NurtureStore

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?

Lego math games

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:28:15 +0000

Do your kids love Lego? Just manipulating the pieces, snapping them together and pulling them apart is a great work out for fingers, helping to develop fine-motor skills, but Lego is a classic open-ended toy that can be used in so many different ways by creative kids. My girls most often use their Lego to build imaginary buildings or enclosures for their toy animals but recently L has been using them in lot of math games.

Lego math games

Building chains of Lego in repeating patterns, with the same sequence of colours going along the line, is very good mathematical patterning and are early steps towards addition and times tables. L loves spotting repeating pattens and she’s started to add more complex elements to the patterns she joins together. Last week she presented me with this symmetrical combination of Lego and we decided to build this into a matching game.

Lego symmetry challenge

We took it in turns to build half a picture and then see if the other person could complete it. This is a butterfly but you can just make patterns rather than specific pictures. You can make this as simple or complex as you like, to suit your child’s level – and I bet they’ll try and make the pattern you have to complete as difficult as possible!

Make sure you have enough spare Lego blocks to complete the other side of the pattern and then see how long it takes you to find all the right pieces. This lets you play and learn, working with ideas about colour, shape, size and orientation.

More lego math games

There are lots of fun ways to use Lego for maths games. You could…

:: use lego to measure and graph your results

:: use lego to add and subtract

:: use lego to classify and sort colours

:: use lego to follow patterns and shapes

How do you use lego for math play? Share an idea with us in the comments.

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!

Receive your own copy of the Play Planner

If you’d like to have a copy of the weekly play planner delivered straight to your e-mail in box, just pop your e-mail address in the box below. The planner will arrive on a Sunday, ready and waiting with a week’s worth of play ideas for the week ahead.

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

The Kids Co-op – we’re back!

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:00:50 +0000

This week the Nurturestore kids have been turning yesterday’s news into today’s art. Stop by next week and I’ll show you what they came up with – it’s colourful!

We missed joining in with the Kids Co-op last week while we were Screen-Free, so I can’t wait to dive in this week and see what you’ve all been up to.

Join the Kids Co-op

What have you been playing this week?

You can join the Kids Co-op in three ways:

Add a link to your play-based post here. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the community, so it’s like linking up to multiple parties at once! We currently have 30+ bloggers participating. Please share a link to this post on your blog, facebook or twitter and invite your readers to join in with the idea swap. Each week we will try to choose favorite posts to feature and share on the Kids Co-op Facebook page and Pinterest board. By linking up you are giving us permission to use an image and link back to you (if featured).
Become a Kid’s Co-op host yourself. We would like to grow the link-up as a collaboration of child-focused bloggers. If you’d like to run the Kids Co-op link up along with us and feature it on your blog each week, get in touch and join the gang.
Use the ideas with your own children.Visit other posts that catch your eye. Keep these other bloggers inspired by commenting on posts that you find interesting or creative. Like the Kids Co-op facebook page for a selection of ideas right through the week.