Recently, we went on vacation to a beautiful Caribbean island for a family reunion. We ate, slept, hiked, visited beaches, laughed with family, took a million photos, made some t-shirts, and just had the time of our lives. I brought with me a bag of washi tape (as most people do) because I thought it would…
Archives for 2015
Good Enough Mothering
It’s almost Mother’s Day here in the US. I’ve written a few posts over the years about my own mom (here and here), who is a very special person and someone I admire deeply. And a few days ago I wrote about how I think this holiday should really be called Mothering Day. So, today I’m…
Paper Mâché with Kids // Ice Cream Sundaes
There is always a very strong reaction from the kids when we do paper mâché. Some kids love it — i mean really love it — and others do not want to get that oozy stuff on their hands. But all of them say “ewww!!” the whole time they are working! It’s quite funny actually, how…
Pipe Cleaner Flowers
Mother’s Day confuses me a bit. I mean, not as a mother. But as a blogger. Am I supposed to show my kids how to make crafts that they will then give to me? It’s weird. But now that I teach art classes, presenting this craft to you as a teacher makes more sense. And…
Art Assemblage with Kids // Pinecones & Pasta
Assemblage is the art of assembling bits and pieces together to make 3-dimensional art. It can, and often does, involve collage. We’ve tackled assemblage before when the kids made these gorgeous trees. This time, however, we didn’t do much gluing. These latest pieces became more like sculptures than collages. The kids painted, beaded, and wrapped, enjoying…
Watercolor Paper Pinwheels
I am in love with this new technique. As I was playing around with making these beautiful pinwheels, I was trying to think of a way to make the craft a little bit more enticing for my tween and teen. And then it hit me: make them out of watercolor paper, and let my girls…
Making an Art Space at Home
I teach art in my house. In my living room, to be exact. Before we moved in, I sketched out the plan of where and how I was going to fit an art space into my living room (I had not yet hatched the plan to teach 4-year olds in that space, ha!). Having an…
Artist Study with Kids: Georgia O’Keeffe
This is the fourth post in my Artist Study with Kids series. I’ve shared with you our Henri Matisse “painting with scissors” collage project, our Siona Delaunay paintings, and our Alexander Calder sculptures. Today I am presenting you with our flower paintings inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe, made by kids ages 4-8. I just love the observations skills used. It makes me admire these sweet,…
Toothbrush Easter Eggs
Have you ever tried painting eggs with a toothbrush? When I set out this egg painting invitation, I knew the kids would be excited! When they got to art class, I clicked the camera to video mode and was able to capture this project in action. The kids were in such flow, so engaged with…
Some Words from Ken Robinson, Educator
I have been doing some research lately on education. I have come across this series of TED talks by Sir Ken Robinson which are fascinating (if you’re into this stuff)! He is a British educator living in L.A., who has been called a creativity expert. He’s written some books and has a blog, but I haven’t read those (yet)….