A Love Hate Relationship With My Art

I've been delving into the world of painting - love it! But, I don't always love what I make...in the past few months I've done some of this...

Obviously - some very amateur, some better than others...but I'm learning, creating, and having fun - so that's the point. My latest piece...

Yes, those are antique water knobs actually screwed onto my canvas. I had this planned out for awhile. Now depending on my mood I either love it or hate it. Sometimes I look at it and think - "that is pretty cool!", and other times I think "what a weirdo!"...

I checked out some art books from the library and about half way through the first one decided I didn't need to read about techniques and how to mix colors and what art is or isn't. Art can be anything...as noted by this horrible french fry sculpture on the campus of my Alma mater...ugh...

It doesn't mean everyone will like it, in fact they won't. As long as I like what I'm doing and I'm expressing myself than I think it's okay - although I don't think giant french fries are ever okay. =)

I learn the most about art and technique from just studying paintings, not books!

Little Miss is getting very artsy with me. It's our mommy/daughter time while Mr Man has a nap...of course her best work always ends up on her arms and then rinsed away down the drain. She is quite the little creative girl! Some of the color mixing she does is awesome. I wish I could replicate it.

It's good down time for us - we can chat, no technology is involved, and get creative. It also has helped Little Miss with her fine motor skills - the brush painting anyways, not so much the body painting. =)

What do you do for a creative outlet?

Celebrating St Patrick's Day

So I love holidays. This probably explains why my daughter measures time by what holiday is coming next. Here’s a look into how we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day:

Step 1: Wear Green. Silly glasses are a must.

Step 2: Follow the leprechaun footprints to see what he left you! Last year, they led right into my daughter’s room, where she discovered a bucket filled with Shamrock coins and a tasty snack.

Step 3: Play Games. I had my daughter help me make these shamrocks that we used for two games. A memory/matching game…

…and our own version of a cake walk. We placed the shamrocks in a circle, and she walked around them till the music stopped, then shouted out which shape she stopped on.

Step 4: FINGER PAINT! We like to finger paint with yogurt…then you can delight in licking it off your fingers. Key lime pie would have been the best flavor to use, but all we had was vanilla—easy to fix with a little food coloring. (My daughter went through a phase where she didn’t like getting her hands dirty….hence the spoon. Oh well, makes it easier to eat!)

Step 5: Eat green food. Seriously—anything you can turn green, do it! We like to eat breakfast for dinner. And breakfast foods are easy to turn green. We had green French toast, eggs and milk. If I could have figured out a way to turn the sausage green, I would have ;)

How do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

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Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

St Patrick's Day Crafts

Get your kids excited about St. Patrick’s Day by making some crafts together:

• 3-D Rainbow

We used colored noodles and cotton balls to fill in this hand-sketched rainbow. Add a title and a border, and you have a great decoration!

• Leprechaun

Cover a toilet paper roll with green paper. Have your child draw a face on a circle-shaped paper, then add pipe cleaner hair, a hat and some arms.

• Shamrock Collage

We used foam shapes to cover this shamrock, but you could use anything green—pom poms, colored noodles, scraps of paper, stickers, etc.

• Pot of Gold

After coloring this rainbow, we added a construction paper pot, complete with shamrock. Then we carefully unwrapped some chocolate coins, and glued the wrappers on the pot (after eating the chocolate, of course!).

Happy crafting!

________________________________________________________________

Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Honest Abe

Does this holiday make anyone else want to eat Cherry Pie? I'm just sayin'...

This has been a somewhat confusing day to celebrate with a 2 yr old. First of all - trying to explain a "country" to her is a little abstract. Secondly, the leader of the church we belong to also goes by "President" so differentiating the two has been interesting. But I think we've managed okay. I kept it nice and simple and just focused on one of my favorite presidents - Abraham Lincoln.

We started out by visiting the library and reading a gamat of books, these three were our favorites...

Then we broke out Little Miss's piggy bank and played sorting games with all the coins, talking about the men on the money at the same time...

We also did coin rubbings and colored a picture of Abraham Lincoln. {cilck here for more president coloring pages}

The coins gave me an opportunity to introduce our next activity easily, making a silhouette of Little Miss, like the men on the coins. However, she didn't want a silhouette of herself, she wanted one of her dolly - so we did that instead.

We then watched a movie about Abraham Lincoln that we also checked out from the library, I love the library. And talked about why he was such a good president.

