Kid Art

I love kid art.  It's so colorful and honest.  The process is always more important than the outcome and they feel a sense of accomplishment when their works of art are finished. 

My daughter said this was a picture of me taking her and her brother to play at the mall play area on a rainy day.

My son drew the picture below on our marker board.  He is very much into Earth science and space so his drawings tend to be related to whatever he's obsessing about at the time.  Right now, he's into extreme weather.  This is his drawing of a hurricane.  He said the dot in the center was the eye of the hurricane.

Playdough and clay gives me at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time!  On this particular day, the kids created quietly for an hour - a whole hour!!

My daughter created an Egyptian scence (see the three sarcophagai? she said the mummies were in there)...

While my son created a medieval knight scene.

My son sometimes gets frustrated if he cannot draw something he has in mind.  That's when sister comes to the rescue and draws for him.  In this picture, people are running away from the large tornado.  If you look closely, 'The Dominator' from Discovery Channel's "Storm Chasers" is following the tornado:

 

 What sort of things do your children like to create?

Making a Book & Free Handwriting Paper

A great way to make handwriting fun for your child is to have her write her own story and put it into a book.  My Ella isn't very fond of writing, but I had no problem getting her to pen her own story!

First, I sat down with Ella and asked her what she wanted her story to be about.  She picked her usual suspects, a ballerina princess, a prince and a witch.  Next, I asked her to tell me her story.  Then, I helped her form her story into simple sentences that she could write. 

Thanks to DonnaYoung.org, I downloaded free blank-top handwriting paper (click here).  I wrote the sentences on a piece of paper for her to look at and she copied the sentences onto her blank-top handwriting paper.  For the cover, I trimmed a manilla folder down to size and Ella pasted her cover art and a pink construction paper book spine on the front.  Voila!  Ella's first book!

If your child rolls her eyes when it's time for handwriting lessons, writing her own book may give her the motivation she needs.

Thanksgiving Placemats

 After learning about the first Thanksgiving, Ella decided to make some Native American placemats for our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday.  Court and I helped her trace a Native American design and some Pilgrims and Indians onto paper.  She then colored and drew her own designs to decorate them.  When she was done, I laminated them so that the food wouldn't ruin them. 

Next, I plan to have her make name plates for everyone.  She'll get some handwriting practice and have fun making more decorations for the table.

Here's a good children's Thanksgiving book: Thanksgiving: A Harvest Celebration

Fall Kid Craft - Papier Mache Pumpkin

Caution: this project not for those who freak out at the slightest bit of a mess.  You, your child, your work surface and possibly your floor will get sticky - verrrry sticky!  Papier mache is messy, but that's part of the fun :o)

To begin, you first need to form a basic pumpkin shape.  We used a paper bag stuffed with newspaper.  We squeezed and shaped the bag until it looked somewhat like a pumpkin and twisted the top to form the stem.  Then, it was time to make the papier mache.

Here's the recipe:

Combine 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and 2 cups cold water in a bowl. Add this mixture to a saucepan of 2 cups boiling water and bring it to a boil again. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar. Let it cool; it will thicken as it cools. Once it does, it's ready to use.

As the papier mache cooled, we cut up newspaper ads and paper scraps from our recycling box into long strips.

Now, for the fun part!  Dip the paper strips into the sticky goo, gently squeeze off the excess and lay the strip over the 'pumpkin'.  Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you've got your shape well-covered.  Our pumpkin took about 24 hours to dry and harden completely, but that may have been because my 5-yr-old made her strips extra goopy :o)

Once the pumpkin was dry, Ella painted her pumpkin and voila!  We now have a special handmade Fall decoration that we can set out year after year.

Happy Meal Craft

There's not much that will thrill my kids more than a trip to McDonald's.  There's so much there for a kid to love: greasy food, soda, a play area and the all-important Happy Meal toy.  I have to admit that McD's has had some really great toys lately - Ella has added several My Little Ponies to her Ponyville collection, Strawberry Shortcake dolls and stamps, Barbie lip gloss, etc.  Even though my son doesn't eat anything besides Apple Dippers and fries, I now have to buy him a Happy Meal since he's now old enough to realize that he wants a toy, too.  His favorites have included a robot from Astro Boy, Hot Wheels car, and recently, a small Nerf gun.

