I Ain't Gonna Paint No More...and Some of the Less Pinterest-Worthy Aspects of the Home Atelier

One of my favorite art themed children's books of all time is Karen Beaumont's I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! It rhythmically and humorously captures the story of a creative budding artist whose canvas happens to be his entire body (literally draining his entire paint supply). It also sparks a great question for aspiring artists: what is your canvas? For many children, it's usually a blank sheet of paper placed horizontally on a tabletop. What if it were vertical instead, on an easel or a wall? What if it were spread on the floor? What if it were hung outside? Or what if it was actual canvas? Or vellum? Or tracing paper? Or card stock? What if it were a different shape? What if it weren't paper at all, but a tray or the floor or the bathtub walls or--gasp--your entire body? Well, I'm not diving into body painting today (although hands and fingers are a frequently used material here), but I am going to delve into some of the messier parts of introducing and having an atelier in your home or classroom space...

My photos here and my account of setting up a home atelier are somewhat Pinterest-worthy, but let me take you on a tour of lessons learned the hard way that might not look as pretty in a photograph...

I spent the better part of a Sunday setting up shop. We happened to be starting dinner (and did I mention I hadn't eaten anything in 6 hours and was starving?) when the boys first came in to see it. They were, of course, immediately interested in diving in. I, however, was half focused on that and half focused on my bowl of stir fry. Not ideal at all. Ideally, I would have devoted my full attention to introducing this space and what we might do with it. I would have moved at a slow and intentional pace and really given this occasion the sense of honor and respect that I wanted to see mirrored in how the boys would interact with it. Instead, I kind of forgot that they couldn't possibly already know that I didn't set out squeeze bottles of paint purely for the albeit enjoyable purpose of squeezing it all out. They couldn't have intuited that I did not mean for watercolors and tempera paints to be used at the same time. (And why not? Why can't they be used at the same time??) They would not have known inherently that I envisioned the beads as part of a design in loose parts and not part of a necklace. (And, again, why not??)

So while I nibbled and simultaneously chased after two eager artists, I tried to keep the calm and nurture the excitement. Y proceeded to squeeze every last drop of white paint onto his pallet, the table, the floor. S moved from painting a rainbow to mixing colors to making necklaces. The boys created a multitude of masterpieces and I hadn't even thought yet about how and where to display them, let alone where to set them to dry. I had four very painty hands and the lights in the bathroom were off, the door was still closed. Rookie mistake. We had a ton of painty brushes but no place to put them until we could wash them. Ok, time to provide one of those recycled plastic sushi trays. And then it was time for bed, we would try again tomorrow. I said to the boys (as much as I did to myself) that we were all new to using the atelier. It was a very special thing to have an artist's studio in our home and it was OK that we did not know everything about it yet; we would learn together.

Day two, I set out an invitation with our book and essential question. I set out a variety of "canvases" and our paints and brushes. This time, we moved a bit more slowly and with a bit more intention, but this time it was S who became enamored with squeezing out the paints into his tray and Y who wondered how it would look and feel to squeeze them right onto some glossy finish photo paper. I had such a gut reaction to say "no" and such an urge to get to "yes." I wanted to honor their curiosity and process. I wanted to convey respect that mixing colors was as much a part of art as painting with them. I wanted not to have to buy stock in Crayola or sell a kidney on the black market in order to maintain my paint supply. Where should I draw--or paint--the line between wonder and wastefulness?

I reached out to a teacher friend of mine who runs an atelier in her preschool. She is an artist as well and extremely talented and creative. We brainstormed ideas and she reminded me of some core atelier materials I had not remembered to include:

• Adequate time: Children need enough time to explore and engage and remain engaged with art. If they are rushed, their creative process cannot expand and it may not emerge at all. We would need to tweak the "open access" policy a bit to accommodate times when we really can engage and to be "closed" when we cannot. A large sheet or tablecloth draped over the shelves could work to visually close it off. I also  like using laminated signs and velcro for this purpose. I have used this method for a while to "close" our art shelves on Shabbos or holidays. I can use it as well to close some or all of the shelves at other times as needed. 
• Adequate attention: Time's kissing cousin is attention; mine was divided on the first occasion we used our atelier. In that sense, I missed an opportunity to really lay a foundation and groundwork for this space, but fear not! It's not a one shot deal! We will definitely be able to backtrack and establish a stage for this performance.
• The complete lesson: Just because you are not engaging in directed art does not mean the children do not need directions. I wanted so much for this to be their space and process that I neglected to set any boundaries at all and this was not helpful to their creative process. It actually probably inhibits it. Now we do take the time before beginning to talk and plan. It's OK if our plans change as we go and it's OK to experiment and revise. In addition to plans for preparation, giving over the complete lesson also includes establishing the skills to retrieve materials, transport them, where to use them, how to use them, how to clean them and where to put them away. I find that I nearly always leave a gap in some area or another and the children are the ones who show me where that is. It might be that I neglected to include a wet wash cloth for intermittent cleaning of hands or spills. It might be the lack of a space to set completed work to dry. It might be a very simple fix, but it can be helpful to perhaps jot these things down (unless you have an amazing memory) so that you will remember them in the future.
• Tricks and Tips: Along the way, you'll pick up tips and tricks. Some will be through trial and error. Some will be from the young artists themselves! Some will come from the creative recesses of your mind and others still will come from seeking the counsel of other atelieristas and artists. Regarding the squeeze bottle situation, my brilliant friend had several brilliant ideas. Perhaps we could add a bit of flour to thicken the paint and slow the process down. Perhaps we might draw a line on the outside of each bottle to designate a minimum point for how much paint could be used in a day or week. I proposed the idea of perhaps using a small jar and squeeze bottles to create a space where it was ok to squeeze and mix colors of paint that could then be stored and used. And then, the very next day as I sat down to continue a masterclass I am taking on process art and the atelier model, another teacher shared her trick of storing paints in empty soap bottles with pumps. The children are instructed to use two pumps at a time and can get more as needed. There you have it! For every challenge in the atelier there are infinite solutions! I ended up buying some empty pump bottles in bulk off Amazon and re-stocking our paint supply in those. And if you're looking for a tip on how to clean out the nozzles of those painty squeeze bottles: a tiny botttle brush used for baby bottle nipples or a straw brush work quite well!
  

