Where do I start with art?

"I'm tired of useless crafts. You know the paper ones?" I told my sister in law. I'd really like my son to make something 'useful'. Whatever that means for a 4 year old boy. In my mind it means, no more paper and glue, or crafts that clutter the house. Handicrafts have been used to strengthen hand-eye coordination for year, why not something practical?

All the crafts listed here are mom approved, kid tested. I would recommend allowing your child to express him/herself freely. It is so tough to restrain from saying, 'Johnny, how about you do it this way,' or 'No, no, no Sally. That's not the way to do it.' Let them express themselves. Just as babies learn about their environment in various ways, children learn about their environment by doing!! IF your child becomes frustrated, intervene. But restrain!

Create a mess friendly environment. I like to recycle bread bags or plastic grocery bags by cutting them open to create a large surface suitable for making a mess.

I studied Psychology for my undergrad. Two very interesting ideas I took away from two very different classes were:
1. Children are very impressionable. It is better to say, "Susy would you draw a person?" than "Susy would you draw me a person". By using the word me, the child is going to draw something YOU like, rather than what is in his or her heart. You will learn a lot about a child by what he/she draws. For a while, my son drew pictures of my husband, himself, and I, and was excluding his baby sister. There was a lot of stress around her birth. At the time we were seeing a therapist for some behavior issues with the 4 year old, and the therapist said that it was likely that he was having 'issues' with his sister...you may notice some interesting things come up in your child's drawings. Again, the best thing to do is let him express what is in his heart!
2. As cute as coloring books are, they limit a child's creativity. A child is limited to a set drawing, rather than what is in his or her heart or head. I don't allow coloring books in my house (although they would make life easier sometimes). There will be times that your child will be exposed to coloring pages (library story time, Sunday school, etc), but as a rule of thumb, you don't want them to be limited artistically. Art is very mathematical, and requires problem solving skills.

When you are working with children, remember that you are not creating the next Monet (but you MAY have one on your hands!); you are honing fine motor skills, teaching problem solving skills, and math - among creating something beautiful!

One last thought I'd like to leave you with - the outcome is not as important as the process. My favorite art professors would respond with, "I don't know, why don't you try it," when I would ask, "What would happen if I painted on ______." How do you know what the end result is going to be if you don't try it! Go ahead! Try it!!

How this site will be set up.
All the projects will be tested on kids of various ages. I love feedback, so please send yours! I will note who the project was tested on, but most likely will be my 4 year old son. :) Please also email pictures or projects your children have loved doing and/or projects you have LOVED receiving!

General rule: fine motor skills didn't 'kick in' with my son, until he was about 3. We stuck with painting and drawing projects before 3. You know what your child is capable of. Any project can be simplified for your sweet one to do; regardless of age.

HAVE FUN!!!