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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Is It Arts or Crafts?
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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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How Young Should You Start Exposing Your Child to Art?
For many, parenting is the hardest job we’ll ever have to do. From sleepless nights to comforting their fears, parents are on the front lines when it comes to encouraging and fostering their son or daughter’s early childhood development. There are many blogs and opinions out there when it comes to how young you should …
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Pretty Projects or A Better Process?
Over the years, I have had discussions with many parents and several elementary classroom teachers about the desire for pretty products versus a valuable process when it comes to kids’ art. The last year I was an art docent in my daughter’s classroom, her teacher was getting pressure from parents of some of her other …
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How To Talk To Your Child (Or Anyone) About Her Art
When your child shows you a picture she has just drawn and you can’t tell what the heck it is supposed to be, don’t ask her “What is it?” Although that may be the question that is top of mind for you at that moment, there is good reason to hold back and ask her …
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Easy Ways to Avoid Summer Slide
Have you heard of the summer slide? I’m not talking about a playground slide, but rather a slide downward that kids tend to make in learning during the summer. It is sometimes called summer learning loss or summer setback. These names all refer to the phenomena that many children begin the next school year with academic achievement levels lower than they were at the beginning of summer break.
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Give Mommy Guilt the Boot
When my children were little, I worked full time. Like many women, I felt guilty when I was at work that I wasn’t at home. I often also felt guilty when I was home that I wasn’t at work! But beyond that, I am a pretty high energy, type A person and I often felt …
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Drawing Mandalas for the Joy of It
I’ve been experimenting lately with drawing Mandalas. Mandala, roughly translated, means circle. It comes from Buddhist and Hindu traditions. A typical mandala starts in the center of the circle and radiates outward. They can be precisely measured or drawn organically and free-flowing. They can mean different things to different people, but what I know for …
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Showing Up & Paying Attention are Half the Battle
I was walking on the beach last weekend with my family and we started seeing a few sand dollars here and there. Then suddenly, we noticed an area that had a bunch of sand dollars partially burrowed into the sand. I’ve walked that area of the beach many times, but never noticed the concentration of …
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The Spirit of World Art Day: Empathy
World Art Day is an international celebration of the fine arts declared by the International Association of Art (IAA/AIAP), a partner of UNESCO. The goal was to promote awareness of creative activity worldwide. The date, April 15th, was chosen in honor of Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday, as a symbol of world peace, freedom of expression, …
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