The Artful Parent

Use Photo Books to Publish Art or to Celebrate a Life

I wanted to share the photo book that the Toddler Art Group presented me a couple of weeks ago. The image above, of the children's paintings is one of the pages from the book. It records the year and a half that we've been meeting, beginning with photos of the kiddos when they were just a year old and going all the way up to the Big Brother Party we had for Henry just before Christmas. It was such a touching gift, and made all the more so by the comments that each of the moms included at the end. Thank you! Here are a couple of my favorite pages.

I love photo books. I never got into scrapbooking, but enjoy putting together photo books on the computer with a combination of text and images. We create one every time we take a big trip (not too often), to celebrate each year of Maia's life (two so far), and for special occasions (I made one to celebrate my first 30 years of life, Harry made me one for Valentine's Day last year). One of these days I might put together a photo book of Maia's artwork...

We use KodakGallery to create our books since that's the site we use to share our digital photos, but many other photo-sharing sites allow you to create photo books as well. The book above was made through Macintosh. Ali Edwards is an artist with a cool blog called {A}. Check out her post about photo books  that she is creating for Shutterfly. She also has an article about Making a Successful Everyday Life Book on Shutterfly's site.

Painting Hearts for Valentine's Day Cards

Today, for our weekly meeting of the Toddler Art Group, we painted hearts. Most of them will probably be pasted onto blank cards or turned into Valentine's in some way. A few of Henry's hearts are drying above. Justin and Thalia are painting in the photo below.

And here is one of Maia's hearts below.

Last year the toddlers made tempera paint handprints for Valentine's Day cards. Are you making your own cards (or other valentine's crafts/art) this year? If so, I'd love to hear about it...

What Would You Like to See on The Artful Parent?

I'm wondering what you all would like to see on The Artful Parent.

Do you have any questions I might be able to answer? And if I can't answer them, then perhaps I could ask an expert for you. (By the way, Susan Striker, author of Young at Art, has agreed to do an interview for The Artful Parent, so we will find out the answers to my questions from yesterday about the beginnings of realistic drawing.)

Are there any topics that you are especially interested about or that you would like to see covered?

Please post a comment and let me know...

Thank you,

Jean

When Will My Child Begin to Draw Realistic Images?

I'm wondering when Maia will begin to draw realistic figures. I feel like the mother of a baby waiting for her child to crawl or take her first steps! 

 

Here's an interesting site with illustrations (including the two above) showing the natural progression of children's art from the first scribbles to various stages of realistic depictions.

Susan Striker, the author of one of my favorite books on introducing art to kids, Young at Art: Teaching Toddlers Self-Expression, Problem-Solving Skills, and an Appreciation for Art, also talks about the art stages a young child goes through. In her chart on the drawing stages on page 54 of Young at Art, Striker says that from 30-36 months a child, "Names shapes after drawing them. Lines are often connected to enclose shapes," and that from 36-42 months a child, "Tells stories about pictures. Begins mandala experiments; may draw humans."

Maia is 29 months old, so I guess we're approaching possible realism. I'll keep you posted. Maia does occasionally name her scribbles ("these are cookies for Oliver and Leah -- chocolate chip cookies and lemon cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies") and maybe by the naming of them I should consider them realistic drawings.

But instead I'm waiting for her to start drawing the mandala and the person with the hands and feet coming out of the head that I've come to expect from my own childhood drawings (my mom saved them!) and from Striker.

Of course, I'm trying to be a good artful parent by not encouraging her to draw a person, but rather understanding that it will come in time when she's ready.  

But here's my question... Why, when we are "allowed" to encourage our child's first steps, are we "not allowed" to urge our child to draw a person?

Why is one labelled helpful encouragement whereas the other might supposedly stunt the child's artistic exploration by moving them out of the scribbling stage prematurely and showing that you value realistic drawings over others? I wouldn't want her to start drawing people just for my approval or to stop drawing altogether out of frustration.

I don't know the answer to my question, but I'll continue to encourage Maia's scribbles while waiting (quietly) for the first sign of realistic drawing.

Any thoughts?  