In addition to the toy, my kids get just as excited about the Happy Meal box.  It's colorful and usually pictures some of their favorite characters.  Sometimes, there are cut-outs and punch-out pieces - one box even turned into a ramp for the Hot Wheels car.  Christian also uses the box as an robot hat.

Several weeks ago, Ella got a Build-A-Bear monkey in her Happy Meal.  She decided that he needed a home and the Happy Meal box fit the bill.  All by herself, she cut out strips of paper and glued them around the box to make a home for her monkey.  My mom helped cut out a door, but Ella did all the rest of the work.  I thought it was pretty creative of her.  We still have the box and she stores it in her closet with the rest of her toys. 

The next time you take your kiddos to McD's, don't throw away that box - ask your kids what they can make with it!

Fall Art for Kids - Leaf Painting

I have an excellent Kindergarten curriculum that I use for Ella's homeschool.  However, it does not have as much art in it as I would like.  Ella loves art and is not content if we do not have a "craft" on each and every school day.  So, I supplement with my own art ideas at times.  I do have a kid's arts and crafts book that I reference at times, but since it's Fall I'd like for us to do a lot of Fall-themed art.  I'll be featuring Fall art for kids this month so keep checking back for projects to do with your kids!  I'm certain that all these projects are not original to me - in fact, many of them will be art projects that I remember doing in art classes as a child.

For today, I'm featuring our leaf painting.  We collected leaves from our backyard and taped them to the paper on our easel.  I then selected Fall colors for them to mix and paint over their leaves.  They had fun seeing how the red and yellow made orange and enjoyed watering down the colors for a more transparent look.  A great way to display the final artwork is to clip two clothespins at the top of the paper and stick them to the wall with tack adhesive putty.  You can later change out your child's artwork with other seasonal kid-paintings or remove the clothespins without any damage to your wall.

Quick Kid Craft: Paper Necklace

Here's a quick little craft for your little princess. All you need is cardstock, a marker and scissors. I drew out a necklace, making sure it would be large enough to fit yet small enough to stay on, and then Ella colored it and cut it out (this craft was her idea!). Voila! Instant accessory! Are we the first human beings to think of this fun craft? No, but she loved it so much that I thought I'd share it.

Fairy House

In an effort to help my kids find more ways to connect with nature, I encourage them to play with natural items - rocks, sticks, flowers, etc. There is a book called "Fairy Houses...Everywhere!" that inspired me to suggest to Ella that she build a fairy house herself. We haven't read the book yet, but I've seen it and intend to buy it at some point.

As grateful as I am for plastic, I fear that our kids play with nothing but plastic these days. There's something special about being a kid and digging your hands in the dirt and playing with rocks. My kids can't stay away from the rocks in our flower garden! I consider it as proof that children are drawn to the natural world that God made. We moms are often guilty of keeping our kids away from nature because "they might get dirty". Well, I say that's what bathtubs and washing machines are for!

We'll still hang on to our plastic Barbies and cars because they're fun and the kids love them. However, I'll be sure to kick my kids out of the house every once and a while and tell them to get dirty :o)

Updates - on getting crafty, new hobies and life in general

It's been a while since I've blogged so I thought I'd post one large blog of some of the things that are going on and to give a glimpse of some of the goals I have for the near future.

I'm starting to get the itch to get crafty again. I've got several projects that I've started but haven't finished. I'm so inspired by all of the crafty blogs that are out there (several of them are listed under my list of favorite blogs). Most of my blogs have to do with my family life, but I do try to post crafty stuff, too. I've been so busy lately that I haven't had as much time to craft as I would like. Both my husband and I are learning to play the guitar so most of my free moments have been spent playing around on my guitar or on the computer. But, I have several projects that I hope to complete over the next few months and I hope to post them as I get them done.