• The Products of the Process: Having an atelier will undoubtedly increase your supply of art projects. I do want to give each creation the honor and respect it deserves. I usually ask the children what they would like to do with their work when they feel it's completed. Sometimes they want to hang it up. Other times they want to give it to someone special. They sometimes want to use it to make something else or store it in our "scrap paper" drawer for future use with collage. We are fortunate that although our space here is limited, we have a lot of magnetic surfaces to hang artwork and I love metal clip magnets for this purpose. The kids can hang and access their own work. We do hang and display some work on our walls and still other work is displayed on a garland with clothespins that hangs above their table. One area we are short on in our home is free horizontal surfaces to set things out to dry. Bakers racks stacked on top of one another can help with this challenge as well. And what to do with the overflow of projects over time? Do you save every single creation? Toss them when no one is looking? I like to select some very special ones, take photos of others and upcycle others into new artwork. Sometimes we give work away to a grandparent and sometimes we cut it into pieces for collage or to create greeting card sets as gifts or even to make bookmarks or labels. You might even use a blank journal or sketch book to store small pieces of artwork or photos of larger ones so young artists can maintain a timeline of their experience and growth in the atelier.
• Using Resources and Literature for Inspiration: While I love for the children to independently create using their own ideas and imagination, I also like to incorporate provocations and invitations to inspire them. Using children's literature, especially some of the great choices out there on the topic of art and artists, can be a great starting place. Pinterest, Instagram and similar sites offer a lot of tried and true ideas from others. Incorporating art books and works of art from "real" artists and even photographs and coffee table books with animals, nature and other items of interest to your children at the time can also offer inspiration and a starting place for those who may be overwhelmed by Blank Canvas Syndrome. Sometimes these items may just be set up or set out in our space and at other times I may introduce a more formal activity with them, as I did with I Ain't Gonna Paint No More.

We will likely come across a variety of triumphs and challenges in our home atelier as we continue to expand on it and tweak it. An atelier is never a stagnant space. It is always evolving just like the young designers in it. I look forward to sharing these with you along the way and until then...

Happy Playing!

Setting Up a Home Atelier for Your Budding Artists

Way back when I was promoted from Classroom Teacher to Play-at-Home-Mom, I was inspired to nurture my then two year old aspiring artist. In short, this meant having our art shelves stocked with materials accessible to the shorter members of this household. But as we increased in family size and more of those short people became busy and mobile, I have admittedly fallen a bit short on art center inspiration and implementation. We go through phases of being quite crafty and even engaging in fun and exciting process art activities. We've even studied various artists. I would say that while my kids have such a beautiful and inspiring confidence in their artwork, my own deficit in the area is a lack thereof. I do recall my own fearless creating as a child and somewhere along the line, I intuited that art must "look a certain way," which mine did not and from there I chose creative activities I feel more confident in but largely abandoned that open ended style of creation. I even felt rather inhibited as a teacher in this area. Art was probably for the art teachers, and while opportunities and materials were always available and accessible to my students, I did not necessarily devote as much energy and time into that corner of the classroom.
I do realize in watching my own children as well as my students that most children begin with a sense of wonder and spark of joy when it comes to art. There are surely a variety of colorful personalities within that and many shades of each one. Some children are inherently drawn to drawing. Some are not. Some feel a great deal of confidence and ambition while others are hesitant and reserved. Some will mass produce masterpieces and others are minimalists both in approach and production. But regardless, to me, the greatest importance was the experience itself--whether it was directed or child led, whether it was picture frame worthy or just some scribbles that needed to come out on a page. I worry, however, about children losing both opportunity and confidence in creating art. This, more than anything else, inspires me to preserve and support my own kids' spark of joy in it.
I've increased my own research and studying of teaching and promoting art to very young artists. I also jumped on an opportunity to take an online masterclass in the subject. And while there are so many approaches to art in early childhood and so many pedagogues overall, I am very eclectic overall. I do, however, really appreciate the Reggio-Emilia approach to setting up an atelier [fancy-schmancy word meaning a studio or workshop for one to create and design]. And since I always need yet another project on a Sunday, I tackled our own art shelves at full force and created our own family atelier.

So come on in and take a peek inside our playroom, a space not only for play but also for creation and exploration!