How to Make a Trip to the Art Museum FUN for Your Child

Can we make visits to the art museum fun for young children? I think so. I take Maia to the North Carolina Museum of Art every time we visit Raleigh. It’s a low-key, small-city museum close to my in-laws home and it’s free, which means I can show up with Maia, walk through a few galleries, ride up and down the elevator a few times, talk about the colors and subjects about a couple of paintings, and walk out after an hour. If there were a kid-friendly and inexpensive café or cafeteria in which to have a snack or treat, we could probably even stretch the visit out to an hour an a half or so. But there isn’t, so we don’t. Â

Most art museums are not free, but if I still lived in Boston, or some other city with a variety of great art museums, I’d probably become a member of one or two favorites so I could do the same thing with my daughterâ€"waltz in and out in under an hour if need be, both to get my art fix and to share beautiful and thought-provoking art with herâ€"without worrying about trying to get the most out of my $10 admission fee. Five hour museum visits are a thing of the past for me, at least at the moment. Art museums and toddler tantrums are not a happy combination for anyone.

I’ll share with you my tips for a successful museum visit with toddlers or preschoolers. I’m still working it out myself, and definitely welcome tips that any of you might have! And, of course, I can’t guarantee success every time. In fact, our visit this weekend to the NC Museum of Art will not go down on the list of best museum trips ever. It was only saved because my husband took Maia to the interactive children’s education room, and with the infinite patience he has for her, proceeded to turn tears to laughter and fun while I browsed the new exhibit of modern art and checked out the children’s book section of the museum store.Â

With a little effort, your trips to the art museum can be magical rather than a chore for your child, and possibly even ignite their own love of art. Frankly, at this age, art is probably a lot more fun to MAKE than to LOOK AT. But if you keep the trip short and exciting, with liberal breaks at the café and museum store, and balance the day with some outdoor time at a playground or park to get the wiggles out, then you are well on your way to a successful museum visit.Â

So here are my tips. Adjust them as necessary for your family. I wish you many happy visits to your favorite art museums…Â

 1. Above all, keep the visit short. The actual time will probably depend on your child and the day. For a toddler, an hour is probably enough. An hour and a half is my daughter’s absolute max. A preschooler might be able to do two hours (I’m just guessing, we’re not there yet. Any thoughts from experienced museum-goer parents of young children?). Â

2. Choose the most interesting art to visit and look atâ€"whether the big, bold Jackson Pollack, or the sculpture garden, or the surreal Time Transfixed by René Magritte, of a train popping through a fireplace. The art you see may or may not be your favorite. Or at least intersperse your favorites with the toddler-pleasers. Â

3. Talk about the interesting, fun, or funny aspects of the piece of art. Rather than spend 10 minutes in mute admiration in front of a painting (as I have been known to do), look for something to discuss with your child. Forget about Art History 101 for now and just talk about the train in the fireplace, the colors, the animals in the picture, or the man’s long mustache. Â

4. Take a break! After 30-45 minutes of exploring the museums collection, take a break. If the museum has a kid-friendly café or cafeteria, have a snack or a special treat. Personally, I’m trying to get Maia hooked on museums so that she will willingly come with me for the rest of her life, and I’m not above a little bribery. So I am trying to engage all the senses, including taste and smell, to create a memorable experience. If there isn’t a café, then consider having a snack near the museum’s entrance or even just riding up and down in the elevators for a few minutes if that’s what’ll make your child happy. Â

5. You can look at more art after the café break, but keep it short. Â

6. Stop at the museum shop to buy a book, poster, or a postcard for your child to take home. Â

7. Then leave the museum while you’re both still in a good mood! You can talk about the visit afterwards when you hang the poster or read your new book that evening, but keep it light. The point is to make the museum trip fun so they want to go back. Â

Maia's Painting in Red and Black

Maia painted this recently with red and black tempera paint on canvas. It's hanging in her room now, above baby's bed.

A Failed Batch of Rubbery Flubbery Dough

Yesterday I tried something new with Maia and her friend, Marlise. We were planning to make a new batch of the Playclay (play dough) recipe from Kohl's First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos, but realized at the last minute that we didn't have enough cream of tartar. We had all the ingredients for the Rubbery Flubbery Dough though (salt, corn starch, and water) so decided to make that instead.

