Art Invitations--encouraging kids to use the easel

When I first put out the easel (it frequently takes "breaks" in the upstairs closet when we're not using it as much), it gets lots of use from little artists.  As the weeks pass, though, the kids don't notice it as much and don't gravitate toward it.  One method I often use to encourage easel drawing (remember--it is SO GOOD for fine and gross motor development as well as art skills) is by offering an "invitation."  

This means that I set up something that invites the artist in....makes it irresistible for them not to draw!  Here is my first invitation.  My 7 year old is beginning to read, so she could read the simple directions I wrote.  She erased my words and wrote "My name is Quinn," and decorated that person all up!!  

 

I often prepare invitations to be ready for my kids to create art while I am preparing dinner.  Typically my invitations are simple and take 2 minutes or less of my time to prepare, and my kids spend a loooong time drawing.  Remember that any new experiences takes 5-7 times to become familiar, so the first several times you put out an invitation, your kids may not respond to it.  If they don't, gently call their attention to it, sit down and draw yourself, modeling what to do and speaking aloud what you are doing.  "I think I'll start with her hair.  I want her to have long, curly red hair, so I will use the chalk to draw spirals that look like curls.  Maybe a purple hairbow would be nice.  Now she needs clothes....I think I will do a purple skirt to match her bow.  And boots!  I can draw clouds and raindrops in the sky since she is wearing rainboots."  As your children observe you, they will begin to learn the process for drawing on the chalkboard, and over time they will internalize this and be ready to create their own art!  

My 4 year old son doesn't love drawing....but lately he has discovered that he can draw rainbows all by himself.  For an invitation for him I drew the first red arch of a rainbow and left the other colors out on the tray of the easel.  He made his rainbow, then erased it before I could snap a photo, then he spent a good 20 minutes drawing happily away in chalk!

I'll try to remember to catch snapshots of other easel invitations I offer for my kiddos to share in this space.  

Do you have an easel?  If not, this also works with a large piece of paper taped to the wall....or even flat paper on a table, though writing on a vertical surface strengthens arms in a way horizontal writing does not, so try to provide easel-like experiences for your little artists!

In Art News

We have an art easel that we use off and on in our kitchen area.  Our art studio area is upstairs, so I also like to offer some art opportunities downstairs.  The easel was put away for about 6 months, but I recently brought it out again and of course it was a big hit!  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, especially with easels!  Ha!  

Remember that EASELS HELP DEVELOP MOTOR SKILLS (click).....they are essential for early childhood homes!  And fun!

Here's what it looks like for Q(6) and B(newly 4):

Paper in a basket underneath, a role of washi tape to attach the paper to the easel.  I gave the kids a mini-lesson on the correct way to do this.  Q can tape up paper independently, B needs help.  Often times I tape up a blank piece of white paper, and it proves irresistible--someone comes to paint as soon as they spot it!  I also try to occasionally stop and paint a bit to model it for my kids.  They get so interested in watching Mama paint, too!  

A jar of assorted paintbrushes

A sponge (cut in half to make a small square) for wiping brushes or spills

A small container of small chalk bits (small pieces encourage correct finger grasp for young writers) and a little eraser

2 mugs that are used for rinse water for painting--one for warm colors and one for cool colors.  Q and I learned to do this in our recent watercolor class.  I love that it teaches her to think back about her color theory and where particular colors belong.  B just uses them both for either color, and that's fine (with me, not his sister...she hates that).  

I have a little stool next to the easel that holds a pallet of watercolor cakes (the largest size crayola makes).  I put out washable cakes for independent painting, but we use liquid watercolors when we sit down for a guided painting time.  

I also recently bought Q some tempera cakes for some variety.  I am not super impressed with the ones we got, but she likes them.  I hoped they would be darker and more vibrant.  I ordered them, but I need to see what some of the craft stores or even Lakeshore carry.  Theirs might be higher quality.  Anyhow, paint cakes are great because they are less messy than liquid paint and I don't have to worry about wasting paint that dries out.  I provide liquid tempera upstairs in the studio, so they still get different opportunities with a variety of paint mediums.  

We have a cupboard nearby with a basket of old washcloths that the kids have access to for any clean up that is necessary!  They know to put completed pictures on the table if they want to paint another one!  We have a little "training session" when I first get out the easel to show them how to use everything.  Q is very helpful in getting water for her brother and taping up his paper, which is great!!

Magnets for babies! Otherwise known as: How to keep babies busy while you cook.

We got to have our little niece quite a bit over the summer, so I loved reaching back into my "Baby's Bag of Tricks" and remembering some of my favorite tips that worked with my babies.