Some projects I have in mind are:
*more hair bow holders to give as gifts
*more t-shirt dresses for Ella
*applique t-shirts for Christian
*pincushion
*nursing covers for my nursing friends with babies

Besides sewing and crafts, I'd also like to tackle another oil painting. I guess all I need for that is the inspiration...if nothing spectacular comes to me, then I may just paint a still life to work on my technique. We'll see.

I am also looking for ways to get Ella involved. She loves arts and crafts. I think it's so good for kids to be creative and it's also good for their fine motor skills, which helps them learn how to write. Court and I have made the decision to homeschool our kids so I'd like to add art to her curriculum. Which, by the way, I've selected a curriculum that is absolutely awesome - Sonlight Curriculum (click the link to learn more). Sonlight provides everything you need for an entire year of homeschooling and covers every topic your child needs. It also lays out your lesson plans for each day. My good friend Tisha uses it with her kids so I've got to see it first hand. Her kids are learning so much - in fact, her 11 year old said that she's learning way more than she learned in public school and that she actually enjoys her school work now! I'm hoping to have the same success with my own kids, but we'll take it year by year and see how it goes. Their education is so important to Court and I and we want the absolute best for them - we just think we can do a better job than public schools are doing :o) Besides, no teacher (no matter how wonderful he/she may be) could ever care more for my kid's education than Court and I! So, if you are a close friend or relative, then we definitely could use your prayers and support for the journey ahead!

We have many reasons for homeschooling and I'll address those in another blog at another time (click this link to read a good article about reasons for homeschooling). Trust me, we've given it much thought. It was actually Court's idea! I thought the idea was nuts when he mentioned it to me two years ago. But, after much thought, much research (a lot of research!) and many prayers, I now believe that this is the path God wants my family to take. God has changed my heart from being fearful of homeschooling to being confident and excited! Plus, it's great to know that I live in a city that has a lot of homeschooling groups for support and so that my kids can connect with other kids their age. Am I qualified to teach my own kids? Can I do it? Well, I think I can. I do have a college degree and some experience in teaching young children. But mostly, I believe that when God calls us to do something, he always equips us with what we need to get the job done.

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Moving on, another goal for this year is to learn how to garden. Up til now, I've had more of a black thumb than a green one. I'd like to change that. Court and I spent all day working on our backyard last Saturday and I really enjoyed it. We picked weeds, planted plants/flowers, etc. We're even growing our own tomatoes! The kids are into it as well. They have several flower seeds that they planted and we're anxious to see them sprout. Once we start homeschooling, I'd like for Ella and I to plant a vegetable garden together. I think it will be a great hands-on science lesson for her! Maybe it will inspire her to eat more vegetables :o)

For now, much of my free time has been devoted to helping my mom plan my sisters wedding. We're throwing her a bridal shower this Saturday and I'm praying for good weather since it will be outdoors! I'm really excited about the shower and I'll be sure to post it on my blog.

Perhaps the most exciting thing lined up is our trip to Disney World! Ella is so excited and both of the kids are going to love spending time with Mimi and Poppy. They don't get to see them much, but they LOVE them and talk about them frequently. Even Christian talks about them. Sometimes when I tuck him in at night he'll say, "Mimi? Georgia!" and I'll reply, "Yes, Mimi is in Georgia!". I'm especially looking forward to Ella's lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table and seeing Cirque Du Soleil. Cirque Du Soleil is right up my ally! I love artsy stuff.

Tonight is rather peaceful in my home. The kids are in bed, my house is clean (mostly), the ironing is done, dishes are in the dishwasher and all I hear is the sound of my typing and my dog snoring. I love the stillness of it all after a long day of noisy kids :o) I'm sure I'll regret staying up so late, but it's only when I stay up late that I get to enjoy silence and solitude.

I'll leave you with a verse to chew on. The qualities below are qualities that God wants his children to exhibit in their daily lives. Unfortunately, I do not always exhibit these qualities but I do strive to each day. As I mentioned before, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." - Galatians 5:22, 23

Happy (late) Valentine's Day!

We did something new this year - we decided to make our own valentines instead of buying pre-made valentines. Ella had to make 17 of them for her preschool class. She put a lot of love and effort into each one and she was very proud to hand them out to her classmates. We used cardstock, cut into 4.25 x 5.5 cards. I cut up some vintage Valentine print gift bags that she glued onto the cards. Ella also glued on her Strawberry Shortcake valentines left-over from last year along with some left-over foam stickers. She also signed each one with her name.