I sent my husband and the kids on a mission while they were at Walmart to bring home paint samples in all of the rainbow colors plus black and brown. Taped to our shelves, these help navigate and designate space where materials for mark-making in each color are stored. Separating colors and color groups helps them to be visible and easily accessed. It also encourages more planning in artwork as the children will need to think about what colors they want to use and what materials as opposed to picking out of a container full of all different colors or mediums (which also has its merit). It can encourage mixed medium work as opposed to works done all in crayon or marker alone. 
For Y it is also an opportunity to work on learning his colors. Many young children struggle with color names and identification because they are rarely isolated in our environment. Furthermore, one word, "green," can describe a multitude of shades and hues. In that sense, I never worry when young children confuse color names or have a harder time identifying them at first.
When it comes to artwork, we often see a plain piece of standard size white paper. For some art and artists, this is adequate. But for some artists who may be more reluctant, I've found that size matters. And color. And texture. So I like to include as many "canvas" options as possible--even canvas itself and temporary art surfaces like mirror trays or empty frames. I also have a hard time setting out this many options if I store them horizontally, as the only thing visible would be what is on top. I used to keep a three-tiered tray of papers for writing and drawing, but even that was limiting. Using a file sorter was the perfect solution. It is able to hold a variety of papers, trays, frames and canvases so they are easily seen and accessed. I included white paper in heavier marker weight, newsprint weight, photo paper with a glossy finish, graph paper, black card stock, colored cardstock in a variety of sizes, origami (origami lovers are cringing), tracing paper and canvases in a couple of sizes. 




I also used the file sorters to store mirror trays, empty picture frames and paint trays. Also accessible are a jar with several kinds of scissors, a bowl with glue sticks and a variety of tapes, a tape dispenser with clear tape and a couple of bottles of liquid glue.
I keep our family's sketch books and some stick bound journals we made accessible on another shelf for works of art that they wish to preserve in that way rather than on a wall. I love sketchbooks and journals for their ability to capture the story of their artist/author over time. It is so special to be able to look back over the months and even years and see how we have grown and changed. It is also a great portable option for taking art on the go, a topic I look forward to exploring and writing on more in the future.

 I like offering as many "real" art materials to children as I can, so while we do have the standard crayons and markers and colored pencils available, they also experience quality chalks and oil pastels and charcoal pencils. These tiny plastic drawers are a great storage option and the recycled sushi trays above them are great for transport of chosen materials from shelf to work surface. They can be used for paint, loose parts, drying smaller works of art and more. They are also a great way to encourage portion control when it comes to collage materials. Empty glass bottles are readily available for the boys to fill with water when they paint. A couple of mountable hooks stuck to the side of the shelf hold some art smocks should the boys want to cover up. Y is always game for sporting a smock (and just about any type of uniform for that matter). S does not like to cover up and unless we are using a permanent medium that will surely stain or wearing something that one of us would mind getting stained, I don't push it. I also stack a set of art mats (dollar store vinyl placemats) and larger trays for protecting/designating work spaces. And that brings me to the paint...

Tempera paints are now set out in condiment bottles and a jar is stocked with a variety of brushes and tools for painting with. A few watercolor pallets are also ready for use. This was the area that first and most drew the boys in. It is also the area that so far has required the most troubleshooting and I'll be sharing more about that in a future post.

Another area that I'd like to expand on in the future is our shelf of loose parts for design and creation. I currently have jars stocked with beads, sequins, plastic gems and assorted buttons. The boys, seeing the beads at first, were initially inspired to create jewelry and asked for beading elastic. I'd also like to include some wire working in the future. I would love for them to explore loose parts for the purpose of design in addition to creating permanent pieces. Y naturally does this whereas S already has an association with these being used solely for crafting in a more "traditional" sense. Some creative provocations and invitations would be a great way for us all to expand our pallet here. This is also a shelf that will likely shift more frequently. Some materials will probably always be out and available and others I'd like to rotate and change to follow our interests over time.

There are many kinks to iron out. The boys are showing me what needs to be added, what needs to be altered, where I have lacked in giving over a lesson and where I have become too rigid and overbearing. But this journey could not have begun at a more opportune time. Y has always loved artwork and using different mediums to create it. More and more he is also embracing his growing independence and being able to do things "byself," as he puts it. He has become increasingly confident in drawing lines and even circles. He also has observed from his brother that these things go together to represent other things, so he will take his crayon or marker or paint to the paper and say "this is a vacuum" or "this is a snowball." Sometimes his picture somewhat resembles his label (as in the case of the snowball, which was indeed a large circle) and other times it does not (as in the case with the vacuum, which was a long, zigzagging brown line across the page or paper).

S has always been a bit less prone to art activities. He will participate in a directed activity, he sometimes even would choose to make something on his own, but if given the choice of something else to do, he often would pick that something else. There were also certain mediums he was more drawn to than others. He has always enjoyed beading and sewing and sculpting--any type of very fine motor art and the engineering end of it as well. He also always loved cutting (and was quite proficient at it early on) and hole punching and gluing. He was not as confident in drawing and writing, but when this guy gets his confidence, he rolls with it. Sure enough, kindergarten has taken him to new heights of writing and drawing. And that confidence and its accompanying interest level have also spilled over into other art forms--especially painting and messy art. These used to be areas he'd be hesitant in at first. He really needed time to be able to ease into it and options to wipe/wash hands as he worked.

