Teaching Kids Art Through Picture Books

I am interested in Space...but my husband, kids, and granddaughter are REALLY interested in Space! Since my granddaughter was visiting, it was fun to think about doing some glow in the dark Space art to share with her and other children this past weekend. If you want to take your kids' art out of this world, try this with us. 

You will need scissors and glue and about 30 min. to do this project.

Grab your glow in the dark art supplies. If you don't have any, just grab any art supplies you have. Kids will still get to make a fun space picture, it just won't be glow in the dark. Not sure what I'm talking about? Read what glow in the dark art supplies I recommend here. Here's one more recommended by reader Debbie R: Elmer's Glow in the dark glue!

You'll also need a piece of black or purple paper and a piece of any other color of paper, plus some different sized circles to trace. I used a canning lid, a plastic tub, and a spray can lid. Use a variety...

Do you remember the first time you saw something glow in the dark? Maybe it was under a black light, or maybe it was a glow stick outside. Maybe you got to see a recent eclipse with the sun's corona shining around the moon. Or maybe it was just seeing myriads of fireflies by the road or in your backyard some summer night.

Whatever it was, seeing things glow in the dark is magical. 

Want to create a special luminous memory for your kids? You may not have these art supplies already at home, but they are worth having because they are the key to creating lots of unusual and fun art.

Start with just one or two art supplies, and you can add more as your kids get excited about creating.  

The first special art supply will do double duty for science experiments and Halloween decorations. It is simply a little black light flashlight. Get a black light  and throw it in the drawer to pull out whenever you need it. My granddaughters and I had a lot...

Solar Eclipse Day is here, and with it comes a great opportunity for kids to read about Space and practice some fun drawing techniques. But as much as you want to help kids to draw and to be creative--and Space is such a fascinating subject--it can be hard to know where to start. 

Start with a good picture book. When you read with a child, you strengthen the adult-child bond, you introduce them to lots of new vocabulary, you model expression and fluent reading, and you bolster reading comprehension. AND you help kids learn, in this case, about a solar eclipse. 

Encourage your kids to love art and reading by pairing drawing an eclipse with a great picture book! Here is one to get you started: 

A Few Beautiful Minutes, by Kate Allen Fox, is filled with beautiful illustrations and poetic writing that is a quiet invitation to wonder at the amazing phenomenon that is an eclipse. 

Do your kids love creating? Here is a quick way for kids...

It's Holy Week! I love sharing the book The Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt with kids during Holy Week. It's a great way to get the conversation going about what this week means, and to help your child grow spiritually. 

When you connect kids' learning in different areas, it helps them to remember. I love to tie words from the Bible to the art we are learning about. Drawing connected to reading is a way that you can help form your kids into not only great artists, but great people, using the wisdom of Scripture.

When our kids were growing up, we incorporated the Bible into morning and bedtime routines. We had a passage to read to each of them, which we called their blessing, every night as we tucked them into bed.

Our son's was about trees. Our prayer was that he would grow strong as God helped him make good decisions in life…like a tree gets strong by being planted by streams of water.

Today I'm sharing...

Recently, in person student artists created collages of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest. I loved the fresh creativity and the textures of the mixed media project, but realized afterward we could have benefitted from more instruction on how to see the lines and shapes of trees.

Why should kids learn to draw trees?

When drawing kids learn to observe. Drawing is learning to see…and to notice details. As kids observe and draw, they see that objects are made of lines, which make shapes. Learning to see, observe, notice details, and then draw them also increases memory development. Kids are developing eye-hand coordination, visual perception, attention span, emotional expression, problem solving, and imagination--all through drawing trees (and other beautiful things in nature!)

Drawing from nature helps reduce stress and helps kids express themselves. Nature provides inspiration and can increase their awareness of their Creator as they observe creation. 

It's fun to create...

Drawing things in nature teaches kids to really slow down, pay attention, and see the beautiful natural world in front of them.

One quick tip that always helps them to be ready to learn and draw from nature is to carry a sketchbook and colored pencils in your car. If you go on a hike or a picnic or a vacation, encourage them to take a few minutes to sketch the lines and shapes of something in nature as you go. This sketchbook can be put in a backpack or in the seat pockets of your vehicle so your child is always ready to sketch.

After I looked for an inexpensive sketchbook or kit to recommend to you, I realized that, outside of Christmas or birthdays, I would not have bought something like this for my kids. I had 5 kids. So we often made simple books for the current learning objective. There is a simple way to do this.

The good news is, you don't have to buy anything! You've probably got the time and resources to make a 1 minute sketchbook at home for your kids. These...

 While we've been talking about great picture books bout homes, and even drawing a fun whimsical house, (check out this post) I started to think about how important it is to help kids see the value of taking care of the home they live in. I think most of us would agree that kids should do chores at home. How do we as parents get them to begin helping around the house...in other words, doing household chores?

Training your kids to help around the house has a couple of big benefits. Obviously, it teaches them to be strong, responsible adults who can take care of themselves. More importantly, learning to clean the bathroom, pick up their toys, etc. teaches them that they are part of something bigger than just themselves--a family--and that doing basic household chores is a big way to honor and care for each another. 

In the years we've raised our 5 adult kids, we've learned some tips about helping kids do chores at home that I wanted to share today with you. 

Would you like to help your elementary children draw a quick art project? Have you seen your children draw a house? Perhaps they have drawn your house, or maybe a house from a story, or maybe a house they are imagining. I love seeing kids draw houses. Here are two drawings given to me by children years ago, to welcome us as we moved into our new home. I have kept these drawings for 20+ years, because they remind me of how these sweet children were helping us celebrate our new home 20 years ago!

There are some fun picture books out there for elementary kids about houses that will foster your kids' curiosity and creativity. Reading picture books is a great jumping off point to get kids drawing all kinds of homes. Here is the list:  
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Here are 3 of my favorites to get you started: (Amazon links)

1. If I Built a House by Chris VanDusen

2. Home by Carson Ellis

3. Let's Go Home: The Wonderful Things about a House by...

At Storygalorey class yesterday, one bright young artist told me she was working on her new artwork for an art sale she was going to hold in the future. She had sold some of her art last summer and made some money to help buy something for her pet. Fueled by that success, she was ready to create more artwork to have another sale next summer. Sometimes we all need a little encouragement to keep on creating. Sometimes “writer’s block” happens to all creators. Maybe your kids don't want to sell their art, but wouldn’t it be fun to encourage them to enter a drawing or painting contest? 

So why in the world should you take the time and trouble to encourage your kids to create art for a contest? 

First of all, entering an art contest can build confidence.

Whether your children win or not, to have bravely created, entered, and possibly viewed their art on display, is a huge confidence building block. It gives them courage to try...

When the weather outside is frightful, drawing and reading is so delightful! And what better subject to draw than a polar bear! Polar bears never fail to fascinate, with their size, power, and ability to survive and thrive in bitter cold climates. So let's explore reading about and drawing polar bears today.

First, I'd love to tell you about two of my favorite picture books. Gail Gibbons, a favorite author of non-fiction for kids, has a good book called Polar Bears which I have in my collection. It's fun for kids and adults to learn all the interesting facts about these animals. 

Chitra Soundar and Poonam Mistry wrote and illustrated a lovely book called You're Snug With Me, which has unusual and beautiful illustrations that you and your kids will want to examine closely. This book is written poetically as if a mother polar bear is talking to her two cubs. 

Are you ready to try drawing polar bears? Get some paper and your favorite marking tools--crayons, colored...