Earth Day 2013

 

Happy Earth Day! 

If you are like me, then you feel guilty when Earth Day rolls around, wondering if there is anything more you could do -beyond efforts in household recycling and conservation- to mark the now 43 year old celebration of our planet...

 I have found a project for next year. I am thinking the Earth Day Groceries Project might be the perfect thing for our elementary school to get involved in- it would be a great way to get the kids talking about Earth Day and an easy way to spread awareness throughout the community!

Images: foodem

crib = art center

 

A friend of mine recently showed me this upcycled crib project- hello art desk! With my youngest suddenly developing a hatred for her crib, and sleep in general (cue my sobs), I have been thinking about what is going to happen when she makes the leap to a bed. 

I now know....this project is happening! Everything from the chalkboard paint drawing surface to the hanging hooks are fantastic for a playroom art center. I also like that there is room for two at an art desk of this length.

 Images and project: A Little Learning For Two

Read Across America

"The National Education Association is building a nation of readers through its signature program, NEA’s Read Across America. Now in its 16th year, this year-round program focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources.

'You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child.' " - NEA   

Today is Read Across America day and the National Education Association's site has an entire page dedicated to resources that will inspire students to read- from book lists to parent tips. Certainly worth checking out any day, but today it seems particularly appropriate!

Image: blog.usa.gov

storytelling jars

Image: zakkalife

There is a project outlined in the book by Emily K. Neuburger ,Show Me a Story: 40 Craft Projects and Activities to Spark Children's Storytelling, that is titled Storytelling Jar and it stood out among many great ideas as the one I first wanted to try. The author says to think of them as storytelling terrariums and I loved that description.
As shown in the photos and explained in the instructions- you take a glass jar and design an interior. Set a scene or the stage to inspire a story through adding elements created with felt, colored paper, stone, beads etc..Then you use the jar you have created to inspire a story or poem.
The project allows for so much imagination and creativity and it can also evolve as you switch out or add elements and details. I am looking forward to mason jars of potential tales filling my home!

child's own studio

A friend of mine told me about Child's Own Studio , where talented artisan Wendy Tsao takes children's drawings and brings them to life in softie form. Unfortunately, she is not taking new orders right now, but it is actually the shop's flickr photostream that inspired me to post about it. The pictures of all the childrens' designs and Ms. Tsao's creations based on the art are guaranteed to bring you cheer! (hopefully she will take new orders again soon...)

 All images: Child's Own Studio

party hat artist extraordinaire

Artist Stuart McLachlan is an illustrator. He is an illustrator who began to explore the creative opportunities in paper styling and the result is quite awesome.
His children's hats are intricate and fun pieces of visual storytelling.

Images: stuart-mclachlan

paper zoo

On the blog Handmade Charlotte there is a fantastic tutorial for making paint chip animals. The tutorial has printable templates (which is a huge bonus) and even tips for storage, but what I like most is that this is a DIY kid craft that can be altered in so many ways and still work.
You can use the template or design your own zoo of creatures. The paint chips have great color and weight, but this could be done with heavier scrapbook paper as well. You could leave your animals as they are or add drawn smiles, polka dots and hairy backs.

It is one of those crafts that could appeal to 2-year-olds and 10-year-olds alike (even 37-year-olds....).  Whether you use your animals as decorations or action figures, this is a winner of a project!

Images: handmadecharlotte

Thursday, "Children at Play" and Etsy

 pitpatwaddlepat

The "Children at Play" fabric line, designed by the artist at SarahJaneStudios, has been available for awhile now, so there are quite a few Etsy items that feature various prints from the collection. I am a big fan of the art, so the fabric is a favorite as well. Here are just a dozen of the items I found- all of them as darling as the fabric itself!

 lolaslovies

 JemiBoutique

 QuiltStory

 EmilyAnnsKloset

 printsnpatterns

 LittleBirdsBoutique

 modernmadebaby

 liltulip

 DollBabyBowtique

 NamelyPillows

OddEDesigns

Sidenote: This past spring Sarah Jane Studios premiered her latest fabric collection- "Out to Sea". I definitely like it just as much...maybe more!

Images: sarahjanestudios

10 cards

SugarBeetPress

I have a box filled with my kids' birthday cards and while I am not 100% sure why I keep every single one, I do know that I am always especially appreciative of the unique selections. I know when they are older they will enjoy going through them and I imagine the cards will hopefully inspire some great art projects down the road!
Here are 10 unique cards from Etsy- if you have a little person's birthday on the horizon, you may want to consider one....

 belleandboo

 UnderTheStairsStudios

 EllaLeachDesigns

 twotonepress

 pixieland

 gumo

 ArtistInLaLaLand

pistachiopress

  littlebeehive

arts education

I am ashamed to admit that my town just voted on a proposition 2 1/2 for our schools, more specifically that we needed an override to save the arts programs in the elementary school. Because of various budget strains, numerous unfunded state mandates and a perfect storm of unforeseen costs in the district, the school was in danger of losing the visual art, music, library, computer and physical education curriculum they have in place now. It was proposed the arts program be cut to balance the budget and an override to save the arts was added to the town ballot.
I am proud to say that the town voted for the override, even in these difficult economic times, and the program will remain intact at the elementary school.....for at least one more year.
In working with the committee that was formed to support the override, I came across a very good article on Edutopia entitled "Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best" .  There is one quote in particular that I loved:

" 'When you think about the purposes of education, there are three,' Horne says. 'We're preparing kids for jobs. We're preparing them to be citizens. And we're teaching them to be human beings who can enjoy the deeper forms of beauty. The third is as important as the other two.' "

I love that my kindergartner can come home so excited to tell me that a mommy fox is called a vixen, that he learned about all sorts of different acts of kindness, AND that he painted a flag for the class's imaginary kingdom. I want him to always have the opportunity to be excited about all of those things.

In a perfect world's classroom, opportunities to create and imagine would never be on the chopping block, but in today's educational system the opportunities find themselves there all too often.

Image: Google

what a concept

This graphic from the facebook page of burningthroughpages.org. The existence of Burning Through Pages makes me happy. From their "About Us" link:

Burning Through Pages is a non-profit organization based out of Denver, CO dedicated to the advocacy of reading and writing for our city's youth. The working concept of Burning Through Pages is that the literature assigned by public and private schools, while important, contains dated prose and often antiquated ideals. While the classics are classics for a reason, they are not always easily relatable to the current generation reading them. That's where we come in. We are here to introduce new and updated literature to Denver's youth. We buy books, give them away, and take the time to talk about them.

Burning Through Pages Inc. has one goal and one goal only:
To inspire a love of reading in today's youth by recommending, donating, and discussing books.

There are no quizzes, just conversations. If you don't like the book, you can give it back. If you do like the book, there'll be another one waiting for you, free of charge. The important thing is that an adoration of reading grows. It's not what you read that's important to us, it's that you enjoy whatever it is that keeps you burning through the pages. 

Thanks for stopping by.

How awesome.

children's caves

I am such a fan of children's homemade (and sheet-made) forts and tents that the series of photographs by photographer Björn Ewers and STUDIO314 of children's "caves" made me quite happy and eager for the time when Sweet Pea can make this kind of imaginative mess out of our living room.

{discovered via a friend and PetaPixel}