Whether you homeschool or are just a purposeful parent or grandparent, I’m sure that social emotional learning is a big part of why you spend time doing learning activities like art! You may not specifically label it as social emotional learning (SEL), but we all want our children to develop self-awareness, interpersonal skills, and self-control. These skills are more important now than ever!
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Art for Social and Emotional Learning
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Art & Gratitude; An Award Winning Combo
Art & gratitude What an award winning combo! Thanksgiving is a great time to engage in gratitude activities with kids. Paring art and gratitude is a win-win: Art sets the stage for kids developing the seeds of gratitude, self-confidence and empathy. It also allows them to feel invested in what they’re making in a deeply …
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Managing Conversations When You Disagree Politically
The holidays can be a joyous time to get together with friends and family. However, for many, the holidays also bring feelings of stress and anxiety. If you are stressed thinking about this upcoming holiday season, you are not alone. According to a 2015 study conducted by Healthline.com, a leading consumer health information source, about …
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We’re Looking for A Few Awesome Brand Ambassadors
Are you a homeschooling mom, an art docent, or a purposeful parent who loves creating art with your kids? Then we’d love to talk to you! Let’s create a win-win partnership. We’re looking for a few awesome people to be Brand Ambassadors. We’re offering a 3 month arrangement (with possibility to renew) for 50% off …
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3 Awesome Books to Spark Your Child’s Imagination
I design the monthly boxes for Outside the Box Creation. Each box includes a book to read to spark kids’ imaginations and set the stage for the art project. I try to choose books that are unique, somewhat less mainstream or even a little bit older, so that parents and kids are less likely to …
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Drawing Brings Out the Best in Your Brain
I’ve always viewed drawing as a necessary part of art, but it turns out it’s much more than that. Drawing is really good for us and really awesome for kids! Drawing uses both halves of the brain. Our brains have two hemispheres, two halves. The two halves are connected by a broad band of nerve …
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Success in Life STEMS from Art
Have you noticed that many schools are promoting STEM to the exclusion, or at least minimization, of the arts? I firmly believe we must be promoting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, ART and math). And there are compelling reasons to do so despite the fact that the STEAM acronym has been slow to gain traction. Try …
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Cultivating Visually Literacy – a 21st Century Skill
Kids are bombarded with images every day – both still images and moving images! We typically only hear the word literacy connected to reading and writing,but in our image heavy world today it is more important than ever to give our children the skills to make meaning out of these images and to use images to convey their own thoughts, feeling, and ideas.
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Is It Arts or Crafts?
The terms arts and crafts are frequently used interchangeably these days. Have you ever wondered what the difference is? Does it matter?
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How To Create Art Invitations for Your Child
You know how important art is for your child’s development so you want to encourage him to do more art. The first thing you’ll want to do, if you have the space, is create a designated art area. It doesn’t have to be an entire room. Just a corner. The key is to have art …
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