Before beginning my atelier overhaul, I considered what was most important to us in that space. I knew I wanted the space to be accessible--for the boys to be able to easily take what they need, use it and return it to its home. I wanted the space to be aesthetically pleasing to inspire and nurture the beauty that is a young child's creation and design. I also needed to consider our overall space, being that this is just one component of our home and that our home happens to be rather small. An atelier is never a stagnant space and especially in working with a home environment, and a smaller one at that, there would need to be ways for the boys to easily transport materials from here to there.  I would need to provide the right materials to get from conception to creation to completion and clean-up. And, as I would quickly learn upon its first unveiling, it would require a quite a few other supporting measures as well, but that's a topic for my next post...


If this happens to inspire your own redesign of a home or classroom art space or even if you'd just like to read more on the subject, I love this article on How to Save Space with a One Shelf Atelier by Sally Haughey of Fairy Dust Teaching. In addition to working with a small space, I also operate on a restricted budget. I did not go out and buy a whole bunch of new supplies. Short crayons work just as well as longer ones. Swinging for higher quality supplies when possible does save you in the long-run, and you can save on these by taking advantage of sales, coupons and even secondhand shops. Thrift stores and the Dollar Store are great places to find containers, trays, some art and craft supplies, loose parts, frames, and more. Friends and relatives might also be a good resource for donations of supplies and recycled materials. And don't discount the hardware section of your local big box store or even your local hardware store itself! Nature is always a ready supplier of useful materials for creative work. While the aesthetics of an atelier space and the supplies within it are of importance, the most important thing is what happens in that space. An atelier is a space for creation, design and, of course, play.



I'll be back tomorrow with some additional tips (and trials) of setting up a home or classroom atelier. And until then...

Happy Playing!

Play With Your Food: Our Family's Return to the Dinner Table

I will admit it. I have had it up to here with my resident particular eater. Not because I don't fully resonate with it--I was a notorious "picky" eater growing up and so was my husband. And not because I have concerns for his nutritional intake overall. My resident particular eater is the epitome of one of my own favorite childhood storybook characters, Francis in Bread and Jam for Francis. He will settle on one or a few foods for his meals and eat them daily until he grows sick of them. And that is where my feelings came in--empathy for the struggle he must feel when his relationship with yogurt for lunch every single day goes sour or his once beloved cheese toast loses its appeal. It's not anything particularly sensory related. It is somewhat of a control desire. And it probably also is somewhat related to anxiety over trying new foods, although he is not averse to trying other new things in life. Nonetheless, I want to meet his needs around food--both nutritional and emotional. So I decided to make some changes here and start playing with our food.

And by changes, I don't mean a complete diet overhaul. Heck, even I couldn't stomach that. And by playing with our food, I don't necessarily mean tossing mashed potatoes across the room. But in this house, we view food as fuel for energy and healthy growth and we also view food as enjoyment. In order to maintain both, it is important to us that we don't battle at the table and that we are kind and gentle with our own nutrition and with each other's. And then there is my darling son, S. He won't eat a hot dog. He won't eat a chicken nugget. He won't eat any meat right now at all, actually. He will eat a raw basil leaf. He will drink kombucha with seeds floating in it. He does not love chocolate. He does love lollipops. He enjoys helping in the kitchen and cooking and baking together. That does not mean he will eat or even try what we make. He loves to garden and grow our own food. He does not want to try any tomatoes this year. He does want to try a spinach leaf.

A while ago, when my husband was working later and the boys were melting down each evening waiting for him to get home, I instituted a separate dinner for them. Yes, I am a short order cook. Most of our dinners catered to S's particular tastes and Y, who's quite a bit more diverse in his nutritional approach, would eat what I made. That being said, the two or three meals that are favorites of S are not favorites of Y. He would end up eating a second dinner with the grownups! And I kind of missed the cue that we'd outgrown this method working for us until I asked my sister for some advice. In fact, the boys, although they are hungry in the afternoon when they wake up from nap, were not really needing to gobble up dinner so early. And with school beginning next month, our schedule will be running toward a later meal anyway. Moreover, when my husband does get home now, the boys would love to have both of our attention and connect, but we are busy eating our dinner. It was time to reinstate family dinner here and not just on Shabbos or holidays!

It will likely be an adjustment for all and we are not rigidly adhering to it if there is a day we need some family members to eat earlier or we grab our lunch boxes and picnic at the park. But bringing back the family dinner has helped us to reconnect at the end of the day and there's something at the table for everyone even if it's not one person's favorite every night. I'm not overwhelming anyone with all new recipes, in fact, my husband does almost all of the cooking here right now. [Last time I did all the cooking, I went into labor with C, so I think I'll enjoy this break for a while...] We are setting the table with one [more or less] cohesive meal. There is guaranteed to be something that everyone likes; it is not going to be the same food every single night.

And I recognize that for my little S, that is a huge shift in his feeling of being in control over his meals--exactly the feeling he is trying to assert. So I mitigate that with some playfulness and fun as he and the rest of us join on our journey back to the family table. Among his favorite dinnertime activities so far was an evening of playing with our food and making edible art!

Inspired by the cookbook Salad People by Mollie Katzen (a great cookbook author for kids), I set a platter of cut fruits, veggies, dried fruit, cheese and a bowl of pasta. The boys both had fun designing and eating their way through dinner. S created his own unique combinations of things to try and although I would not necessarily praise them for protein content, the bigger picture was getting him eager to engage with a variety of foods and feeling that he still had comfort and control in that. So did he eat any cheese that night? Nope. Did he eat a sandwich of kiwi on a multigrain rice cake. Yes. And Y was utterly thrilled to have more options at the table, particularly some of his favorites like hummus, cheese and noodles. 

