Artisitic Pursuits! "Teaching" Art to little ones

Hi Everyone,

I don't know about you but I have never ever come across a child who does not like "getting creative." I recently purchased a book for parents about teaching art to kids. It is written by a lady called Brenda Ellis from Artistic Pursuits. It is an excellent resource to have in your little learner library as I like to call it. The activities are easy to do and even allow the young and old to join in. The activities are adjustable to suit age ranges. The book is aimed at Pre-School children ages 3-5 but I have been able to adjust some of the activities so my 9 month old can join in to. The book is easy to read and certainly allows you to appreciate the 'art' your children make but what I love the most about this book is how it gets you talking with your little ones about the world around you and makes you notice the depth of colour in nature, and picking things up and talking about the texture, the material, the colour and noticing the beauty outside in our back yard
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Here are a few photos of some of the projects we have been doing.

This above picture entitled by my daughter "Silver Storm." It is Miss S's interpretation of the sky from Project no 2 in this book.  As you can see my dd has drawn a big silver cloud, The blue lines are rain drops, the pink, yellow and brown lines are 'lightning'. The Project is about observing the sky and talking about what we see and drawing it on paper. Although yesterday when this picture was created was a beautiful sun shine filled day my little dd wanted to talk about storms. So I said "what does the sky look like when there is a Storm coming?" and she talked about what the sky looked like as she drew. It was a lovely moment sharing together as I watched her create this. I also let go of the fact and shut my mouth when she drew pink lightning. Pink must be included in everything its her favourite colour. :)


Although it was not a proper observation of the sky as the book says the process of creation is far more important than the end result. This was the image in her mind about how the sky looked in a storm not mine and therefore Miss S's creation. What was the most important thing here was Miss S was creating something from her imagination and we were enjoying a moment together but all the talking about what we saw in the sky has already led her to notice other things in nature and want to 'draw' them. I believe the goal of this project is to take notice of what is around you.

The next project we did was one called "Mark Making" I adjusted this project so my youngest DD  who is 9 months could join in to. I have put cling wrap over the table, then added my finger paint, than added another layer of cling wrap and stuck it down with tape. This way I avoided dirty hands and the worry of my youngest dd putting the paint in her mouth. This way both my DD's could have the fun of finger painting and still make pictures without the mess.

This way also allows your kids to make "pictures' but it also gives the opportunity to teach about primary and secondary colours. In the above pictures you can see Miss S 'mooshing' blue and red together to make purple. Also you can see she has had a great time putting her hand prints everywhere.

 I hope this post has gotten you all inspired to start some 'art' projects with your little ones. Feel free to ask questions or post comments below.

Kimba