Unfortunately, the business of life kept us from sending valentines out to relatives so I hope this post will serve as our online Valentine! I had some really cute valentine crafts in mind for Ella to make for all the grandparents but time got away from me. I'll just have to save those ideas for next year. The good news is that Ella has made her thank-you cards for the grandparents so Oma and Mimi can expect one in the mail soon! :o)

A Crafty Christmas

Craft fever has hit me again - I was waiting for it. I was not in any mood to do crafts when we came back from out of town, but since school has been out I'm all into it.

We have a new annual tradition with my friend Allison and her kids. The Randall's (grocery store) sells pre-made gingerbread houses and you can decorate them at the store. This was our fourth year to make one. I put the icing on the house and Ella placed all of the candy herself. The houses always turn out so cute.

I'm not sure how long the gingerbread house will last, though. The other day I noticed that our house was awfully quiet...that usually means Christian is getting into something. Sure enough, Christian had climbed up a chair to pick candy off of the gingerbread house. After I saw him, Ella came over and decided to help him reach the candy that he couldn't get to.

This isn't a craft, but I change out seasonal toys in front of the fireplace for each holiday. The basket is filled with Christmas books and Christian is playing with the Little People Nativity set in this picture. I think he looks so sweet sitting in front of the fire with his little sweater on!

I found a great tutorial for making felted wool wreaths (click here). We went to Goodwill and bought 100% wool sweaters, washed them on high heat so they would felt, then cut them into squares. Once the squares were cut, it only took a few minutes to make each one. They were simple enough that Ella could make them herself. As of today, we've made at least a total of twenty of these things! Court asked if we would make eleven of them for him to give away to people at work for Christmas gifts. Fortunately for me, he sat down and made several of them with me. I think he enjoyed it :o)

Ella figured out a way to thread the felt without poking herself with the needle. She stabbed the felt on the table and then pulled the felt onto the thread - pretty smart, eh?

I jokingly said that this was the Campbell Sweatshop since child labor was involved :o) Ella had a great time helping make crafts and Court caught on to the crafty spirit himself that night.

He found a tutorial online to make paper ornaments out of old catalogs and magazines.

I was really impressed with the final outcome.

I had so much felted wool left over that I started to think of other things to make out of it. This little tree only took about 15 minutes and turned out pretty cute, I think. I wish I could say that I made the card in the background, but I didn't. My Aunt Vicki sent it to me and I thought it was so cute that it deserved its own special spot.

I almost didn't post this picture. I made this pillow from some of the leftover sweaters and I'm not 100% happy with it. My hand-stitching skills are beginner-level at best so the part that I sewed after stuffing the pillow looks awful and needs to be re-done. However, the pillow isn't that bad for a beginner, I guess.

This is my second attempt at sewing a t-shirt dress for Ella. It turned out much better than the Halloween dress did. It's definitely not professional quality, but I am getting better with each thing I sew.

Rock Pumpkin Patch

Here's a fun and super simple craft for kids to do. We gathered some rocks from our flower beds and decided to turn them into "jack-o-lanterns". After we washed the rocks, the kids painted them orange. Christian even painted one all by himself. Once the rocks dried, Ella and I drew faces on them with a permanent marker. Now we have our own pumpkin patch!

More Fall Fun

The kids and I are loving the Fall season, and we have an exciting week with Halloween just around the corner. It was Scarecrow Day in Ella's class last Thursday. All the kids dressed up as scarecrows. Overalls and flannel shirts won't do for princess Ella, though. She wanted to be a "princess scarecrow" so she dressed in a denim dress instead.

Ella loves arts and crafts and she's very proud of the pumpkins that she decorated. She made the glittered pumpkin at school and she painted the colorful pumpkin at the zoo. Last weekend was Zoo Boo at the Houston zoo so she and Christian got to wear their costumes and trick-or-treat at the zoo (and I forgot my camera!!! can you believe it?!).

