Art with Kids: it's easier than I thought

This spring we joined a Tuesday afternoon homeschooling group for their final six week session.  The kids are split into two groups, 1st-3rd grades and 4th-6th grades, that spend an hour on one subject and then switch subjects for the second hour.   This spring it was art and soccer.  Soccer was pretty straight forward, but it's the art class format that I'd like to share!

Julie, the teacher, shared a little about an artist and one of their primary styles of art, then she had an activity planned that allowed the kids to try out the artistic method.  So simple, so genius!

Above, you can see a sample of some of Elizabeth's renderings: Picasso/Cubism, Seurat/Pointillism, Escher/Patterns (two projects), and Van Gogh/Impasto (thick chunky paint that they mimicked with clay on cardboard).  Sadly, Elizabeth missed the watercolor week.  If you like that art display rod, it's a wire curtain rod you can pick up at Ikea for $12.99; Colin gets the credit for that great idea!

Our group has adjourned for the summer, but it occurred to me that I could continue with Tuesday art appreciation and projects!  I got the wonderful book to the right at the beginning of the school year, but haven't really used it ... until now.  Wa-hoo!  Embarrassingly, there are project ideas in the book I could have taken advantage of.  There's a brief two-page description of an artist including examples of his/her work with suggestions of how you might try it out.  This book in conjunction with Julie's art class have taken away the feeling I need to be an expert in art to teach or share it with my children.

Today we read about Henri Matisse and gave a some free-hand silhouette collage a try.  Elizbeth really got into it, while Brian mutilated a piece of black paper with scissors and then glued and taped a piece of yellow construction paper into a wad ... completely missing the point of the lesson while thoroughly enjoying himself in proper two-almost-three year old fashion!

There are so many beautiful art styles out there using such a variety of media!  You can get online too, and do a Google image search of an artist's work, even if you can't get to a museum.  We'll have to save our field trip to Matisse's museum in France for another day, but that didn't mean we couldn't enjoy him this morning!

On Letter Writing

I am a letter writer.  Problem is, not many other people are.  It's a dying art with all of the quick electronic communication these days.

I'm trying to pass along to my children the fun of writing and receiving letters.  Thank you to the faithful few  who regularly write back!  We love, love, love getting mail.  Seriously, really LOVE it!

Elizabeth working on writing small letters
so the address fits on the envelope.

When is a good opportunity to write a letter, you might ask?

• holidays - a wonderful time to send a craft or a note to family members or friends
• birthdays - this is a no-brainer, right?
• sickness/sympathy - you don't have to write a lot of words to brighten someone's day; it's a blessing to know people are thinking of and praying for you
• anytime - when someone you love comes to mind (getting a card in the mail is WAY cooler than an email, even though it is slower to get there)
• when you feel thankful - did someone do something for you, invest in you, get you a gift?  Drop a note of thanks in the mail!
• when someone needs a little encouragement - an "I believe in you!" or "I'm praying for you!" note can really work wonders in dark places
• sponsored kids - if your family sponsors a child in another country, you can all write to him/her regularly
• parent or grandparent at work - send dad or mom a letter at work, maybe pictures to hang in their office or cube.  I think this is really fun!

Brian's letters right now consist of scribbles and stickers.

Do any of these things bring to mind someone you can write to today?  Getting kids involved in letter writing is the funnest!  They can write to their friends or make a picture to include in your card.  Letter writing can be just another little subtle step in helping them look outside themselves to think about loving someone else.  We can all use more practice at that!

For me, getting a letter in the mail is like receiving a gift.  I think, Wow, that person, at some point in their life in the last week, set aside time to think of and write to me.  You may not feel quite so excited by a piece of paper with ink on it, but I'm sure you have crazy people like me in your life who would love to hear from you!  What are you waiting for?  Go write a letter!

A Friday to Remember

Thursday I learned that a friend had Nutcracker tickets for Friday she couldn't use.  I hemmed and hawed about what I should do; I didn't have anyone to watch Brian, but the tickets were free so if he acted up we could leave.  Finally I said to myself, This is silly.  It's free Nutcracker tickets (a show Elizabeth will love) for goodness sake.  Just go!

School lessons were scrapped for Friday and we went to the early-in-the-day show.  Thanks, Heather!

It was snowing as we left.

The scenes were beautiful!

This little guy made it through the whole 2 hour show!

Elizabeth seemed so grown up.

In the evening, my mom (who's a children's ministries director at a local church) had organized A Night in Bethlehem at the church.  So many volunteered to make the event happen.  The church multi-purpose building was turned into Bethlehem - complete with a stable with a real donkey and calf - and kids could be counted for the census, experience Shabbat prayers, see baby Jesus, Mary & Joseph in the stable, do crafts at different stations around the room, taste foods, etc.  Many times my children were told how much God loves them.  Over 500 attended the event that only spanned 2.5 hours.  I could imagine how crazy it must have been in the little town of Bethlehem, when there was no room at the inn.  (Though modern day folks sure smell better!)

griding up grains with stones to make flour

the goats!

drawing coins from the era

making flour

We crashed (late) after all of the excitement.  Surely a day to get into the Christmas spirit!

Phipps, & Light Up Night

I felt I needed to do those parenting posts in succession, so it is very much time for a "fun" post about what we've been up to!

Here's Brian's new trick:

(This is supposed to be a video, but it wouldn't up-load.

Brian can do a somersault!) 

We've been to Phipps Conservatory - where I want to live all winter!
They're getting ready for the Christmas flower show.

The Christmas train display is out and Brian was delighted!

waiting for a train to come through the tunnel

the little trains in side displays

Pittsburgh celebrated its 50th anniversary "Light Up Night" this weekend.  It's a time each year that they light up all of the Christmas lights downtown and the city gets lookin' all festive n'at.