One of the hardest times with babies (and sadly, still my two bigger ones) is the hour or so before dinner, when trying to cook, set the table, pull together the house a bit and little ones are wrecking havoc!

One thing that worked well with my two were magnets.  I kept them up higher on the fridge, out of their reach until I needed them to keep a little person busy.  Then I put them down at Baby Level and let her explore.  I modeled for her how to slide them and how to take them off and put them on, and she quickly got the hang of it (she is 10 months).  The funnest game is to take them all off, of course!  And, like any activity, the first time yields an interest of approximately 2 seconds....but if you keep up the exposure and model repeatedly, they will build up their ability and interest in sitting and playing longer.

I have these old fruit magnets I got at a thrift store.  I also have used large letter magnets, some laminated photos I glued magnets onto, dominoes I modge-podged photos onto, etc.

HERE is the link page to all my magnet posts...the ones particularly about babies are the older ones, so scroll down!!  (there is also a link in my sidebar under "magnet work")

Besides keeping baby busy, working in this position builds cross-lateral connections in the brain (as their arms cross the midline as they grab at the magnets) and strengthens arm strength that will later be needed for fine motor skills such as using utensils, writing and cutting.  Whoo-hoo!!

Standing babies enjoy magnets just out of their reach that they have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h up to grab and pull down.  This makes them feel so accomplished!!

Crash and Bump

One activity we do many mornings is "Crash and Bump."  It's basically a little obstacle course around our living room, and you've probably seen my posts about it before.  The goal is to provide a structured outlet for some physical energy, promote gross motor development, vestibular development , proprioceptive development, direction-following, and just plain fun!

We change out our obstacles each week, but we keep pretty much the same TYPE of objective at each obstacle.  I have the kids sit on the couch while I set up--they can look at books but not get off couch--and it takes me 5-7 min to get set up.  I usually have a pretty good idea of what I'll set up planned in my head, and lots of obstacles are the same, or mostly the same with just a little tweak, each week.  

For this obstacle, Q was jumping over the "river."  Ie: a rug that she had to jump across.

 Balance beam (table leaf spread across two chairs)

 Trampoline (piece of Q's mattress with baby gate to hold onto to facilitate bouncing)

 Pillow pit (all the couch pillows with a down comforter thrown on top)

 Crawly tube and in the background is the road--a piece of black felt with lines of yellow felt hotglued down it--initially made for Beck's cars, but also works well for this!

 This is the sommersault afghan.  Beck does more of a roll--they go from one end to the other.

 Uhhh-ohhh, doggy road block!

We also usually put out or rocking horse for riding and some rocker boards either to rock on or to walk across like a bridge.  I put on some fun, fast-tempoed kids music and we have fun!  There's no passing allowed, so if you catch up with the person ahead of you, choose to redo the past station or march in place...or just wait patiently!  I usually help Beck with some of the obstacles such as the "balance beam."  Sometimes I just line up chairs with no table leaf for them to walk across.  Nothing fancy, but they have great fun and I know we're working on those little body systems that are forming pathways in the minds and bodies of little people!!!

Dancing/Obstacle Course

On Wednesdays we dance.  But lately that has turned into more of an obstacle course, which my kids are loving.  The night before (Tues. night) I sorta plan out my course and set out any materials I will need.  We generally use the same stuff with one or two new things each time.  Then on Wednesday the kids have to stay in the playroom while I set up.  Then I put on music and we follow the course!

We do have rules--

-no passing the person in front of you.  If you catch up to them you can jump or run in place while you wait patiently.  

-use the materials correctly 

-no pushing/shoving

-if you accidentally move an obstacle put it back where it was

Before we start the course I take them on a walk through and explain each obstacle.  

Here are some example photos:

We generally have a "step upon" which is something they can walk on that has a texture to it--in this case pom poms.  Sometimes they are in a pan or dish, sometimes just on the carpet.  Bubble wrap, marbles, or any other object that provides texture will work.  I trade this item out most times.  

This is a dish of nuts in shells (pecans, almonds, etc.)  They dump it out, walk across it, and then put them back in the dish.  Step-upons provide sensory input and teach them how to walk carefully on different surfaces.

This guy was not following one of the rules (don't remember which one now) and he had to sit on the couch for a time out.  My kids can definitely get wild and out of control during obstacles, and I don't want any blood or injuries, so we stick to the rules.

Riding the rocking horse:

Jumping across two rugs and into a down comforter, where you wallow yourself into it, then get up again.  We call it the "snow pit."

The tunnel is a big hit.  $4 at the Goodwill.  I see them there often.

Bendy board bridge.  Daddy made these for us.  Some of the best toys ever.

