Kindergarten Art

"if only I could sit down
to all my grown-up art tools
and create with the
heart
and spirit
of a child once more".

Alum Creek Elementary School have a gallery of children's art to die for. The cave art in this collection will inspire you to ensure that it is not only these first graders who have all the fun. Another student gallery worth visiting is Taylors Elementary.

By the time you have finished exploring the galleries at these schools you will be rushing to pull out your art gear and attempt some of the projects that they were set.. Frankly, if my primary school teachers had this much imagination, had told me that anyone who makes art is an artist, I might have advanced more quickly and walked an artistic path a whole lot earlier.

The galleries of John Burkhardt and Adriana Hardy provide proof of the talent of these children. One of the activities John's mother, Cheryl, suggests is to paint a mural on your living room wall or hide a bad spot on your carpet with a little art. Canadian Stephanie Hansen does this sort of painting in style. At the time when my husband was so ill after his bowel operation she redecorated her laundry and dedicated her inspirational painting to him.

1. Material is perfect for creating a dreamy atmosphere such as a canopy or a fort. Get into the mood by making yourself a canopy to cover your art table.

Remember those elementary, primary school rooms that had so many bits and pieces hanging all over the place? There is no reason why you cannot add atmosphere to your work area by making bright things. Be like one primary school teacher I know and make the entrance to your workroom in the shape of a shark. Enter through its jaws.

2. Creo City of Imaginatia is a companion site to the Creativity Portal and a place for all kids at heart to enjoy a virtual world of fun and creativity. Slip in and be inspired and guided. Crayola Creativity Central and CreARTivity are other destinations for anyone who is wanting to rediscover their childhood artist self. Make sure you click and have a look at the pictures.

3. " Get out those box of Crayons (do you have the 8 pack or the giant 64 pack?) and do a journal page - or two or three - using just Crayons (ok, you can add paint and other stuff too, but start out with the crayons). There's something about that familiar green and yellow box of Crayolas that just screams PLAY!" Jeannine Perigrine

journal page courtesy of Jeannine Perigrine

4. Get out the paints and create a mural on a tired wall. Alternatively, wallpaper with pages from magazines. Archie Hair, who filled my childhood with magic, had a tiny attic whose walls he had papered with images from magazines. To this day I recall, with pleasure, the joy of lying on the bed gazing in wonder at the walls and ceiling that were so colourfully papered. Another possibility is to cover your wall with old game boards. Looks stunning.

I got a lot of ideas from Toy Mobile so pop in and have a look at their supplies. Looking at Toy Mobiles catalogue will be enough to get the child in you screaming to have some fun.