Art and Creativity

Art is important for children especially during their early development. Research shows that art activities develop brain capacity in early childhood; in other words, art is good brain food! Art engages children’s senses in open-ended play and develops cognitive, social-emotional and multi-sensory skills. As children progress into elementary school and beyond, art continues to provide opportunities for brain development, mastery, self esteem and creativity.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Father's Day: Make Dad a Gift He'll Keep Forever

Father’s Day is around the corner and it’s time to help your children make a wonderful gift for Dad. These papier-mache boxes are colorful, creative and sure to please, plus they’re an economical gift at around $1 each. Arts & crafts like these plain white boxes make a nice surface for Colorations® Foam Paint which is brightly colored and dries right away. In these samples, we turned Papier Mache Banks into “Love Banks” for a great Father’s Day gift. For this effect, children first draw pictures on their box using a permanent fine line marker, then add crayons, then apply Foam Paint colors on top. The other paper boxes shown here are Window Boxes which are decorated the same way. To simplify for younger children simply use several colors of foam paint and eliminate marker and crayon. Window Boxes make a beautiful gift for Dad’s desk and are sure to be proudly displayed for many years to come. Add a literacy component to the project by filling any of these cute little boxes with a hand written “love note” to melt Dad’s heart.

Learn more on “How to Use Foam Paint” by viewing the short video clip below. See why Foam Paint not only looks beautiful, but is also super convenient to use.