I am excited to share a series of guest posts with you by other Artful Parents and teachers while I step back from the blog a bit this month! I hope you enjoy the new perspectives, different ideas, and fresh energy that each brings to this space. And I encourage you to leave a comment to continue the discussion, add your own viewpoint, or simply say thanks!
Guest Post by Amanda Bridle
In the past, my valentine projects have been entirely of my own doing or they have incorporated my daughter's artwork but still were mostly an adult project. This year, with my daughter now being 3 years old, I was hoping to give her a little more creative control.
I had previously purchased a circle Fiskars squeeze punch for use in creating ornamental balls. The large handles make it very easy to use and we recently discovered that even my preschooler could successfully manage it. This inspired me to purchase a heart-shaped punch for our valentine creating!
I have long saved interesting scrap paper, old magazines, and packaging for projects such as this. In fact, my favorite item to punch from this time around was the background from a Barbie package! The illustrator or graphic designer who worked on it probably didn't think anyone would appreciate their efforts but I did! I also got out our small heart paper punch (too difficult for little fingers) and we sat down together to do some "arting"( as she calls it). I was pleasantly surprised to see her carefully consider what would show in her heart before punching it. That's another bonus of this style of punch – you can see exactly what you get. I gathered up all of our hearts in a box while we punched away together.
When she was ready to move on, we got out the glue stick. It's a simple adhesive--perfect for little hands working on fine motor skills. I originally wanted to find solid color postcards to use as our base but I ended up working with one of my craft standbys: solid color cards with blank interiors. I liked seeing how she carefully arranged the different pieces. So often her compositions turn out wonderfully spare and modern!
As a finishing touch, my daughter requested the envelopes so she could decorate them as well. Craftime ended when bedtime arrived but only after I promised we could work on the valentines again. She really seemed to enjoy this card-making session.
---
Amanda Bridle is a mom of two beautiful and entertaining daughters, a graphic designer for one fabulous public library, and an aspiring sewer and quilter. She documents her projects and inspirations at the appropriately-named blog Make Time, Make Art.
