Tea & A Good Book Brewing- Installment 4, The Artful Parent

I am not an artist.

Nor do I consider myself to be particularly creative.

To be honest, my tendency towards neatness and order has a way of stifling the creative tendencies in my house because... well... creativity is messy!!!

Maybe this is why The Artful Parent, by Jean Van't Hul, has me so intrigued...it speaks to something that I want more of and it gives me hope.

Could a non-artistic person like me be an artful parent?

Browsing through this book and seeing the pictures and interesting projects has given me the confidence to say, "YES!"

Here is a quote from the book:
You can invite art into your home with your actions, your words, your attitude, and the activities you offer. You can do it by having the space to do art, making art materials available, and introducing new concepts and activities.

The author also says,
I define an artful activity as any that's full of art, beauty, and creativity. As parents, there are innumerable ways we can make our family life more artful. While painting, drawing and other traditional art-making methods are the obvious choices, many other activities can also be considered artful:

• Trying out new science experiments
• Taking a nature walk
• Baking
• Planning a teddy-bear party

I am comforted by that list! If things like taking walks and collecting leaves & acorns, putting worms into mason jars and waiting for butterflies, and making monster cookie bars with my children counts, then maybe I am more artful than I thought!

According to Jean Van't Hul, there are many benefits of artful living...it promotes creativity,encourages neural connections, builds fine motor skills, is a precursor to writing, develops problem-solving abilities, helps children understand themselves and their world, and helps children connect.

With a convincing list like that, what more incentive do we need to break out the paintbrushes? 

One of the things I like best about this book is that it doesn't involve patterns for this paper pilgrim and that owl with the googly eyes. Nor does it have fussy supply lists. Rather, it taps into the child's imagination (and maybe the mother's too!) and makes use of some very basic things (paints, markers, marshmallows, salt, things from the recycling bin, straws, even a flyswatter) to make interesting projects and some really neat artwork!

The book has two parts. Part One: Preparing for Art, talks about methods, materials and how to incorporate art into your lifestyle. Part Two: Artful Activities, has different chapters (first forays into art, getting fancy, art for playdates, parties & groups) and within those chapters are 61 artful activities, all of which are very well prepared, with lists of materials and instructions. The activities are targeted for children ages 1-8.

The author has a chapter called Gathering Art Supplies, in which she goes over the different kinds of paints (something I am always a little confused about!), what drawing implements and papers work well, and her ideas for collage supplies, glue & glitter. Most helpful of all are the lists: My Top Ten Art Materials for Toddlers, My Top Ten Art Materials for Preschoolers and My Top Ten Art Materials for School-Age Kids, which really helps me know what to have on hand. Some of the things on the lists are probably already in most homes (at least if ours is typical!) And while the occasional project or recipe described in the book may call for something you don't have, most of the items are quite accessible.

I am especially interested in the Homemade Art Materials To Make & Enjoy chapter of the book, which includes recipes for things such as, play dough (both cooked & no-cook), puffy paint, salt dough, teddy bear rolls, edible paint (doesn't that sound like fun?), air-dry clay and even homemade finger paints!!!

On top of everything else, the book is full of great pictures, making it a colorful, fun & inspiring book for browsing.

I feel sure that The Artful Parent would be at home on the bookshelf of any family with young children. I don't own a copy yet- the one I am using comes from the library and will eventually have to be returned so that you can borrow it- but I hope to procure a copy for keeping someday soon!

Elasa has a keen interest in the book- and not because I introduced it to her as our newest art curriculum! In fact, she & Gavin discovered it on their own (it is rather attractive!) and found pictures of something they wanted to try: building "sculptures" with marshmallows and toothpicks.

When Elasa saw me writing this post with the book by my side, she wanted to try more things, so she made Bubble Prints, as that was something that could be easily done with the supplies we had on hand (bubble-blowing solution, food coloring, shallow baking dish, drinking straw & paper.)

Elasa has dreams of being an artist and she loves projects she can do with her hands, so this book is right up her alley! Even though it is written more for the parent, the Artful Activities are understandably attractive to children. Elasa is currently begging for certain supplies we don't have yet so she can do more projects!

After the bubble picture, Elasa went on do some finger-painting (no, these were not homemade, but rather the Beloved Crayola variety)

Elasa made two pictures of Queen Esther. One of her walking and one of her in her boat.

You did know Queen Esther had a boat, right?

And therein lies the beauty of imagination displayed through art.

Therein lies the joy of being an artful parent...

Handing our children a set of keys to unlock a whole lot of potential.

Never mind that those keys are covered in glue & glitter and that you just might need a scrub brush to set your world right when they're through.

Oh, yes... and a cup of tea, too!