Teaching Kids Art Through Picture Books

Today I'm going to share a special book and art project perfect for the beginning of the school year. It is art illustrating names, and since your child's name is as special and unique as they are, I know they will have fun drawing their names. Even if your child shares a name with a million other kids, there is only one of them. They are unique and precious to you and to God, and they are created in His image. He or she is the only one of them there is!

Do you ever talk to your kids about their names? I mean, do you tell them the story of how you picked out their first and/or middle names, what they mean, or why you chose it?

My husband and I, like most new parents, debated for months over name choices for our kids. As our family grew, of course the siblings weighed in on their opinions for name preferences--sometimes with hilarious ideas. We wanted our firstborn to be as imaginative as Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, plus we felt it was different without being weird. We thought we w...

Are you looking for fresh inspiration to brighten your winter days with your kids? I love sharing favorite winter books and art ideas for your elementary aged kids--but I hope you or your older kids will have fun doing them, too! They need only simple supplies and will be a fun activity for kids to look forward to on these sometimes too-cold-to-be-outside days. These projects can stretch to kids from age 3 to older kids, too. Each of the next few weeks I’ll be sharing a new winter art and book idea for you. 

Recently, I had the joy of being with three of our granddaughters ages 3, 4, and 5. We read many winter and snow books and had fun creating together. The girls liked choosing different elements to add to their snow people. Our oldest granddaughter, age 5, created a whole snow family while she dictated to me who was who and the relationships between the snowy people. Her 4 year old sister enjoyed carefully gluing shapes and took a minimalistic approach. Their 3 year old cousin was ...