First Maia and Marlise mixed the cornstarch and water together.

 Â

I boiled water and salt over the burner, then added the cornstarch mixture.

We let it cool, kneaded it, and then tried playing with it.

  Â

The dough was definitely rubbery and flubbery, but was very sticky and didn't stay together properly. Perhaps I didn't cook it long enough. The kids didn't mind though, as you can see above!Â

Children's Picture Book Illustrations

You can share beautiful art with your children everyday by reading picture books. I love books. And having a toddler means that I can enjoy picture books all over again. Some I choose (since I'm still doing a lot of the choosing) for the stories, some for the illustrations, and some for both.

There are many wonderful artists out there illustrating books for children and we can see their art on a regular basis for the small price of a book or with our library card. A few books we love for their illustrations:

Winter Waits and Wild Child by Lynn Plourde with illustrations by Greg Couch

Grandfather Twilight and A Lot of Otters by Barbara Helen Berger

Tangerines and Tea: My Grandparents and Me: An Alphabet Book by Ona Gritz with illustrations by Yumi Heo

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino with illustrations by Steven Kellogg

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

The Mole Sisters and the Question (and other Mole Sisters books) by Roslyn Schwartz

Which children's books do you love for their illustrations? I'd love to hear your favorites...

Salty Watercolors Follow Up

The salty watercolors we made in the Toddler Art Group yesterday have dried and I wanted to share the finished result with you since the difference is more than I expected. The painting on the top is still wet and the one below is the dried salty watercolor. Both of these are details of Thalia's painting.

The dried salty watercolor below is by Stella.

And this one is by Justin.

Fine Art for Kids' Rooms?

I saw this yesterday on OhDeeDoh, a fun blog about design for children. The image, of a 3-year-old girl who has an expensive art collection in her playroom, is from a 2006 New York Times article "The Playroom of Modern Art" by Ginny Chien. Why would parents spend $20,ooo on an art collection for a 2 or 3 year old, you ask? Here's a quote from the article:

"...purchasing fine art for toddlers is the latest way for Hollywood parents to nurture little A-list intellects. These youngsters won't just be smart -- they'll be creative, unorthodox thinkers, and they'll have good taste, too."

Of course I want Maia to grow up to be smart, creative, an unorthodox thinker, and to have good taste. Who doesn't? But I don't have an extra $20,000 for the art collection that will supposedly foster those traits. And if I did, I'd probably spend it on a trip around the world, or some other eye-opening experience (as much for me and my husband as for her), rather than the art collection. I also think that encouraging a child to make art herself is a better way to encourage creativity and unorthodox thinking than looking at art someone else made, especially in the early years. Â

Since I don't have thousands of dollars to buy modern art for my toddler's bedroom/playroom, and since many of you probably don't either, here are a few inexpensive alternatives to decorating a child's room with art:

Your Child's Art - Give your child's art the star treatment by matting and framing it and hanging it in her room (and around the house). And if it's an abstract toddler drawing or painting, then it looks super modern!

Illustrations from Favorite Picture Books - Mat and frame your favorite illustrations from children's picture books. There are some amazing artists out there making beautiful illustrations for children's books. Hang one, or a series, on the wall. Whether you buy a new book for this purpose or pick up a copy at a library book sale or yard sale, it's still a lot cheaper than most art.

A Poster or Print - So it's not original, but it's inexpensive. Visit Art.com or Allposters.com and search by artist, subject, or even color. Or, when visiting an art museum, buy prints or even just postcards of your favorite art, then mat and frame it. (I know I'm repeating myself about the matting and framing, but a mat and a frame makes everything look great! And besides, I used to be a preparator at an art museum and matted and framed stuff for a living.)

Ephemeral Art - Put up a chalkboard to encourage art that changes day to day.

Original Art - If you insist on original art, take this idea from ohdeedoh and look on Etsy for inexpensive, original art. Or become a patron of local artists who haven't had their big break yet.

Any other ideas? Post a comment... I'd love to hear from you.