say “thank you” to those who helped you through a difficult time? I was touched by the story of Dan and Janean Toone, who started Young at Art in response to the care that their young grandson received while spending most of his first year of life in the hospital. As art lovers themselves, Dan and Janean … [Read more...]
Art for the Differently-abled
I wasn’t looking for a new teaching position when I got the phone call last spring to “just let me show you our facility”. The call was from the director of the Stroke and Disability Learning Center at our local Community College, and I agreed to a tour. It wasn't the beautiful new facility that hooked me, but the Stroke Center’s motto: “Love Spoken Here”, printed on the … [Read more...]
Kids Express Themselves with Art
These are just a few of the amazing paintings done by children in the tent cities of Haiti, on the anniversary of the earthquake.Sometimes I get so caught up in the academics and "mechanics" of teaching art (the elements, principles, and "how to's") that I forget the importance of art as a means of self-expression. On my recent trip to Haiti, I was enormously blessed to get to … [Read more...]
