Teaching Kids Art Through Picture Books

At the end of January, my husband and I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Miami for his work. (Thank You, Lord!) Yes, you wonderful, hardworking, under-appreciated mamas, you, too, will get to do this someday.  I hope that for you. 

After his work meetings, he shared a powerful principle with me that he was learning. The principle was this: Most people have more fear of messing up than the fear of missing out. In other words, FOMU is stronger than FOMO. We are all insecure, and we are all afraid of messing up. When faced with hard decisions, we freeze--because none of us wants to mess up.

This applies powerfully to our kids and to us when faced with something like creating art.

Fun story-while in Miami I got to see an unusual art museum called Wynwood Walls. It celebrates street art: large, spray painted murals as well as street sculptures. I got to have 3 minutes to spray paint a wall as part of the experience. This is what went through my head: "Yikes! 3 minutes! I don't ...

Most kids that come to Storygalorey tell me about their interesting pets-or the pets they wish they had. Kids especially love their cats and dogs. That’s why, when Mike and I were on a recent trip to Italy, I was on the lookout for cats. Amid the magnificent art, the ancient buildings, and the fascinating people, I had read that Italians like cats and protect them and that I might encounter lots of them. “Kids would love this,” I thought. So I brought cat photos back to you and we are going to read and do art with cats this month.

If you are new to Storygalorey, you need to know that we almost always start art creation with a good book. Reading to kids inspires creativity and comprehension skills, as well as increases the bond between reader and child. Just for fun, pick up this popular Caldecott Medal winning book and read it to your kids: They all Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel. 

You will want to read and reread this book to take in the intriguing way the book is illustrated and t...

As  a follower of Jesus, I love thinking about how to incorporate our faith into everything we do as parents and grandparents. Since children are always watching and catching and observing, it's important to take every opportunity to share the wonderful truths we believe with them. Today in keeping with the "Space" theme,  I wanted to reflect on what a peek into the heavens taught me this month.

As I observed that amazing total solar eclipse--the moon covering the sun completely--for 4 rare minutes in Indianapolis on April 8, I was overwhelmed with awe at our Creator and His creation. One of my takeaways from this experience was that I could actually see the sun gradually disappearing behind the moon, and yet...it was still mostly light outside!

Here the sun is almost covered by the moon--but--look how light is still is!:
On the left below, the sky is still blue but the sun is mostly covered (my camera didn't capture well) and on the right, the sky got dark.
We were struck silent when ...

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 of sizes--we are making planets! To ...

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 of fun with this little light over the weeken...

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 his blessing verse plus some simple questions to help get your kids drawing ...

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 something else next time, and to know they did their best reg...

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 pencils, or mark...

Sometimes, we all need an infusion to help the creative juices flow again

Recently, after a season of creating and creating and creating, I just found myself needing a little boost. I felt empty of ideas…dry…dull…blank. It’s almost like the feeling of being hungry or not getting enough sleep. Have you or your kids ever felt that way, especially when asked to make or create something? 

We cope with this brain fog by scrolling endlessly on our phones, which adds to the fog, or by putting our heads down to finish the endless round of tasks in front of us. That’s ok for a little while, but we weren’t meant to live that way for long, and neither were kids. We are created to create! God Himself is an infinitely deep, joyful, creative person who made human beings in His image to appreciate beauty and to create.

So if you want your kids to create, you must feed that creativity, as if you were watering a plant you want to grow strong and healthy. 

What can you do to encourage your kids t...

“Help! What do I do with All. This. Artwork????” 

“My child is prolific! Our house is overrun with art! I don’t want to throw it away, but how do I deal with the paper mess?” 

I understand, and I’ve been there. Before there was Facebook, the internet, or Etsy, there were bulletin boards, binders, and magnetic refrigerators. And walls. So there I lived during the 90’s when my little ones were busy coloring every available surface they were allowed with a marker or a crayon.

Thankfully, I have more options for you today than I had for myself when I was a young mom, and I’m happy to share these artwork display ideas from my own recent research and some help from Storygalorey mom Cara Lewis, who shared her ideas with me-thank you! 

Here are 13 ways to keep (at least some of) your kid’s art without too much overwhelm:

1. Bulletin Board: You can easily find bulletin boards or cork squares at Walmart, Amazon, or even Goodwill. Let your kid have an ever changing artwork display that chan...