Stepping across to the ottoman:

Jumping off ottoman:

Rocking in the "boat" laundry basket:

We also have another bendy board that we put the other way so it can be rocked upon.  Sometimes we use diving rings that they have to step through.  We've put down a string line that gets walked upon....the possibilities are endless.  My kids LOVE this activity and it is awesome for proprioceptive awareness, motor control, rule following, and energy releasing, among other things!  I will try to post more obstacle course pics as the weeks go by!

Daddy-School.....in the shop!

 Daddy's shop is the most popular place around.  The kids go crazy if he tells them they can come work a little bit.  Here's one thing Matt does with them--He starts nails into scrapwood.  Then he lets them use hammers to pound in the nails.  He has shown them how to hold a hammer and talked about safety with them, of course....They LOVE it, and so many great benefits--practical life, hand-eye coordination, gross motor development, independence, cross-lateral movements....and great time learning from Daddy!  Our Daddy's a pretty good teacher, ya know!

Sweeping

 Sweeping is a great toddler and preschooler skill.  It encourages motor coordination, practices cross-lateral movements, utilizes simple problem-solving skills, and promotes practical life skills. 

We have a blue taped square on the tile, a handbroom and small broom, a dustpan and a basket of cotton balls.  My kids love dumping the cotton balls and then sweeping them into the square, into the pan and then dumping them back in the basket.  Quinn can do this no problem, while Beck has a hard time controlling where the cotton balls go.  Right now he mostly just swings at them blindly and they scatter in all directions.  But in no time at all I know he'll be sweeping effectively! 

Often they'll do sweeping together, which promotes some cooperative work skills.  He'll hold the dustpan and she'll sweep.  And though these pictures look like sunshine and rainbows and happiness during sweeping times, of course there is arguing over who gets which broom, who gets to sweep first, yada-yada....and that's okay, too, because we are practicing negotiating turn-taking and tool-using cooperatively. 

I've also used silk flower petals in a montessori classroom as well as colored pompoms.  Any small, light object would work.  And yes, I do pick up random cotton balls around my house over the course of a day.  And yes, it makes me smile every time, thinking of my two lil' sweepees.  :)

Spring Fingerplays/Rhymes

I have been meaning to make cards for some of our favorite spring rhymes and fingerplays.  Mostly to remind me, but also for my kids to look at when we have circle time.  Here are a couple. 

And my crayon drawings melted a bit when I laminated the cards.  I should use chalk next time, huh!

We use these beanbags to pass around our bodies as we do the above rhyme.  Great way to encourage "crossing the midline" to connect those left and right brain neurons!  Fun gross-motor development rhyme with some GREAT vocabulary

Building a cross with Daddy

We knew this year that, above all else, we wanted our kids to know the reason of the Lenten/Easter season, and NOT that it is about a rabbit giving gifts or getting candy in eggs.  That's just our opinion, but we feel like there is too much richness, too many great opportunities for deep spiritual traditions to dilute them with other things--we're choosing the BEST over the GOOD.  We'll still do some of the "springy" things--and may even paint eggs, etc., but AFTER the Easter season.  We want to keep our kids focused.  Especially on Easter morning.

However this year has looked a little different for us--Matt and I will be out of town at a sibling's wedding this weekend, so we'll spend Easter apart from the kids--who are hanging out with relatives.  So that made some of our Easter traditions non-applicable this year...however we've rolled with those punches and I think we've adapted our Easter season to a way that fits us in this time of life perfectly. 

Above all I want to be MORE INTENTIONAL in developing my children's spiritual development during this Lenten/Easter season that worrying about clothes or eggs or baskets or dinners, etc.  And that hasn't always been the case for me, so this is a growth point for sure.  I want my kids to look back on Easters past and see straight to the cross. 

A tradition that came about on its own this year is building a cross with Daddy.  There was a new, beautiful cross made out of simple 4X4's hanging up at church this month and Quinn asked Daddy if he could build her one, too.  We happened to have some scraps around that Daddy and the kids fashioned into a cross, over the course of 2 evenings. 

Here they are nailing the pieces of wood together.  Daddy predrilled the holes and got big nails for the kids to work with.  Real nails, real hammer.  They were eating this up. 
 

Then it was time to put the nails in the places where Jesus' hands and feet went.  I took a minute to show Q the nail in detail and explain to her how it went through his hand and how it held him up there.  I know my daughter and I knew that she was ready for this and she could handle this.  Obviously it depends on the kid when this kind of imformation should be shared.  She was stunned and very sober as she put it all together in her mind.  She's referred back to the nails and the holes many times over the past few days. 

