a child's designated art space?

What are your art spaces like for your children? Do you clean everything away? Keep it out? Do your children ask for art supplies often? I've been thinking about this a lot as I set up our homeschooling environment. How many supplies can I keep out before it become chaos, and how much is not enough?

Here's a great question I got on my Facebook page, from a friend:

I was wondering if you would share your thoughts about creating art spaces for kids. S loves art and draws every day. But we are swimming in materials and space is an issue. Do you have any ideas about creating a space that works for the whole family? And what materials do you suggest? Honestly, he loves to free draw. So I always make sure he has paper, crayons, markers and pencils. Can I get rid of the bins and baskets of other materials without depriving him? It gets so chaotic so quickly. Thanks

And here is my answer:
It's a great question. I think there are a few factors that can contribute to how you handle an art area in your home. 
1- How much mess can you take? 2-What kind of supplies do you have? 3-Do you like to create with your children, or leave them to it?

1- I am a very messy person and I enjoy mess - up to a point, and then I'm done! However, I've been finding that my personal philosophy and style embraces a working/in process space. I don't like my living space to be static and feel like a hotel. That's just me. We have supplies everywhere and I try to keep them organized, but our house can feel like one big studio some times! For others this might drive them nuts (and I get it, I really do), they might need to have a specific, designated space for such activities, but I would encourage that person to challenge themselves to leave the materials out for little hands to easily access. When they are packed away and over-organized a child is much less likely to run with an idea and go crazy making (and learning tremendous amounts through that making time).

I came across this wonderful quote from Lori Pickert of Project Based Homeschooling, "A streamlined learning experience smooths off all the rough edges and the rough edges are generally where most of the learning happens". I think this applies to how your home and art making area is set up. The more access children have to getting into the muck and mess of an idea, the more they learn. 

2) I am a huge proponent of throwing out the crayons and buying kids really fantastic art supplies. Get oil pastels instead of crayons, the color is so much more rich and the texture offers so much more to explore. Buy high quality markers (that don't wash off walls!), get bottles of tempera paint and water color paint, good brushes, not the crappy kinds you get at toy stores. Having good art supplies will show your children how much you love what they are doing and will encourage them to do more because it will be so satisfying and the process and results will be so dynamic.

3) If you have a designated space that's not too confining and you have an organizing system that you can live with then you are good to go, but it sounds like it's driving you a little nuts. Do you sit down and make things with him too? Does he prefer to work by himself? I ask these things because I have found that when I have sat down and joined in, or done my own work alongside my kids, the mess bothers me less. I'm in the process with them and seeing it from their perspective which is "WOW! I have so many cool things to work with. Gimme more!" This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but if you can embrace a little of the mess and mayhem of an art space the payoff is huge. I'm so excited that S is such an artist. I'd love to see some of his work! Thanks for your question. I am working out all these things as I go along. I'd love to hear more about your solutions / process / journey.

washi tape cards

"Mummy, where's the tape"? I think I hear this question 25 times every day. I'm not sure if you've found this but kids are addicted to tape like I am addicted to coffee. I could drink it all day and they could stick, wind up, bind and hang tape just as often. 

Washi tape used to be off limits to the kids in our house, but then I thought why just look at it in all it's prettiness on a shelf in my studio when I can have it all over the house? It also doesn't need scissors to cut and peels off walls without taking paint off too. What could be better?

Yesterday we made a birthday card for R + M's grandmother using washi tape, oil pastels and, of course, our current fave - glitter!  Make a simple design with the washi tape on paper or card stock. 

Color with pastels, pens or pencils around the tape. With this heart we also added glitter. We put a thin layer of Mod Podge inside the heart, careful not to touch the tape so that it wouldn't glue it down too.

Carefully peel off the washi tape to reveal the designs underneath. For the letter B we then painted a thin layer of Mod Podge and added glitter to the open area. The kids thought it was hilarious when I wrote on the envelope of the card "Beware: Glitter Galore"!

(I did put a thin layer of Mod Podge on the cards when they were dry to seal the glitter on to the page).

Going in the mail today! Late, but not forgotten, dear B.

Art kit

Both of my sisters are great cooks. One is a very good baker, and the other complains that most of the cakes she makes never rise! I've been thinking a lot about her today as her daughter is going to be 3 tomorrow and I'm sure she's making a cake and wondering how it's going to turn out. On her blog about cooking with children you can read about the fantastic rocket cake she made for her son last year. The same year that my son wanted a satellite for a cake! I'll have to post a photo of it as I was pretty proud of it.  

Last week I put together a little art kit for my niece. You can see above and below that I included beads with the letters of her name, oil pastels, stickers, ballet tattoos, and feathers.

 It was incredibly satisfying to gather all the ingredients, so to speak, and distribute them in the tiny glassine envelopes (I love tiny things).

I hope to have a link to my etsy shop in the coming weeks with some small art kits for sale. There are some incredible art kits out there, but they are usually large and expensive. I hope I can make mine small and inexpensive. It would be great to also offer personalization with beads and a cut paper letter, as I did with the letter M for my niece.

oh, flour

Flour is a hard one for many people, and I understand it. It gets everywhere, it makes hard wood floors slippery and it can be breathed in inadvertently. However, it makes the best snow scene; the best race track for matchbox cars, the best dinosaur stomping ground, the best beach; the best cafe; the best hills for little figurines to smash down. Plus, it's oh so soft and lovely to run through your fingers.

What could be better than a tray of flour, two rice spoons, a VW match box van, and a tinker toy wheel. M, who's three and a half played with this for half an hour before bringing a tiny Playmobile lady and her baby in a jogger out for a spin around the 'park'.

 Here she is, face covered in a fine dusting of flour.