And the fun was not over yet. After we cleared the table, the boys discovered it was still set--for art, Hevre Tullet style, per his book Doodle Cook. You can check out some of our other activities inspired by Hevre Tullet here and here.

We whipped up a batch of Colorful Shape Pasta that's still hanging on the wall across from the dining room table! There are a lot of approaches to family and child nutrition. There are a lot of ways to view food. Is it just fuel? Is it enjoyment? Is it both? I am clear in my own experience with eating and nutrition that I want that to be something my children explore and develop within healthy boundaries at their own pace.

Certainly there are foods that are more nutritionally dense than others. And there are foods that more enjoyable to us than others. We do not say no to sweets and treats here but we do have boundaries around them. We offer desserts on Shabbos and holidays and special occasions and once in a while for no reason at all. And still, there are tears here about treats. In seeing a nutritionist respond to this subject, she shared the one plate approach where everything, dessert included, is set on the same plate at the same time. Out of curiosity, I tried this one afternoon at lunchtime...

S loves to come up with recipe ideas and one day he came up with the idea to make pretzels and put icing on them to "glue" them together into shapes. He was so surprised when I said we could do that after dinner and a little disappointed when he ran out of his portion of icing. The next day at lunch, I heated up a few leftover soft pretzels we'd baked the night before. I put lunch and a pretzel and a small spoonful of icing on each of the boys' plates. S ate his yogurt and all of his pretzel and icing. He came into the kitchen and saw a pretzel still on a plate with some icing on top. He asked what it was. I told him it was my pretzel that I had not eaten yet.
"Oh," he said. "Can I have another pita with cheese?"
I was actually quite shocked he didn't cry and ask for another pretzel and icing!

And while I am not going to shift into providing and offering sweets and treats with every meal, I am reminded that children have a natural intuition with food and nutrition. We do have some strict boundaries around foods in this house when it comes to kashrut or to food allergies/sensitivities. We do set boundaries around appropriate portions and times for eating. But I don't label foods as "good" or "bad." We do talk about foods that are healthier and "give more energy" or help build strong muscles and bones, etc.

The world is full of don'ts and while we've all heard it at one point or another, today I'm taking the don't right out of don't play with your food. If separate dinners work for you; do it. If serving one meal and one table at one time works for you; do it. If making a poodle or a choo choo train or a kiwi sandwich on a multigrain rice cake works for you, do it. And if coloring on your placemat sounds like a great way to spend time at the dinner table, do that, too!

Bon Appetit and Happy Playing!

Beyond the Author: Hevre Tullet, Part II

If you recently read our post taking you Beyond the Book: An Author Study with Hevre Tullet, , you know we're on a real process art kick here this summer. While in previous years I was organized and planned out specific themes for the Sprout Scouts Playcamp and even did a whole unit on Art and Artists in the Garden, this year it has felt most comfortable to follow my kids' lead. They've had a lot of fun so far and one of the best parts of exploring artist, author and illustrator, Hevre Tullet is that the grown ups have had fun, too!

I've touched upon the value in process art with children before. Process art targets a variety of developmental skills and milestones while nurturing and honoring children's creativity and inherent artistic abilities at their own level. I am not an all-or-nothing type of gal, so we also do project based artwork here, which has value in its own right. I particularly love Hevre Tullet's combined use of art and literature to promote an environment for children to explore both in a playful and aesthetically beautiful way while gaining skills in literacy, writing, art and play. What I did not initially take into account as we began exploring his work is how much I was gaining through it as well!

"Press Here!"

"Let's Play!"

"Have Fun!' with the book Mix It Up

Yes, today, I am inviting the adults to join in! This is our play time and our opportunity to rediscover process art. I would never classify myself as someone who is artistic, but why? What is it that defines a person as artistic or not? And when does that switch go off? I do remember creating artwork as a child, uninhibited and filled with joy and wonder. And while every child grows to different interests and preferences, I do wonder what outside factors emerge to nurture certain concepts of self and quell others. I remember putting on my own art show at home once and displaying my works on the wall with (eh em) school glue (oops)... I had ample access to art supplies and craft materials and a mother who really nurtured the idea of process art and encouraged us to work with these items at our own discretion. But somewhere along the line, children do gain the concept that art should represent something and look a certain way. From there, I think many decide whether or not this is a strength or a challenge. I maintained interest in crafts and hobbies of that sort, but more open ended type artwork was a bit intimidating.

And along comes an artist like Hevre Tullet who can splash paint on a page, make squiggles and lines and doodles and dots come to life and get everyone engaged and playing and creating. And all of a sudden, I was taken back to the same child-like joy I had when I was 5 years old! Even my husband got in on the fun! And in setting out stations this week to invite the whole family to join together in art, I noticed some wonderful things that were happening:

When he finished painting on paper, Y explored painting
on the vase that was holding our paintbrushes! I was
almost sad to wash it off--maybe glass will be a "canvas"
in our future....

• We were all on the same page and in the same playing field: Many times when adults and children work together on art, there's a pretty clear division between who is 2 months old and watching from a swing, who is 2, who is 5 and who the adults are (T and I will keep those numbers to ourselves for now). But when there's one giant sheet of paper and the only instructions are to "Have Fun!" or "Mix it Up!" or "Jump on a Trampoline!" we're all on the same level. Well, to be fair, C is still just watching from the swing and smiling and cooing. But there's no pressure for a child to create something in the same way an adult can. There's not even pressure for a 2 year old to create something in the same way a 5 year old can. 
• Inhibitions Go Out the Window: I actually loathe when children ask me to draw something. Not  because I worry so much that it will create an unattainable standard for their smaller, younger hands (although this is a concern), but more because I do not think I am particularly adept at drawing. When I dipped into our art explorations this week, I felt no hesitance at all. I had just as much joy at squiggling and doodling and dabbing and dotting as anyone else!

