Play Make Create A Process Art Handbook

Packed with joyful and educational art experiences for kids, Play, Make, Create offers fun and engaging imaginative activities focused on the fun and reward of creating, not just producing a final project. Founded in a process-based philosophy, this unique book includes more than 40 activities set up as invitations, or thoughtfully designed prompts to explore, create, and play. Author Meri Cherry has more than 20 years of teaching experience, and her blog (mericherry.com) has set the standard for meaningful and enriching process art experiences that are both manageable for parents, and appealing and fun for kids. Play, Make, Create begins with a guide for parents, teachers, and facilitators that discusses how to set up materials in an inviting way, how to present an activity and talk to kids about art, and how to stock the right materials for ongoing creativity. Also included are best-practice tips for clean-up, answers to frequently asked questions, and more. The book offers four types of creative invitations: Invitations to Explore (easy ideas for fun and play), Invitations to Create (open-ended, craft-based activities), Invitations to Play (sensory-based activities), and Big Projects (ongoing process-art activities). Most feature basic materials and tools (paper, inexpensive paints, pencils, glue) that require little setup. Among the projects and activities you’ll find: A collage project that takes a no-rules approach to creating with cut-out drawings and pictures. Ideas for building a science station that allow kids to experiment with kitchen cabinet supplies such as soap, measuring spoons, cotton balls, and baking soda. A prompt to draw a self-portrait, using a mirror (parents can draw themselves, too). Instructions for making homemade colored playdough. The activities in Play, Make, Create promote active, meaningful, and socially interactive learning. Children are encouraged to wonder, experiment, and use critical thinking—and most of all, enjoy the process. By following their own inclinations and making their own choices, children gain self-confidence and hone their problem-solving skills. Get Play, Make, Create and give children the gift of creativity!

Art Workshop for Children is not just another book of straightforward art projects. The book's unique child-led approach provides a framework for cultivating creative thinking and encourages the wonder that comes when children are allowed to freely explore the creative process and their materials. As children work through these open-ended workshops, adults are guided on how to be facilitators who provide questions, encourage deep thinking, and help spark an excitement for discovery. Children explore basic materials and workshops that use minimal supplies, and then gradually add new materials to fill the art cabinets as well as new skills and more complex workshops. Most workshops are suitable to preschool-aged children, and each contains ideas for explorations and new twists to engage older or more experienced artists. Interspersed throughout are sidebar essays that introduce perspectives on mess-making, imperfection, the role of adult, collaborative art, and thoughts on the Reggio Emilia method, a self-guided teaching philosophy. These pieces underscore the value of art-making with children, and support the parent/teacher/care-giver on how to successfully lead, question, and navigate their children through the workshops to result in the fullest experiences.

Bring out your child’s creativity and imagination with more than 60 artful activities in this completely revised and updated edition Art making is a wonderful way for young children to tap into their imagination, deepen their creativity, and explore new materials, all while strengthening their fine motor skills and developing self-confidence. The Artful Parent has all the tools and information you need to encourage creative activities for ages one to eight. From setting up a studio space in your home to finding the best art materials for children, this book gives you all the information you need to get started. You’ll learn how to: * Pick the best materials for your child’s age and learn to make your very own * Prepare art activities to ease children through transitions, engage the most energetic of kids, entertain small groups, and more * Encourage artful living through everyday activities * Foster a love of creativity in your family

Help kids build confidence and find their own creative voice through this collection of 25+ invitations for drawing. In Drawing Workshop for Kids, art educator Samara Caughey, founder of the highly praised family-centered art studio Purple Twig, shares drawing activities that support the development of creative, confident children ages 7 and up. All kids need to begin engaging in the pleasure of these simple yet inspiring drawing projects are a pencil and paper. Along the way, new materials are introduced, giving kids the opportunity to experiment with new techniques. Each of the three main chapters—drawing from life, drawing from images, and inventive drawing—focuses on techniques to explore, such as observation, mark making, shadow, line, composition, detail, contour, and perspective. Drawing Workshop for Kids strives to inspire children to investigate drawing and develop their own approach to art, building creativity and confidence.

In Wonder Art Workshop, educator and educational development expert Sally Haughey shares her approach to hands-on, play-based learning with parents, teachers, and other facilitators, offering 25 activities that let your child take the lead in developing their own sense of intrinsic motivation to imagine, experiment, and discover. The author's wonder-based approach reflects and synthesizes several child-centered educational movements, including Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, and Montessori. Become a catalyst for cultivating your child’s curious mind through these steps and activities, which start with art and apply to other subjects, including science and literacy: Take stock for your wonder journey with helpful guidance on collecting materials, preparing a space, and nurturing the process while allowing children to make independent choices. Harness curiosity through a collection of sensory-based activities that use a variety of loose parts and other creative materials for open-ended play. Encourage experimentation by unleashing your child’s inner alchemist with “potion trays” they can use to mix color, create fizzing concoctions, make play dough, and more. Unlock literacy play with activities that inspire children to imagine and create their own characters, structures, and landscapes. Give your children the precious gifts of wonder and curiosity and help them become the best they can be with Wonder Art Workshop.

• With more than 30 step-by-step tutorials, this is the comprehensive rock art resource. • Covers many different craft techniques for decorating rocks: puffy paint, acrylic paint, oil pastels, gelatos, art pens, and more. • Parenting resource—Great craft for parents to do with kids. Cross-merchandizing opportunity with paints and pens. • The author’s rock doodling Facebook video has nearly 2 million views; her galaxy rock video has 500,000+. • Featured in a recent TODAY show report, “kindness rock” painting is a full-scale trend!

Be inspired and delighted by Collage Workshop for Kids, a colorful art instruction book on collage techniques for children—made in cooperation with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Collage Workshop for Kids pairs essays by educators from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art with instructions on collage technique. Chapters explore favorite art themes for kids and demonstrate how to work with colored tissue paper, newspaper, fabric and buttons, painted paper, torn paper, and more. In each chapter, Reggio-inspired author and teacher Shannon Merenstein explores each technique with original ideas. Members of the museum's education staff offer expert advice on creating art with children. Everything you need to know about collage is in this book, making it a great reference for teachers, librarians, and parents.