For those of you who don’t know me beside the blog and the Twitter I am obsessed with Art in all it’s various forms. I even studied that stuff in school and have gotten pretty good at it…making it and the history of it.

I’ve started writing a small-ish series that can also be found on my blog at iHeart Single Parents and I thought I would share here some of my experience with bringing art into the homey space…let me know what you think!
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Kiddos are the most amazing artists. They see the world and the objects that inhabit it with untainted eyes. Truly it’s the because of my little Monkey (aka my four year old son) that I have experienced a rebirth in my own artistic drive. I’ve been painting, singing, writing and might even take a pottery class to work on something for our backyard.

Most certainly, creating can be a smidgen frightening to those of us who think of ourselves as lacking artistic talent naturally, right? Well, fear not fellow single parent travelers there are ways for all of us to create beautiful works of art with our kiddos and expose them to the world of art without exposing our lack of natural ability and maybe uncovering a hidden talent or two!

In the beginning start small. Begin with exposing your littlest one’s to pictures, books, music and the great outdoors to help them appreciate colors, shapes and sounds. The most fun thing to do is taking a walk outside and pointing out nature and how it moves and the color associated with the life in the world around us. I found that Chronicle Kids has a great variety of books that can help teach about art and even famous artists throughout history in a way that even I an art history major was able to learn a thing or twelve!

Let’em make a mess! Kids of all ages love to make a mess and when you add color and perspective you can help any kiddo find the inner Monet or Dali. Honestly, I was always worried about making too big a mess since we lived with my Mom and Dad in their really nice house but, my Mom gave me some tips that helped me out hugely and saved me some cash in the process. Keep supplies simple to start out with and just have fun…from the craft store: water based paint, wooden shapes/letters and butcher paper; from the hardware store: disposable plastic tarps, blue painters tape and a hose. Pick a space either in your house or outside to tape the tarp down (they can be used again and again) and if you’re Tot is toddling secure the area with boxes or a baby gate.

As your kids begin to create crafts, projects and explore don’t forget to keep a place for them to showcase their work to everyone who comes to your home space. In our cubby we call home we’ve got two spaces that I call the Door of Monkey…

This is where we post up anything he’s made at pre-school or at home with me or at Grandma’s House. I used a very cool product call Mounting Putty that is totally removeable and doesn’t leave residue on rented walls! Seeing his work up on the door gives him a wicked cool sense of pride and let’s him show off his latest pieces. The second place is in his room on his bedroom door and the Monkey gets to pick what special pieces go there for him to always see.

Remember creating with your kids is really about sharing something with our little people and guiding them to discover what hidden creativity we all possess whether it’s just knowing how to make a good mess orbeing the next FridaKahlo.

Stay tuned from more innovative and fun ways to bringArt and Creativity intothe lives of the kidlets we love.