The Art Box

This is the final Art Box post.

M is at a point now where he’s drawing the same thing over and over and over again.  And then one more time.  He still loves his art box, perhaps more now than ever, and gets it out at least once a day.  But I feel that the quality of the posts I’m writing about this aren’t worth the time and effort I put into them.  I will continue to take pictures of his artwork for his little memory box and of course we’ll save some of it.  I just won’t be posting about it every week.  I am hoping to do at least one, maybe two, structured art projects with him per week that I’ll try to post about.  Or maybe one art project, and one craft project, depending on the season (and my need to craft ;) ).

So, for an ending note, I thought I’d share with you about the variety of things that go into M’s art box and how I switch them out each week.  Occasionally, when I’m feeling brave, I let him into my craft drawers to pick his own supplies for the week. :)  

There are some art basics that are always in the box, which I replenish as needed. 

BASIC ART SUPPLIES:

1. paper – usually this is a combination of newsprint and construction paper.  For a change once in a while I add in some colorful tissue paper, fun foam, scraps of wrapping paper, or aluminum foil.
2. scissors – the safety kind for children are always in his box.  I also add in one or two pairs of my craft scissors (with fancy designs) from time to time.
3. glue – basic white school glue.  If interest in gluing wanes, adding a few drops of food coloring to the bottle and shaking it up (or stirring it in with the pointy end of a small paintbrush) can revive interest pretty quickly!  Glitter glue is always a big hit too!
4. drawing utensils – this can be crayons, oil pastels, markers, colored pencils, gel pens, chalk, etc.  Lately there have been two to three of these in his box at one time – did I mention a lot of drawing has been going on here?
5. paints – fairly non-messy paints include watercolors, roll-on paints, and do-a-dot painters.  I also have a small pill container that I keep a little tempera paint in.  It has seven sections – perfect for the six primary and secondary colors, plus white.  M has been painting since he was born (well, maybe not quite that early) and isn’t all that messy anymore.  For a younger child, or one that hasn’t painted much, the temperas should be used under supervision, for the sake of mom’s sanity. ;)
6. paintbrushes – chunky and big, as well as thin and small.  Foam paintbrushes are a fun change too, as is a mini paint roller.
7. collage materials – this can be just about anything.  Torn pieces of paper, catalogs (Christmas ones are lots of fun!), tissue paper, fabric pieces, or ribbons.  I also keep a small divided container in M’s art box and it’s usually filled some combination of the following items:
   1. pom poms
   2. googley eyes
   3. buttons
   4. beads (usually pony beads or foam beads)
   5. sequins
   6. shapes from craft punches
   7. dyed macaroni
   8. glass mosaic pieces (like what you find in stepping stone kits)
   9. seashells
   10. cotton balls

Extras – depending on space, I try to have a couple of the following extra items in his art box each week:

1. craft sticks
2. pipe cleaners
3. stickers – foam or regular, occasionally something fancy like pop-up stickers
4. tape – colored, scotch, double stick, masking, or electrical
5. glitter
6. play dough that is just beginning to get old (this is great for making sculptures to stick things into!), or is being replaced by new play dough
7. something new to paint – like a wooden train car, airplane, or those bendable wooden snakes and crocodiles; small ceramic or plaster items would be fun too 
8. stencils
9. stamps
10. feathers
11. new things to paint with – a bath pouf, crumpled plastic wrap, porcupine balls, potato masher, small cars with that make neat tread marks – just about anything will work for this!

I know there are many, many more things that could be added to this list.  If you have a favorite that isn’t here, leave it in the comments!  One of the reasons I started writing these posts was to share ideas and get ideas from other mamas so our Art Box would always hold something interesting for M.  I’d love to hear about your child’s favorite art supply!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Internet Detox – what I’ve learned

Well, I am still having computer-email-internet-wireless trouble.  Over the past 1 1/2 weeks it has gone from pretty bad to worse, to much worse, and then back to just pretty bad again. :)  I am waiting for our ISP to send us a new router and then my sweet husband will set that up, hopefully with no trouble, and I’ll be up and running again!

I have learned a few things during this unexpected detox period:

1. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
2. When one is in a state of frustration, it’s generally not the right time to go around pushing the factory “reset” button on every piece of computer hardware within one’s reach. 
3. Especially if one doesn’t know exactly how to reconfigure everything (see number 1 above).
4. Sometimes I mentally narrate the inanities of my life in facebook speak. This annoys me.
5. I do still know how to look up information with a real dictionary and/or encyclopedia.
6. Somehow not having internet access for a few days makes my house cleaner. 
7. Email can be ignored and the world will not fall apart.
8. Reading a book, sewing jammies and new pants for a sweet boy, making a new wreath for our home, going out with girlfriends, and singing Yankee Doodle over and over and over again with a 4 year old are all pretty nice ways of spending my time.
9. If no one is reading what I am writing, it helps me remember that I enjoy writing just for the sake of writing.
10. If I write blog posts away from an internet connection (thank you, Windows Live Writer), they get finished much more quickly, and I can write 5 posts in one evening.  (It has something to do with not playing sudoku and numbrix online between paragraphs.)

For the time being, I’m hooking myself up to our beast of a computer and scheduling out about a gazillion posts that I’ve written on Live Writer over the past week. :)  And then I’m going to go sing Yankee Doodle with M one more time.

Have a beautiful day! :)