Each kid nailed in a nail where Jesus' hands would have gone.  I plan to save the cross and re-nail the hand nails as part of our Easter tradition through the years.  As the kids mature we may nail written or symbolic things to the cross as we think about what the cross really means to us. 

 

We shrouded it in purple, the color of the Easter season, so that we remember that Jesus is the King of Kings.  Today I spent time with some of my favorite kiddos in a Good Friday time and we talked about our King--a king who was so very different from what was expected of a king.  I'll share those photos soon.  Our cross marked the entry way at the park where we held our ceremony today. 

 

Acorn Smashing

We have an abundance of acorns thanks to our oak trees, so we've been having fun using large rocks to smash up the acorns.  Q was interested to see what they'd look like on the inside.  We use the smashed acorn-ness in mudpies, of course!  They make great "sprinkles" for the tops!
At school they have a pecan tree, so they do the same thing with the pecans that they find on the ground. 
The smashing is great hand-eye coordination, practices muscle control, lends itself to imaginary play, and involves science exploration skills.  Who knew....just from smashing up a bunch of acorns! 
And the mommy benefit--it is a positive way to get some wiggles and energy and even aggression out of little ones!  If you don't have acorns or pecans there is probably some smash-able item out in your nature area--seed pods, etc.  Check it out!

 

Dancing Bells

Quinn is 4 and LOVING dancing bells.  I've had them for a couple years, and she's used them as shakers before, but recently she's discovered that she loves to wear them. 

To make them I just cut a piece of ribbon a bit bigger than her leg.  I used a lighter to seal the ends so it wouldn't fray.  I strung on a large bell.  I happened to have some iron-on velcro on hand, but you could sew or hotglue it, too. 

She can fasten one bell to each ankle and dance along to the beat of music.  They can also be used as shakers in the hands, or you can do like Q does....just wear them around as a nice little accessory.  :)

 

Just Blocks

As an educator, I am ALWAYS looking for new ideas of activities to do with my kids. I am definitely guilty of forgetting about the old tried-and-true activities that I know (in the back of my mind) are fabulous learning opportunities. One such item? Blocks.

Blocks are amazing and teach skills such as:
-spatial awareness
-motor skills
-problem solving
-hand-eye coordination
-pretend play
-social skills (working together)
-language skills (verbalizing what is being done)
-shape awareness
-counting

They are a great tool because they are so open-ended (unlike puzzles which only have one solution...also a good tool, but for different uses). Blocks are also useful for any age--my 7 month son enjoys holding them, knocking towers we build over, banging them, and of course chewing them. My 3 year old daughter builds palaces for her animals because the flood is coming and they need their homes to keep them dry (or other involved scenarios as such....) and there is some type of block play for every other age--even adults enjoy blocks! Just leave yours our next time you have friends over and see what happens. :)

You can also spice up block play by adding "components." Right now we have plastic animals in our block basket. We've had peg people (plain wooden peg people from Hobby Lobby that I painted to look like different people), cars, aircrafts, plastic bugs, etc. Changing out one part of the blocks helps rejuvinate interest and also changes the direction of the play. Just be careful not to add so much stuff that you are taking away from the play--too many items can get distratcting. Sometimes just the blocks themselves are enough.

There are also different types of blocks, and changing out they type of block can also be a good idea. We have some magnetic blocks, some colored cube blocks in smaller sizes and also letter cube blocks. This below set my father in law made Q for her 1st birthday and we adore them!!

There are tons of articles out there if you do a google search for ideas and suggestions and tips on block play if you want more information. However it's also really simple to just get down on the floor with your child and start building together!

In my classroom I taught my students to shrug their shoulders and say, "oh well" anytime a block tower they were building fell down. We always talked that we could build it again. This helped reduce frustration if they (or someone else) accidently knocked over a masterpiece.

I also used "work mats" (lamintated pieces of construction paper--the large size) to designate areas when several students were each building their own object. This helped reduce accidents--as my students learned to spot the colored mats and walk around them. Of course there was the rule that "the builder is the knocker" to keep children from destroying another's work.

I took pictures of finished towers and we had a book we kept of the photos. The children loved revisiting their masterpieces in the book, and also they would sometimes take the book to the block area and rebuild a past tower (or castle or farmyard, etc.) or rebuild something cool another child had made. This leads to "fluency" in all of the skills listed above at the beginning of the post.

So.....get out your blocks and build something cool this week!!

PS) If you keep your blocks out where your kids can see them they'll be more likely to use them. Ours are in a big basket that slides under our entertainment center, and whenever they are left out for weeks at a time, they get used far more!

PPS) These are the letter blocks--Q keeps them in her room to build with during her quiet time.