Well, not much happening on the crafty side for me during the school holidays so this post is all about the various things I have been doing with the kids. I have wanted to try these collage type pictures for awhile. I like it!
Far left row: I sometimes run out of inspiration for drawing and, for those times when Princess E does too, I decided to put together an 'art inspiration' folder. All of these projects came from the wonderful blog Art Projects for Kids. I will keep adding to it as I come across things that interest us. It really worked brilliantly for Princess E and I had fun doing them with her too. Below is a bigger photo of our finished artworks. I am going to expand this idea for craft projects and activities folders as well. Much easier than searching through bookmarked pages on my web browser when boredom sets in.
Middle row top & middle: This picture is an art project I was trying to get Lord A interested in. I thought he might like this as he is easily frustrated and I was trying to match it to his toddler skill level. I folded a piece of drawing paper in half and on one side I drew a few dots and on the other a few dashes whilst showing him to see if that would help get him started. He did a few of them and was very happy when he managed to do a few dots without tails but his interest waned quickly after that. So, instead of him getting into mischief while Princess E and I continued with our artistic pursuits, I got out a tray, some bowls, dried beans and a few utensils to scoop back and forwards with. He really enjoyed this much more and progressed it to include a matchbox car to hide amongst the beans. I think I could get some mileage (ha! - no pun intended) out of this activity by changing the texture medium (ie. use lentils, then rice, etc.). He would get the absolute most fun out of flour I think but I am not brave enough to let him loose on that! I find it hard to think of art & craft things for Lord A to do as he doesn't tend to enjoy the things that Princess E and I do naturally so I have to try and think of things from his perspective instead. This will save us both a lot of frustration! I think I need to think of things that have more of an experimentation nature to them. We have always called him our little explorer so I guess that part of his personality will help guide me.
Middle Row bottom: This is the beginning of a papier mache world for Princess E's Littlest Pet Shop toys. There has been some frustration in getting it going (me being too impatient with E's skill level really - my own fault) but I will post about it once it is finished. I can see some application for Lord A's interests here. He is obsessed by bumps (is this a boy thing??). Anywhere, anyhow. Bumps in flooring, little dirt hills in the backyard, the bumps you can feel when walking on a grate and so on. Any variation in flooring brings about the most intense concentration. He loves nothing more than a bump in the rug for him to drive his cars over. I might see if I can make a little model for him complete with hills and bridges. Don't know why I haven't thought of this before!
Far right row: We had moments of 'I'm bored - what can I do' inevitably over the holidays so Princess E and I sat down and made an 'activity suggestion jar' one rainy day. She came up with most of the activities so we can utilise this from now on. The last picture shows some juggling balls I made for the kids. I made a lot more but they have been flung far and wide over the house and I couldn't find them all for the photo. These are super duper easy to make (just balloons and lentils). Anyone interested in a tutorial? I might do one in the next few days.
Well, that concludes some of our art & crafty fun here for the holidays. I hope you find some inspiration there to help you through some future holidays too.
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