  

  S ran to the table on the morning of this art invitation.
  He started off slowly and a bit tentatively mixing it up. He
  dabbled into some red, and then a bit of yellow. "Look!
  I made orange!" and then he got all in and mixed it up
  across the entirety of the page! It was time for some more paper...

• Connecting through Dots: art was a great way for us to join together as a family and connect. It wasn't forced, it wasn't suitable more for one age than another. It wasn't on a schedule and there was no agenda. The paper was simply set out with the materials to use on it. It would remain there as long as we wanted. We could come all together, one at a time, go as needed, return as desired. If we needed another sheet of paper, we got one. If we felt all done, we set it to dry and in the end we'd hang our work in the Family Museum Wall. Sometimes the art told a story. Sometimes it made a sound or a song. Sometimes it was silent. Imagine connecting as a family in this way and then imagine it in a classroom or in a community at large.
• Art in Motion: this is not your sit at the table or stand at the easel type of art or reading for that matter. Hevre Tullet's books and work get everyone moving from those tiny fine motor muscles to the larger gross motor ones. As my boys use their fingers to trace the lines along the pages of his stories or press dots or rub circles, they are practicing the same tracking skills that will help them to read and write. 
• Art and Inclusion: Navigating shared paper and space with art is helping us all to develop important social skills, critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. Rather than art being a solo activity, it is an opportunity to be inclusive and work together. 

Somehow, the "dirty" paint tray is so beautiful to me! We used a dollar tree
plastic silver serving tray. The mirror quality adds such a unique
element when mixing and exploring paint colors. Painting on mirrors indoors
and outside is a great way to add a unique element to process art...

I've been creating my own art invitations and provocations this week using pages from Tullet's books Press Here, Mix It Up!, Let's Play! and Say Zoop! Choosing materials and seeing what happens with them is part of the fun for me (and my own creative process). However, for those who would prefer a bit of direction with this, there are some great ideas on Pinterest. Hevre Tullet also has an incredible blog, and if you are not fluent in French, you can view it translated into English. I also highly recommend his book Art Workshops for Children. I recently purchased a copy and am so eager to bring this as an addition to my nature-based playgroup when I host an Art In the Park session next month. I can't wait to see art in action with a mixed age group of children and adults. The art activities in the book can be adapted to individuals, small groups (family setting/siblings/a few friends), larger groups of similar age or larger groups of mixed ages and even adults.

I don't have a goal with our exploration of art this summer other than to follow my kids' interest and perhaps also preserve this time of wonderment, competence and confidence in art. Perhaps I also want to reignite this in myself as well! There are mornings when everyone runs to the table right away and morning when the paper is still mostly white by 11:00, but the invitation is there. It's on the bookshelves: read me! It's on the kids' table: paint me! It's on their art supply shelves: create! It's stowed away in my diaper bag for outside of the library or at the park: let's doodle! It's a continued reminder that art is everywhere around us and within us and all it needs is a space to know it is valuable and beautiful in its own right. That it is a process and an action, not a product or destination. That it never needs to be finished but it is complete in its current state. That it is lovely in all shapes and shades and sizes and colors. In fact, art is not so different than we are!

Happy Playing!

Clay Play!

Often when we think about using clay with children, especially young children, we conjure up images of colorful modeling compounds, playdough, maybe even other types of homemade or store bought doughs and sensory materials. Indeed, we have dug our hands into a number of types of doughs and clays here, but there is something truly special and unique about using real clay with children.

Real clay comes from the earth. It is cold to the touch. It is heavy and viscous and requires very strong fine motor skills and strength to manipulate. It can be dry and crumbly and with the addition of water, revived to silky and smooth and malleable. It is most often found in shades of grey, off-white or brown/terra cotta--not the bright and bold primary colors we usually think of when using clay with young children. It is messy. It is glorious. It is truly unique! And while we most often associate real clay with larger hands and "finished products," its use with smaller hands is all about the experience and exploration.

I am forever looking for ways to creatively use our sensory table at home. The boys both love to spend time here individually as well as together. And many of our play activities here could be repeated again and again. I especially liked the results of our side by side set up last week using smaller bins within the table for kinetic sand and kinetic rock. I decided to leave this particular structure and introduce two side by side invitations to explore with clay. One benefit to the smaller bins here is the ability to close up shop and keep the clay from drying out. Another is the ability to transport to a table or even outside now that last week's frigid temperatures have given way to sunny days of 60 and 70 degree weather. The results of this setup were nothing short of phenomenal to watch and even join in on!

