Also, I forget things often. So if you take pictures at a meeting that you'd like to share (like, from today, perhaps?) please forward them on to me and I would be glad to post them.
I don't know about y'all, but I quit doing art at home around the time that my second child, my precious little terrorist Bo, turned 1. This was because every surface in my house then became his canvas. Every small craft item became his snack. Every small, cleanish (because who are we kidding?) corner of my dining room became his target for mayhem.
But according to our guest speaker today, Kelly Paterno from Riverside Arts Center, children need a place to be messy, especially in the early developmental years. Even children's scribbling represents their first "art" and is probably representing more that's going on in their brains than you think. They are learning cause and effect, for example, then later on, symbolism.
For those of you whose children don't seem like budding Picassos, Kelly reminded us that there are all different ways to be creative. Movement, music, drama, fashion and cooking are all forms of creativity.
We also did some simple art projects this morning that would be fun with kids.
#1 Crayon Resist: Use a white crayon (or any crayon, but white makes it more like magic) to draw a design on heavy cardstock. Then paint over the design with tempera paint. Voila!
#2 Paint with toys: Use any toy with an unusual texture (think cars with grooved wheels, squishies, loofahs, sponges, etc.) to paint on paper.
#3 Paint with food: Kelly used the example of spaghetti. Boil some spaghetti noodles and let them cool, then dip a handful in paint. Drag across paper to make a design. This also works with things found in nature: leaves, sticks, pine needles.
#4 Cloud Dough and Oobleck: Cloud Dough is 8 cups of flour to 1 cup baby oil. Once mixed together, it makes a moldable dough that also smells very nice. It's helpful to put this mixture into some sort of container, like a baking tin or a tupperware container so that it stays in one place.
Or if you have a child like Bo, maybe just take it outside for playing.
Oobleck uses a ratio of 1 cup cornstarch to 1/2 cup water and a few drops of food coloring if your heart desires (although Kelly recommends adding the food coloring to the water before mixing with the cornstarch). The result is a gooey mixture that drips from your hands but feels solid to the touch.
I have to admit the oobleck was really neat. And since it just washes off with water, maybe it's even Bo proof.
Maybe.
