December 2010

Happy Holidays!

We’re taking a little tinkering break to spend some time with family and friends, and we’ll be back in the new year with more creative experiments for kids. There are a few other fun surprises for next year that I’m excited to share with you. Meanwhile, wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season and [...]

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Tracing Circles

Some of you have mentioned that you’re building up ideas for foul-weather-indoor-play, and I’ve got something for you that requires very little preparation and can be pulled together with materials that we all have on hand. Materials marker/pen/pencil paper tape cups I taped a sheet of paper to the table and showed N how to [...]

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Paint *With* Me

I picked up some inexpensive kitchen basting brushes for art making with the idea that it would be fun to experiment with various types of mark-making materials, and specifically, a variety of brushes. N picked two paint colors, red and purple, and I dropped the basters in the paint. As usual, I wasn’t sure where [...]

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Candy Cane Still Life

At least half of the art activities that happen in our home are improvisations. Today was another rainy day, and after setting up a marble run, sommersaulting off the couch, playing with neighborhood friends, and jumping in puddles, I pulled Candy Can Still Life out of my rabbit hat. It was a short activity, but [...]

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Frozen Wreath

Until a few weeks ago, I thought Halloween was the best “season” to celebrate with little kids, but now I’m beginning to think it’s got nothing on the winter holidays. My two year old is enamored by holiday lights, menorahs, ornaments, snowmen, animatronic lawn decorations, Santa, nutcrackers, and gingerbread houses. And the list goes on [...]

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Idea Roundup: Creative Growth + Kids

Do you think it’s important for children to have creative and imaginative childhoods? Do you want to raise your child in an environment that supports his or her creative capacity? Here are some of this week’s best places to look for ideas that foster creative growth and kids. Frog Design: The Four Secrets of Playtime that [...]

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New Creative Studio Corner

Putting our closets/bills/holiday cards in order is enough of a thankless job without even beginning to consider corralling toys and art supplies. I have a short fuse for all of the things that get dumped all over the house (today it was a bucket of blocks, pillows from the couch, toy cars, and migrating books), and [...]

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Cardboard Christmas Tree

Have you ever had a weekend that began like this? It doesn’t bode well for fun and games, does it? The good news is that we’re now the proud owners (and, let’s not forget–makers!) of new bedroom dressers, and the bad news is that it was at the expense of being holed up in the [...]

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Bubble Paint Recipe

The bubble recipe I used in yesterday’s post didn’t live up to my expectations, so I went back to the drawing board (paint and soap laboratory?) and came up with something that creates big, rewarding bubbles that are easy to pull prints off of. While this worked for me, feel free to experiment with your [...]

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