When I was a child I used to love arts and crafts!
I used to create, color and draw for hours- and the truth is I still do!
creating makes me calm and I enjoy it. I use art as quality time with my kids and also use it to teach him and help his learning progress.
This is our art corner:
It is located in the living room where he can just come over and choose what he wants to do and do it. Once a week we have a special time when we create things by instructions but the rest of the time it's open to his interpertation and imagination.
What you need:
scissors , different types of glue, plain white paper, glitter, crayons, finger paint, water paint, panda, chalk, paint brushes, tooth picks, foam board, felt, cloth- every material and color you want to use. The more textures there are- the better!
Ideas and examples:
1. Recycle- we save egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, newspapers and boxes. We use everything! You can make the old things in to new things- like creating a robot or a tower. we color them and glue them together and create a new object by using old ones.
2. Creating a town- Use large bristol papers or several plain papers attached and put them on the floor. now start drawing a town- houses and streets, lakes and feilds, trees, flowers, cars... We use our play cars and Lego people to play in the town once it's done!
3. Mix and try- Our favorite! very messy but SO much fun! if the kids are small they can do it with Diaper/underwear only and if they want- put a light t-shirt but that's it.
Let them choose the colors, the material, let them decide if to paint with their hand or foot or using a toothpick or gluing it on the spot. Don't give instructions and don't tell them what to do or to do it a different way. Let them touch and explore and try. Some kids love the feeling some will hate it- but let them decide!
4. Unicorn- this activity is also in the notebook and it's for well communicating older kids. I draw a unicorn and then when we paint it- each part is painted different using different materials and once doing it we talk about his special qualities and what makes him special- like a unicorn. He loves this activity because it reminds him how many special things there are about him!
5. Coloring- choose a drawing of something they like and let them color. you can play music or talk or stay silent- what they preffer. Let them choose the colors and color as they want.
Use this time as quality time- tak an hour or so to create together. Don't judge. Don't worry about the mess- Enjoy the time with them!