Toddlers

Is it Magnetic? Testing Objects for Magnetism.

Thumbnail image for Is it Magnetic? Testing Objects for Magnetism.

How was your weekend? We took a mini-vacation to play in the snow and I enjoyed a little computer break along the way. I thought I could get online with my phone, but it turned out that the reception was horrible and I’ve been completely out-of-touch! It was probably a good thing, as I could [...]

Read the full article →

How to Build a Simple Clip Fort

Thumbnail image for How to Build a Simple Clip Fort

How was your Valentine’s Day? We had a drizzly pre-Valentines romp in the park with friends and I spent Valentine’s morning leading a fun docent training workshop at the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA). Under the leadership of Education Director, Lucy Larson, SJMA one of the most visitor-centered museums around. It’s not a huge museum, [...]

Read the full article →

6 Kids Valentines Day Activities

Thumbnail image for 6 Kids Valentines Day Activities

We’ve been crafting up a Valentine’s storm, which mostly means that three-year old N has been collaging all our self-serve bits and bobs of Valentine goodness into a taped-up, glued, and spackled hodge podge of Valentine craziness. In other words, we’ve been having fun, but it’s not something anyone else would likely take inspiration from or worth [...]

Read the full article →

Chalkboard Painted Canvas

Thumbnail image for Chalkboard Painted Canvas

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Pablo Picasso Chalkboards…I love them. You? The texture, the dust, and contrast are oh-so-appealing. When I started to see them disappear from classrooms in favor of dry erase boards, I was a little bit shocked. Dry erase boards are wonderful too, but they’ll [...]

Read the full article →

Why We Would Be Lost Without Tape

Thumbnail image for Why We Would Be Lost Without Tape

Are you a “Tape House?” We love tape in our house, and it gets used for just about everything: taping up wax paper sandwich bags, taping labels to things, taping art table creations together, taping up marble runs, taping up whimsical installations. A roll of clear tape is a fixture on the art table and [...]

Read the full article →

10 Steps for Easy Indoor Easel Painting

Thumbnail image for 10 Steps for Easy Indoor Easel Painting

Some of us are totally comfortable setting up the easel and letting our kids have a go, but I know others who want to hide under a freshly laundered sheet at the thought of setting up what’s essentially a painting extravaganza. And you may be surprised to learn that I can easily fall into both camps! [...]

Read the full article →

Self-serve Valentines for Kids

Thumbnail image for Self-serve Valentines for Kids

I’m working on a project with the San Francisco Children’s Creativity Museum, and one of the ideas we’re playing with is to create a buffet-style selection of materials for children to choose from in our DIY art zone. I’ll share some of our activities with you soon, but in the meantime I thought you might [...]

Read the full article →

Toddler Art: Glue Dots and Buttons

Thumbnail image for Toddler Art: Glue Dots and Buttons

“Art is skill, that is the first meaning of the word.” - Eric Gill Since she was 15 months old, gluing small objects to paper has been one of Baby Rainbow’s favorite activities (second to climbing into a big bin of cloud dough…sigh). We’ve also done this with sequins, feathers, and pom-poms, but I find that she [...]

Read the full article →

Science Experiment: The Floating Egg

Thumbnail image for Science Experiment: The Floating Egg

As I hovered the egg over a jar of water, I asked my 3.5 year old, “Will it sink or float?”and it reminded me of Dave Letterman’s funny sketch, “Will it Float?” Have you seen it? This science experiment is really easy to set up + clean up, and the lesson learned on the density [...]

Read the full article →
UA-19454188-1