ART!

I love art. I was an art major in college. I love to teach art and do art with my kids at home. Here are some great titles for teaching art and art history for children:

Discovering Great Artists
Childsize Masterpieces
How to Teach Art to Children
Children's Book of Art (Usborne)
any drawing or art book by Ed Emberly
Art Fun
300 Lessons in Art
Masterpiece of the Month
Learning About Ancient Civilizations Through Art
Artist's Workshop Myths & Legends
Arty Facts

There are also a multitude of "how to draw" and "how to paint" books in the Bargain Books section of Borders and Barnes & Noble that we have found. Not to mention calligraphy kits (I consider calligraphy an art) and other craft kits for crafting time.

We also like to just sit and watercolor paint together. They go through sheet after sheet of paper. To help our watercolor paper go a bit farther, I do buy the large pad of paper (larger than the 8 1/2 x 11 size ) and cut it into fourths. I would cut the 8 1/2 x 11 paper in half. This makes for a smaller more manageable piece to paint on for my kids. My youngest who still likes to paint BIG, gets cheaper paper to paint on when he is in the mood to do 20 paintings in a sitting.

So, what do you do with all that art?

I found these and they are so cute I am going to make some:

http://brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com/2009/09/art-clip-boards.html

I also found them in Pottery Barn years ago, but didn't love the price. Making them will be so easy!

By the way, I LOVE that blog - so many creative and USEFUL crafts on there.