I also want to make Honest Abe hats out of black poster board - but we'll probably do that later. You'll just have to picture a cute 2 yr old girl with a ridiculously tall hat on her head. =)

How will you celebrate Presidents Day and teach your children the importance of the liberty we have and the amazing men and women that got us here?

: : SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PRESIDENT'S DAY ACTIVITIES : :

Celebrating President's Day Preschool Style

As your kids are home from school on Monday, take time to learn a little about the holiday we will be celebrating. Here are a few ideas to get started.

• Learn about each President. I found this awesome website that has info and activities for each President. Even though President’s Day celebrates the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln, you may want to spend some time learning about other presidents as well, particularly our current president.

• After learning about President Lincoln and Washington, make a mobile about them. I just had my daughter color a few pictures that described each one (the hat they wore, the money they are on), then hung them underneath that president.

• Learn all the Presidents in order. Make up a funny tune to remember them.

• Learn more about money. Talk about who is on each bill and coin (emphasize the ones that have Lincoln and Washington on them). Practice sorting or counting money, and learn what each coin is called.

• Discuss our flag. Look at how they have changed over the years. Discuss the meaning of the stars (one for each state) and stripes (13 colonies). Then decorate one! Just print out a blank flag, then use paint, glitter, scraps of paper, crayons, etc to finish it up.

Happy President’s Day!

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Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Valentine's Activities

Helping in your kid’s class Valentine’s party? Want to have some Valentine’s fun at home? Then here are a few ideas to get you started...

• Make pictures out of different sized hearts. Use your imagination to create animals, flowers, etc.

• Pin the kiss on the frog prince. Take an old classic (pin the tail on the donkey) and turn it into a Valentine’s game.

• Decorate cookies: Any excuse to slather frosting upon a cookie….yummy! Enough said.

________________________________________________________________

Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Homemade Valentines

I always feel that homemade is better. Instead of buying the store-bought valentines this year, have your kids make their own to give out at school or to family members.

There are many ideas for homemade Valentines. But here are some we are making this year. That’s right---bust out the white lacey doilies, stickers, stamps and glitter glue—we’re doing old school valentines.

A few more ideas:

• Handprint heart: Dip your child’s hands in paint or ink, then place on paper to form a heart.

• Fortune Cookies: For something a little more formal, make these fortune cookies from felt. Then write things you love about your valentine on strips of paper to place inside them. My daughter made these for her Daddy last year, and he loved it. For a tutorial, go here.

Happy Valentine making!

________________________________________________________________

Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Groundhog Day Fun with the Kids

I think Groundhog Day is an underestimated holiday. I love it! Not only is it a great excuse to watch the Bill Murray flick, but a fun holiday to celebrate. Here are a few things to do to celebrate the day...

• Talk about shadows. Go outside on a sunny day and look at your own shadow. Help them notice how it changes as you move. No sun? No prob. Turn off the lights and break out the flashlights. You can study shadows of your whole body or make shadow puppets with your hands. Help them see that when something gets in the way of the light, it makes a shadow on the ground/wall.

• Study groundhogs. Help them do a mini-research project to find out all they can about groundhogs. Guide them to informational websites, books, etc to find info. Once they’ve gathered said info, have them make a poster about it. With my 3-year old, I just pulled up an informational website, read some facts with her, then created this simple poster:

• Make a groundhog craft. Here’s an easy one. Paint a paper cup brown or green to look like the ground ;) Next, color or draw a picture of a groundhog, then glue it to the end of a popsicle stick. Push the popsicle stick into the cup, then you can move the little guy up above the ground to see his shadow.

Use it as a prop while you recite this poem:

Here's a Little Groundhog
(to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")
Here's a little groundhog, furry and brown,
He's popping up to look around. (push groundhog up)
If he sees his shadow, down he'll go. (pull groundhog back down)
Then six more weeks of winter - Oh No!!

• Talk about hibernation. What is it? What other animals hibernate? After your discussion, you could make a fort out of blankets and pretend you are a groundhog hibernating. Bring books, snacks, blankets, and pillows to get all cozy. Ask your child what they would want to do when they finished hibernating all winter long (I’d want to eat a big cheeseburger, if you ask me).

• And don’t forget to talk about why we celebrate Groundhog Day. For a good summary, go here.

Happy Groundhog Day!

________________________________________________________________

Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.