When using clay with young children, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Little hands use little bits. Real clay can be pricey. The small bin or a small tray setup allow for a designated work-space and can also help navigate how much clay to use. Remember, the small blob in the middle may look meager to you, but less is more with little hands. Clay is a harder material to manipulate than typical playdoughs designed for young children. They will likely need to break off even smaller pieces to manipulate and mold. Alternatively, you can prep small clay balls or slabs in advance--however, I encourage you to also include your able bodied and eager little ones in the process of discovering how to divide up a larger blob into smaller ones. 
• Offer less at first; add more later. When it comes to clay, I first introduce it alone. No tools, no add-ins. The exploration stage is so incredible with our youngest sculptors that nothing else is needed. Then, I might add in some simple tools, perhaps a small jar of water (water + clay = AMAZING). Perhaps next you will add in some loose parts, natural materials, small toys... 
• Address the mess: If the messiness of this activity is overwhelming, you may wish to use clay in a sensory table or over a drop cloth on your own table/floor. You might even feel most comfortable taking it outdoors to work with. If you or your children are uncomfortable with your hands being covered in clay, having clean up options like wet rags or a basin of water or proximity to a sink can help.
• Process over product: I encourage you and your young sculptors to follow your whim--if creating something to be permanent feels right, air drying and displaying the results can be lovely. Many times, however, our clay play is more about the process and experience of exploring with it. Then, when you are done, seal it in a bag or air tight container and store for future use.
• Think outside of the box and allow children to explore clay not just with their hands but with their feet! Take a blob outside on a warm sunny day, take off your socks and shoes, and discover the unique feeling of cool, wet clay squishing through your toes!
• Follow their lead and join in! I invite you to sit back and observe child's play with clay. It is truly an extraordinary experience to see--and also an extraordinary one to join in on. Get your own hands dirty and dig right in. 

If you are new to using clay with children or just looking for some more inspiration, I love the article Clay: Don't Forget the Explore Stage at Fairy Dust Teaching and for those using clay in a large group or classroom setting, read Never Stress During Clay Again on the art of education University

There are many ways to explore with clay. You can keep it very open ended and child-led in this way or you can work with more directed projects, such as introducing pinch pots, experimenting with prints and stamping in clay using loose parts and so much more... Start off simple and see where it goes. It's also something worth bringing out on repeated occasions, even after a bit of a hiatus. And if the idea of having an open clay exploration station in your home or classroom is overwhelming or impractical, have it stored away for times and spaces that do work for you. Stay tuned for future posts on clay play and until then...

Focus in on the cute little dudes engaged in clay play and not the enormous pile of stuff
on the dining room table in the background....

Happy Playing!

Our Storytelling Tree: A Collaborative Mixed Medium Process Art Project Perfect for Tu B'Shevat!

Storytelling, small worlds and dramatic play are a pretty big deal here, and I especially love involving the family in creating some of our own props. We also had so much fun on our last multi-medium process art experience over the winter break that even though school is back in session for S, I wanted to include more activities like this in our afternoon routines together.

The after nap hours during the week are often a little hectic. Everyone's energy is low. It's the end of the day. This time of year, it gets dark out quite early. We've been away from each other at work and school and everyone is eager to share this limited time together, but the pace can feel a bit rushed for big afternoon activities or outings. Engaging in art together is one way we are able to slow down the pace a bit, tune in to each other and be creative as a family. Even better if what we're doing isn't a project that is intended to be completed in one sitting. When I found this wooden tree sculpture on super sale post holiday season at our craft supply shop, I knew it was the perfect foundation for a collaborative art experience. I didn't exactly know yet what we would do to it, but it was going to make the perfect storytelling tree for our home and perhaps, in drier seasons, even our playgarden!

A few tips before you begin, should you decide to undertake this project or something similar:

• Choose a work space that will accommodate all of your family members comfortably. Our dining room table is the best option for us in terms of having enough space, being a good height for me and the boys alike (Y uses a high chair, S can sit or stand). 
• Cover your work space; this will get messy! I finally dedicated an old bedsheet to this purpose after throwing away the last of our super cheap shower curtains last month. It was on its way to the donation pile, but now its making its final stop in a new venue.
• Cover your artists if you wish. I have an apron I wear for messy art. S is willing to don an old t-shirt of mine over his clothes and Y loves his "sah-mock," a vinyl long sleeved child's smock. When our paints are washable, I give the option to cover up or just take precaution and push up sleeves.
• I try to have all of our materials gathered together and readily accessible at our work space. Sometimes when my plans are a bit more spur of the moment and spontaneous (as you will see), that means I take the risk of darting upstairs in the middle of a painting project knowing I could come down to a colorful surprise... 
• Include wet wash cloths in that list of materials! These will be handy for hands that are averse to being sticky or painty mid-project.
• Let loose and let go. This is a big one for me. Especially with a collaborative art project, know that everyone is going to have their own vision and ideas. It helps to slow down. To breathe deeply and take your time. To put on some soothing background music if you wish. Make sure you have a space of time and location that can accommodate this. It is as much about the experience as it is about the end results. 
• Clean up can be daunting, but I like to tackle it right away when we're done for the day. It's easiest to wash trays, bottles and brushes before everything has dried and caked on. What I've found to be true is that having spent a chunk of quality and intentional time with the boys beforehand, they are more willing to busy themselves for ten minutes without being (too) underfoot while I wash up dishes and hang up smocks. They can also help carry in materials or even wash them given some rags and soapy water in their sensory table or at the sink. I generally opt to do this part myself for the purpose of saving time and sanity at that point. If transitioning from messy art together to the clean up process and routines that follow is challenging, I highly recommend having a transitional activity set up for afterward--even if that's an ice pop or favorite TV show. Yes, you read that right.

