Pumpkin Painting for Halloween.

This is so easy for little ones and big ones. I got my inspiration from some paintings I saw in a local gallery and I went out and bought some acrylic paint from Michaels. The store has a sale on so these paints came to 50cents each, Squeeze the paint over the pumpkins, these are mini hand sized pumpkins, great for kids to take to school for show and share. Let them loose with all the paints and away they go. 

They loved seeing the paints blend, drip and form shapes. I found it so much fun that I was inspired to create a personalised card using the same dribbling method. Acrylics take very little time to dry but I left these out to dry, undercover, overnight. It is a quick and easy project. They will look awesome for Halloween decorations and Thanks Giving table decorations. 

Back to School?

If you live in British Columbia and do not send your kids to an independent school then you know the pain parents are going through currently. June 17th was the last time kids were in school, two weeks before they broke-up for summer and it is September 3rd and a there seems to be no end to the strike. I have looked desperately for an independent school but they do not have space for both kids, I can get one or the other in but not both. I am also looking for alternative help, Kumon, Sylvan, that can help with extra studies but these are also expensive alternatives and the $40 per child per day only covers half the cost. We did have a tutor that came in from Tutor Doctor  but the issue we had was we had a wonderful tutor who loved to teach maths but she left to take a full time job and we had an alternative who preferred English. It was fine but I did not like the disruption of changing tutors just as my child was getting into a rhythm.

I am acutely aware that if I do not help my kids along sooner than later then they will fall behind quickly. The schools here in BC have long summer holidays and it has been proven that skills are lost during long summer breaks. Throughout the summer my children have been reading, the summer program at the library has been very useful. One of the things I lack in is teaching my kids is maths, mainly because it does not come easily to me and my mental arrhythmic is appalling due to lack of practice during my younger years plus I was not taught well from the start. My husband on the other hand whom was privately educated and went to a prestigious school in England, oozes confidence and has a much better handle on many subjects but he is so busy with work that he is unable to help my cause (when I say busy, it is seven days a week, lucky to get a few hours of his time). I can't complain my husband is earning money to keep a roof over our heads. Also, it is harder to explain the value of money nowadays because we use cards so often to pay for goods. I do give my children cash for chores and try to teach them to save which seems to be working. The problem with taking my girls out so they can understand how to use money and calculate what change they will get;  in Canada until you get to the till you have no idea what the actual cost is. This is due to the tax(es), they do not appear on the ticket. So if my kids look for something worth $2 then we know they need more but because we do not know what tax amount to calculate before we get to the cashier because the government tax many items differently depending on what it is. It is challenging to teach and get a grasp on  how much one needs to pay. It is ridiculous. In England what you see on the label is what you pay making it easier to see what amount you have in your hand and handing the money to the cashier and if there is change it can be calculated beforehand.

So to make these challenges less of a problem I have purchased a number of exercise books and games; crossword puzzles, word search, paint by number, bingo, Monopoly, educational books, maths books, reading and writing and sketch books for art projects. Here are a selection:

4 Cats Art History Books

4 Cats Art History Books

The books below were bought from the Dollar store for $3 each. They are great and the kids love them too.

There are also a number of TV shows that help. My kids love The Magic School Bus and Horrible Histories. There are also some good websites that I have yet to explore.

Putting a lesson plan in place will help too. Kids love routine so for my 6 and 8 year old my plan looks something like this:

8am Breakfast
9am Quiet reading and read to me individually
9.30am English activity, word search, writing practice, reading aloud etc (depends on age)
10am playtime and snack
10:30am Maths activity, counting games, card games, Bingo, exercise book, times table
11:00am Art or Physical activity
11:30am help to prep food for lunch, set table
12:00 eat, clear table, play
1pm Read, writing, drama, physical activity
2pm Learning about art, history, science experiment
3pm play
4pm help with preparing food or setting table or chores in general.

It gives you a guideline and of course you can mix it up with outings and day trips that they rarely get in a school environment. It helps to get kids back into a routine and I can tell you they will love you for it.

If you have any suggestions, books, Educations shows, learning sites on the web, I would love to hear.

River Market New Westminster

Yesterday we decided to go somewhere we have not been before, River Market in New Westminster. We wanted to eat somewhere different than our usual places and discovered this market. It runs parallel with Columbia Street by the Fraser River. It is a lovely walk, watching the tug boats feeling the cool breeze.

When we arrived there was an artisan fair on and there were some lovely jewelry designs and hats and hair accessories to be found. The girls and I chose an item from Chlona Art's stall. She has some wonderful pins, hair accessories and earrings at very reasonable prices.

There are many events on at the River Market; Zumba, bands, Lego, they even have a circus school.

 It is amazing what is on your doorstep and sometimes we never venture to it. 

Outside there is a mock-up tug boat for the children to play in. It has all the controls used in a boat that can be flicked, switched and pressed.

The tallest tin soldier. He is huge.

Birthday Party - Creating Plates

My kids went to a birthday party at the local arts centre and this is what them came home with.  How cool is that! What better way to spend a celebration and all the kids get to bring something home that they made all by themselves.

New Year clean-up

I am trying my hardest to teach the kids to keep their belongings tidy and place them in a spot where they can find them. It is a battle.

However, here is one of my ideas, I would like to call it a solution but it will probably be a temporary solution, kids are notorious for being untidy and have time to play but not for clean-up. Besides, kids should be kids and not have to worry about these things too much but a little nudging helps. But when my girls do tidy their room they are spotless, I love it.

They have a an art desk with draws but instead of placing the art materials in a orderly fashion it is all displaced and spread over several draws. So now we have a paper draw, a pen draw and paint draw and materials draw and these lovely little pots are for easy access for everyday needs, $1.25 each.

4Cats Art Studio for Kids

During the summer my kids went to 4Cats. It is a fantastic place for kids to paint, create, play with clay and learn about artists. They painted the pirate ships as per the image and they made a small cup and an owl with clay, plus a paper mache animal. They are now on full display on a shelf. They are amazing pieces of work any artist would be proud of.

Wish I had a kids art studio to go to as a kid.

xxx

Fairy paintings

Happy New Year 2013!

Time has flown and I have been busy creating and organising and getting through some challenging times but I am feeling up-beat for this year and have been creating with the kids.

Latest WIP, fairy paintings with sequins for a bit of glam.

First stage:



Second stage:


MM 6 yrs, Mum, VM 4 years.

Art Center

Here is the start of the art center but I think I will call it the art station, it is coming along nicely. Basically it has all the kids things in there. It includes, paper, paint, pens, brushes, glue, gluing sticks, books and so on. 

In my perfect world I would paint the bookcase white but it would be a shame to change it because it is lovely as is. In the perfect world my photos would be staged, looking just so and the display would stay untarnished but as we know, in the real world we make a mess so here it is raw as can be and it will only get worse. Enjoy!

Paint, paint pots, brushes etc. 

Area for creations big and small.