The Creche outside the US Steel building

A new event: horse-drawn carriage parade! 

And after this picture, the camera battery died.

This is the abrupt end of this post.

Bowling, Anyone?

My nephew, Isaac, turned 5 and had a bowling party Saturday afternoon!

preparing to sing

appreciating the singing

Brian was way into it!

Michelle (Isaac's mom), Michelle, and me
(sister & sister-in-law: yes, my children have two aunt Michelles!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISAAC!

A Week "Away"

We spent last week house and dogsitting for my parents who enjoyed a trip to Brazil (so jealous!) Throughout the week, we passed the time doing school, hanging out with siblings' families, enjoying my parent's (enormous) yard, and visiting local attractions.

Meet Barney, Brian's best friend

Tree climbing!

Sliding with Aunt Michelle

(that's my elem school in the background)

playing with trucks, paper clips, & magnets

(Brian and cousin Isaac)

exploring the creek at Penn Hills Park

Oakmont Bakery and Riverview Park

minigolfing for my sister's birthday:

cousins!

sister Michelle and bro-in-law, Adam, at the back

I had an extraordinarily good time being back where I grew up (now only 40 min away!) Mom said we can do it again for a few days at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to it!

Where would you hang out in your hometown if you had a week to "vacation" there?

Elizabeth's Educational Endeavors

Today Elizabeth and I started working on an alphabet collage of sorts, an idea that came to me last week that I've been very excited about doing. Thankfully, E found it quite fun, searching for letters in magazines and pasting them onto the paper. She took capital and I the lower case; but we helped each other as needed. J was particularly challenging to find in larger than 10 or 12pt font. We made it half way through and will finish up tomorrow. Here are a couple of pictures of the work in progress.

This week we began reading picture books about Presidents' Day, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Yesterday when E was playing independently, she built the White House you see below. The president (a stuffed lion, chosen because his mane reminded her of Washington's hair style) is sleeping inside. The flag was a project earlier in the year, but she had me write on it: Presidents' Day is coming. Please meet the President in Washington, D.C. at the White House. You may also note her medieval secret service men, guarding the place.

This morning, she made soup while we played outside. It had snow, twigs, leaves, and pine needles, which were, of course, different kinds of herbs and spices. She was quite into this self-created activity, stirring and mashing it with a push-handle from one of the cars on the playground. It was almost like she was hosting her own cooking show.

Ice Skating!

MIT has a skating rink that's open off and on throughout the week during the winter. I got some money for Christmas and purchased ice skates for Elizabeth and myself. Since we already belong to the athletic center, skating is "free" (seeing as now we don't have to pay for rental skates.) Today we went for the third time; we're going once a week.

I don't know how long it takes to learn how to skate, but I think that E's doing a great job getting a hang of the balance and building up her confidence. When she gets nervous she giggles in a really silly way that gets on my nerves, so I'm not always the most patient teacher ... but I do love spending time with Elizabeth, watching her grow up and seeing how willing she is to try new things. After our first skating session, she came home and told her dad that she already knew everything about skating! Where does she get such confidence?!

(sorry this video is sideways)

You get a little taste of the silliness at the end of this one.

Winter Indoor Entertainment

Brian needs to burn off energy every day. But in the winter, it's not always practical to play outside. So we recently rearranged the furniture to allow for a nice long running space from livingroom into the kitchen. We've taken advantage of it a lot since; and here are some videos of a couple of yesterday's activities.

Playing ball in the house!

Brian got these blocks from Santa;

I just discovered a wonderful use for them!

E leaves Brian in the dust.

He always paused right before plowing through.

Ballet Recital

Elizabeth's friends joined a ballet class in the middle of the fall and invited E to join them. She LOVED it! She was particularly excited that they danced to part of the Nutcracker.

She took the class at The Dance Complex in Central Square. I highly recommend the dear teachers who took such good care of our girls and maintained their delight in dancing.

Christmas Story Party

I haven't posted in a while because I've been spending my free-ish time getting ready for this morning's Christmas Story Party that our church is sponsoring here where we live.

Around Thanksgiving, the Lord placed on my heart the desire to share the real Christmas story with my neighbors. I had entertained the idea of an Advent Bible study, of sorts, but when one of the pastors mentioned the excellent story telling in the Jesus Storybook Bible, it occurred to me that we could do a kids event! (Thanks, Bradley!) My dear friend and Children's Ministry director, Lydia, jumped right in with me to get it planned. (Thanks, Lydia!)

So this morning from 10-11:30am, we will be making crafts, sharing the Christmas story, singing some carols, and icing cookies with at least 20 kids and their parents. I'm very excited! A handful of MIT connected church members will also be there to help. (Thanks, Andy, Sam, Jenny, & Chris!) Two neighbor friends of mine helped to get all of the crafts cut and ready. (Thanks, Katie and Liz!) And every family will go home with a Jesus Storybook Bible. (Thanks, John!)

The Spirit has really guided this whole endeavor from the very beginning and has used my community to mold and shape it with great ideas. (Thanks, Lord!) Here's to God's Word going out and not returning to Him void. Please pray for this event with us!

December!

We re-numbered the calendar last week. It's December!

Elizabeth did the second row of numbers and drew the tree on Christmas day.
I think the star is really fun!

In December, most playdates are indoors.

In December, there are lots of parties and lots of eating!

Westgate holiday party

In December, we often see the first of the season's snow.

In December, we create new and repeat old holiday traditions with family and friends.

snowflake cutting

cookie decorating

In December, we observe advent, four weeks of anticipation and waiting for the celebration of Jesus' birth. This is the real reason for the season, as they say; and we're looking forward to it!