NurtureStore » Mind

Drawing on the kitchen table and Lego math

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:00:05 +0000

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Monday’s child is…

drawing all over the kitchen table

Tuesday’s child is…

hunting for colours, texture and hidden shapes outside

Wednesday’s child is…

playing lego math games

Thursday’s child is…

caterpillar crazy (over at Baby BornFree Mum and Dad)

Friday’s child is…

watching potatoes grow under ground (over at Quirky Momma Kids Activities Blog)

Saturday’s child is…

making marvellous medicine (thanks Make Do and Friend over at Imagination Soup)

Sunday’s child is…

making play dough imprints (thanks Learn with Play @ home)

Join us on Facebook or on Pinterest for more fun ideas

Newspaper art from yesterday’s news

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:51 +0000

As part of our Kids Art Explorers project this month we are trying out different places to create art. Instead of so often starting out with a small piece of white paper we’re trying out different surfaces. Last week we used a big, flat cardboard box to make an imaginary land. This time we’re using newspaper and turning yesterday’s news into today’s art.

Newspaper art

We always like a bit of recycling and up-cycling and old newspapers are a good material for this. A broadsheet size gives a generous space to create some art but we decided to go even bigger and cover the whole kitchen table in a layer of newspaper. Our after school routine always begins around the kitchen table, with a drink and a snack and a chat. Today we didn’t need to move from there but instead started some art doodles right on the tablecloth.

You could use pretty much anything you like to make make your design on the newspaper but the girls’ favourite right now is oil pastels, so that’s what we used. They give a good bold design over the newsprint and let you try out contrasts as you draw and blend colours together.

And look at all the patterns you can create. Having a great big canvass made from an inexpensive material such as old newspaper invites expansive, bold drawing. No need to hold back and take care with resources – you can go for it and cover the whole surface any way you like.

We also like to play Follow the Leader, where one person starts a design and another has to try and copy over the top in a different colour. It’s a good exercise in hand-eye co-ordination and you can use it to model letter shapes with very young children and, even better, it’s lots of fun. My 5-year-old likes to make her pattern as intricate and super fast as she possible can!

I think this newspaper art would make a great party activity, with all the guests contributing some designs while they wait for their party tea. You could cover over the top with a clear plastic table cloth and have a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.

Join the Art Explorers and go paper free

Want to join this month’s Art Explorers project with us? What could you use as your canvas that isn’t a small piece of white paper? Check out these ideas from the other families taking part and add your own to our project.

Want more fun kids art ideas?

Step one:

pop your e-mail address in this box and I’ll send you your own free copy of our Play Planner, which has great ideas for kids play and art each week.

Step Two:

like Nurturestore’s Facebook page for lots of ideas throughout the week.

Walk to School Week ideas

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:30 +0000

Walk to School Week

Did you know next week is Walk to School Week? We walk to school everyday, come rain or shine, and are very lucky to have a tree-lined cycle path that runs almost the whole route from our house to school, giving the children a car-free space to run, skip and scoot. This daily walk brings such an important breathing-space to our morning, a welcome transition after the hustle and bustle of packing lunch bags and locating coats. We’ve also been joining in with Living Streets #mumswalk project this month and creating a Pinterest gallery of our walks to school. I know not everyone is able to walk the school run, but if you’re tempted to give it a try for Walk to School Week, here are some ideas you could use to make the A to B journey that little bit more interesting.

On Monday…

join the #mumswalk project and take some photos of your journey. Create your own Pinboard (here’s mine), tag your photos with #mumswalk and have them included in the national gallery – and maybe even in the photography exhibition taking place in June. It’s amazing what every day beauty you notice when you take a little extra time to look. What treasures can the kids spot on the way to school today?

On Tuesday…

hunt for some colour. You could all decide to look for the same colour or pick one each and see how many things each person can find.

On Wednesday…

focus on texture. Take a sensory walk to school and see how many bumpy, spiky and smooth surfaces you can touch on the way.

On Thursday…

go shape spotting. Squares, diamonds and circles can be found in unlikely places if you have your eyes peeled to find them.

On Friday…

find out if all the leaves on your journey are green. What other colours can you find? How many different shaped leaves can your collect. Bring them home and create some art – and add your photo to your #mumswalk gallery.

What walking activities do your kids enjoy?

Fizzy dinosaur tracks and baking bread

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:00:26 +0000

Hello again! I missed you last Sunday as we were enjoying a Scree-Free Week (did you see our 100 ideas?) Glad to be back and bringing you some super fun ideas again – check out the fizzy dino tracks!

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Monday’s child is…

going camping

Tuesday’s child is…

welcoming a new baby, with some special new-born art

Wednesday’s child is…

making imaginary lands

Thursday’s child is…

weaving with ribbons (thanks Brick by Brick)

Friday’s child is…

making fizzy dino tracks (thanks Stacy at Quirky Momma)

Saturday’s child is…

blowing bubbles – and making art

Sunday’s child is…

baking bread (over at Quirky Momma)

Join us on Facebook or on Pinterest for more fun ideas

Cardboard box play: make an imaginary land

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:16 +0000

Never mind the contents, empty cardboard boxes are such treasures. My daughters have been know to ‘reserve’ cardboard boxes as they arrive, especially if they are extra big or unusual shapes. This weekend there were no squabbles as the packaging for two fold-up camping tables provided them each with a big cardboard boxes they could create with.

Cardboard box play: make an imaginary land

The girls opened out the cardboard boxes to create a long canvass to draw on.

They used wax crayons, pencils and oil pastels to draw their lands – no paint as my girls want to play with what they make straight away, not hang around waiting for things to dry!

They often have ideas that come up time and time again in their art and play – magical forests, oceans, volcanoes and places where dragons live.

They added in the clay models they’d made the day before as extra props to their imaginary land, giving them little characters to go exploring with.

Beware the dragon!

What land could your children create? This combination of art and play can stretch imaginations and lead into hours of play. If you don’t have a big piece of cardboard a roll of paper would work just as well – from an easel, a roll of baking paper, or wallpaper or lining paper.

More play ideas

If your kids like cardboard boxes they might like to make a jungle, marble run or a robot.

If your kids like models they might like to make some salt dough creatures.

If your kids love big art, why not try some large scale painting.

Kids Art Explorers: Paper Free Art

This cardboard box art is part of our Kids Art Explorers project, which this month is going Paper Free. You don’t always have to start art projects with a small white piece of paper! Take inspiration from all the other families joining in and try some Paper Free Art with your kids.