I was so proud of my little boy last week when he ate a slice of apple! Those of you who know us well know that Christian is a VERY picky eater. Luckily, we've discovered the V8 Fusion juice - he gets a full daily serving of fruits and veggies from two cups.

Fall Fun for Kids - Tip #2

Get outside! This may sound obvious, but if your days are like mine, it's easy get busy with life's demands and forget to take time to play with your kids outside. Here in Houston we get used to being indoors during the summer because it's way too hot to play outside (unless water is involved). Now that the weather is cooling off, I'm trying to take advantage of the nice weather and play outside with my kids.

- While you're outside, talk about the changing weather of the season. Go for a nature walk and gather leaves and create a leaf scrapbook (click here to learn more). Or make a leaf painting with the leaves you find.

-Visit a farm and learn about growing and harvesting crops. And, of course, visiting a pumpkin patch is a must! If you live in the Houston area, a great place to visit is Dewberry Farm. They have a pumpkin patch, hay rides, corn maze, petting zoo, and tons of activities for kids.


-Buy a bag of small pumpkins for your kids to play with - you'll be amazed at how entertained they are with these. The kids in my class love them so much that I got some for my kids to play with at home. Gather other nature items on your nature walk such as, sticks, acorns and pine cones for your kids to play with (but make sure they know not to put the acorns in their mouths!). Kids love natural items (especially since most of their toys are plastic) and it's fun to see them get creative with them (and it's free!).

Fall Fun for Kids - Tip #1

I feel a little silly giving tips since I do not consider myself to be an expert in anything, but I've gathered so many great fun Fall ideas for kids from the curriculum that I use at school that I thought I'd share some of them with you. I'll post these ideas periodically throughout the Fall season. They're great for teaching your kids about the Fall season or even if you're looking for more ways to keep them entertained.

A great way to introduce a new season or holiday to your kids is to gather several seasonal children's books and toys and strategically place them where your kids will see them and can reach them. I placed my on my fireplace hearth. My kids love sitting down and "reading" the books - yes, even my youngest likes to sit and look at the books. Before nap time, I'll ask Ella to grab a book from the basket for me to read to them. Christian loves the "Happy Halloween Curious George" board book - I heard him saying "boo!" in his crib the other day durning nap time! Ella enjoys pretend playing with the plush Halloween toys. I keep them in the attic throughout the year, as well as the Halloween books, so they only play with them during the month of October, which makes them even more special. This tip is not from my school curriculum, but I'm certain that the idea is not original to me. I love seasons/holidays so this is a great way for me to pass my enthusiam along to my kids.

Show and Tell

Ella had her first show and tell at school yesterday. She was sooo excited! I bought her a heart-shaped box and she spent two hours on Saturday decorating it. She painted it all by herself, added stickers, and told me where to hot glue the wooden purse and crown decoration on the lid. Next, she had to pick 5 items that she wanted to show to her class:

1. Ariel Barbie doll
2. Princess flashlight
3. Ice cream cone shaped lip gloss (make-up)
4. Cinderella snow globe picture holder
5. Tap shoes (she meant to show her ballet shoes instead, but we left them at home)

Her teachers said she showed her box and told her class all about her special items. She told them, "Here's my Ariel Barbie cause I like mermaids". I'm very proud of her :o)

Getting Crafty

During our stay at my parent's house, I got this major creative streak. I was dying to make something - anything! Ella needed a fun activity to do as well so we went hunting around the house for craft items. We found some wooden blocks and decided it would be fun to paint them. Ella had so much fun painting! The final product turned out really well. I sprayed them with varnish after they dried and added them to our wooden blocks at home. I think they're so fun.


After the blocks, I was still feelin' crafty. Mom's sewing machine was out so I decided to make a few "monster dolls" for the kids. They were sooo much fun to make! The kids LOVE them. Christian held up the blue monster doll and hugged it and said, "cuuuuute!". My mom and I are planning on opening a shop on etsy.com and I think these would be a fun item to sell. Mom made the leopard print octopus-looking doll (I talked her into making one and convinced her that it would be fun). They serve no practical purpose except to make you smile :o)