Valentine's day is almost here and you will start to see oodles of cutesy heart crafts all over Pinterest and coming home from your kid's preschool. As a former art teacher and a museum professional, I have a little bit of personal disdain for holiday crafts. Mostly because I value the arts so much and understand how beneficial the arts can be for children. For holidays, like Valentine's Day, it is understandable that most people look for a specific holiday-related…
WHAT IS A TINKER TRAY? A tinker tray is a tray filled with loose parts or found objects. They are commonly used in the Reggio Emilia approach to learning. Tinker tray materials can be used for a variety of activities or art making projects. I love tinker trays because they promote open-ended art making, critical thinking and process over product. They can be used with children from toddler age (as long as they are well supervised or loose parts are…
WHAT IS A TINKER TRAY? A tinker tray is a tray filled with loose parts or found objects. They are commonly used in the Reggio Emilia approach to learning. Tinker tray materials can be used for a variety of activities or art making projects. I love tinker trays because they promote open-ended art making, critical thinking and process over product. They can be used with children from toddler age (as long as they are well supervised or loose parts are…
There is something about Valentine's Day that gets me in a super crafty mood. I love doing Valentine crafts with the kids and making Valentine treats and I especially love making Valentine gifts for their daycare and preschool classes. Their classmates love getting something cute that they will actually want to play with and the parents love when they come home with a gift that isn't candy or some piece of plastic junk. Last year, Teddy brought these BEACH BALL…
Before I started this parenting blog, I ran an art education blog. After six years in an elementary art classroom and five in an art museum I have seen all the many ways art can enrich the lives of children and families. I try to use what I have learned as an art educator with my own children. One of the most important (and easiest) things a parent can do to foster art appreciation at home is to display artwork…