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 ...

Want a fun way to inspire kids' imaginations this week? I can't wait to share...but, first, if you are interested in more art and stories in a fun, private online community, jump on the priority list for our Art Club which is coming soon! 

Back to inspiring your kids to draw a time machine...

Do you ever close your eyes and wish you were in your favorite spot? Like, say, a beach location or a place nearer to home that you love to visit? That exercise itself is valuable--it may help you relax and it reduces stress.
If you take it a step further and imagine yourself in a new, yet-to-be-discovered place, or a place you are inventing in your mind, then you begin to also involve your imagination and to work your brain in a new way. And maybe, imagining something and dreaming about it can also spark an adventure or even an invention.

Ask kids the questions, "Where in the world would you like to go?" and "When in time would you travel if you could go visit any time or place?"

Let’s spark y...