On Day 1 I set out recycled sushi trays of acrylic paints in green, teal, white, black and brown. Some laminated paint sample cards helped us to visualize shades and hues of our colors. I also got out our textured roller sponge brushes. These are a favorite brush for both my boys--even S, who is not such a painting fan in and of itself loves to paint with these. I think I found them at Five and Below several years ago and we really can't get enough of them here!

I have to say that even after that first day, the tree looked so incredibly lovely with the colors blended as they were and the unique textures and designs left by the roller brushes that it almost seemed a shame to change it at all. But on Day 2, I had squeeze bottles filled with green, white and black washable tempera paints and empty ice cube trays plus a selection of thin paint brushes ready to go. With our shades and hues of green laminated paint sample cards out and ready for viewing, the boys (especially S) got busy squeezing and mixing colors. S made sections of white and green, black and green, and even black, white and green. Squeezing and mixing the colors definitely took precedent over anything else for him and he was not as interested in painting with them using our brushes. Y, on the other hand, loved dotting and dabbing and doodling with the paintbrushes and was eager to use up S's abundant supply.

Seeing how much joy both boys had in squeezing the paint right from the bottle made me think that it might be fun to squeeze it right on the tree. Our tempera paints are rather thin, though, so to thicken it a bit, I added a generous squirt of glue to each bottle (and an equally generous squirt of green paint to the black and white bottles) before letting them loose at the tree!

Unsurprisingly this resulted in some painty puddles! And then, in my typical If You Give a Mouse a Cookie fashion, I had a spark of inspiration. Combs would be a super fun way to spread and scrape the paint around. I'd like to say that I have a set of inexpensive plastic combs just for such occasions. Yes, I'd like to say that, but I can't--because I actually just have an inexpensive set of 3 combs total. For all of us. Myself included. So please don't judge the shades and hues of green you may or may not see in our hairdos over the weeks to come--I think I washed all the paint out. Y actually was so amused to see his comb at the table that he immediately grabbed it up, painty bristles and all and proceeded to comb his own hair! Oh dear...

Yes, this is truly the joy and excitement of art together here. Having little to no plan but infinite amounts of spontaneous ideas and inspiration. I took one last squeeze to the tree before setting it to dry and washing out our bottles, brushes, trays and, um, combs.





S was eagerly recalling the day we used glue to paint and pour on small loose parts on our Frozen Mixed Medium Paintings when I first introduced this project, so I promised him our final step would include copious amounts of glue, glitter, baubles and bits. Day 3, our final day of painting brought us a tray of beads, glass gems, wooden letter tiles and rhinestones along with a couple of jars of clear gel glue mixed with two shades of green glitter and some wooden craft sticks for stirring, scooping, drizzling and scraping. Once our tree was bedazzled and be-dried, I took it out front to apply a coat of spray acrylic finish for added protection against the elements and we were done! But for this storytelling tree, that is not a means to an end, but rather its beginning. It shall be part and parcel to many a day of action and imagination here. And until then...

ta da!

Happy Playing!

Tu B'Shevat Tissue Paper Tree Art

If you think that you shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree, you should see the beautiful results of this surprisingly simple Tu b'Shevat art activity! I saw the idea first on the Pinterested Parent. I tried it out myself before introducing it to the boys and decided it would make a perfect project for Rosh Chodesh Shevat, welcoming the new Jewish month of Shevat. The finished work truly looks like it took hours of labor and love, but really this project is easy to prepare and complete in just minutes--a huge plus if your artists (young or old) have a shorter attention span.

You will need:

• thick white paper-I used watercolor paper as it is more conducive to soaking up both water and the color, but card stock worked well, too
• color bleed tissue paper -- regular tissue paper will not necessarily work here, so you do need to get specifically the type that is labeled as color bleeding tissue. It is available in most craft supply stores and, of course, on Amazon. 
• black permanent marker
• spray bottle with water

Before you begin you (or your artists) will want to draw a black tree trunk with branches in the center of your page (or wherever you wish to place it--you could even draw multiple trees). I cut a few strips of tissue paper down to small rectangles. Little artists can help with this as well. You'll want to make sure everyone's hands are dry because any amount of moisture will cause the colors to bleed! 

I like to wet the paper beforehand and had the boys do the same. Y was especially excited to discover he can work a spray bottle now and wash his own glasses. This should come in handy...

Next, lay your tissue paper squares down as you like them. They can be scrunched, flat, layered... When everyone felt they had their tissue paper squares in the position they wanted, we sprayed more water over top. S is rather an overzealous sprayer with a spray bottle--a quality that often washes his project colors away, but comes in rather handy with this one. The more water, the more the colors will spread and mix. It's pretty impossible to go wrong here, and I like that in an art project!

Next, it's time to get everyone away from the wet and colorful artwork and let the situation dry for a bit. Once everything is dry, you can easily remove the tissue paper squares and dispose of them (although they are still so pretty, even with the colors mixed now that I kind of wanted to save them and use it for collage...)

Your artwork will be revealed on the paper and is ready to send on display or as a greeting in the mail or to gift to a friend or family member. 

I think they all came out so great, don't you? Color bleed tissue paper art is a great medium for working with artists of all ages. One friend of mine contacted me for directions to do this with a group of children and senior citizens she runs--what a great idea! You could tailor the colors of your trees to be seasonally specific or use the same concept to draw and add color to another subject of art. We will be back with a really fun collaborative process art project for Tu b'Shevat in the days to come. Until then...

Happy Playing!