Arts Monday

I am sad to say that I am feeling artisticly uninspired. I know, I know what with all the running about town and lack of internet what have I had to do but create wonderful arts and crafts projects for my kids. But honestly I find that often the kids don't need the amazing crafts that so time consuming. They are often just as happy to just create. Create pictures that are colored in from whatever theme they asked me to google. Create creatures with all of the leftover crafts from previous crafts. Create puppets from paper lunch bags. Create animals using their fingerprints (we have a cool book about how to do this). Create their own pictures (we have another cool book about how to draw using basic geometric shapes).

But if you must have something to do that seems more artistic this week how about the following.

1. Create with food. Why don't you make cupcakes. Buy white icing and a bunch of food dye. create little tiny empty cupcake holders of different colored icing and decorate the cupcakes. It is fun and then it is edible at the end.

Don't like cupcakes? Okay freak then how about cookies. I buy the premade sugar cookie dough seperate it out into three or four equal pieces and add food dye. Now they work with it like play-doh. Create shapes. Then cook it up to eat.

Don't like cookies? Really we need to talk people.
Why don't you create something fun to eat for lunch. Remember these sandwiches? Okay they may not have been a hit at bully sports camp but they would have been a hit at home.

2. All right so you want a real art and not a food art. FINE. How about you create puzzles. We like to take a piece of cardboard and neatly cut it into quarters. Then the boys fully decorate the entire (one side) of the cardboard with a design and usually a note from them for whoever. Then we cut the cardboard into puzzle pieces. It could be a happy birthday card or it could be just a fun keep in touch with a cousin or a challenge for each other. Now remember this is a puzzle. Don't shred it so it that the individual can't put it back together. If we are sending it as a birthday card to a 3 year old then maybe we cut it into 5 or 6 pieces. If we were sending it to my sister then maybe 20 pieces :) You can stick it in an envelope and mail it. If you are really nice (and especially if you cut it into small pieces) send it with a photo of what it looks like before you cut it up.

3. That doesn't work for you? This is the last idea I am coming up with. We love to come up with stories. Why don't you draw some scribbles, have your child finish the drawing and then together tell a story about it. We alway love the you tell one line, I tell the next and we rotate approach. We have taken turns going around the dinner table. It is very fun and usually gets quite silly. You could also take turns drawing pieces of the drawing without discussing where the drawing is going (no talking allowed) and see where it goes).

Now for my photo.



I am so proud of Ian. I left the room and he just used the scraps we had to create this man. What creativity. What initiative. He was so proud. I was so proud!



In his "rabbi" hat. But really. (off the subject of arts here) Doesn't he look more like Britney Spears?