I made a rule last year (even though my family thought I was a mean mom) that any toy that was purchased for my daughter couldn't involve batteries. I also thought about what I loved to play with as a kid.

With her birthday and Christmas 11 days apart it proves a little tricky to find toys that will last and stay fun. I also don't limit her to "girl" toys, she has plenty of "boy" toys too. My Little Ponies ride the train all the time in our house.

I keep all of the creative toys down low and easy to get to, whereas I put anthing requiring sitting and batteries up high and pull them out when I need to get something done. (Like take a shower or do the dishes.) That way they stay novel and don't get left on. We have an entire shelf of coloring books, blank paper, lined paper, paints, markers, crayons, colored pencils and Play Doh.

She's allowed to get into that shelf whenever she wants and color wherever she wants. 

I love being creative, and I love inspiring my kids to do the same.  Every day is a chance to learn or explore our world.  I try to teach my children everything can be used for something other then its original purpose.  Macaroni can be made into a necklace, old ribbon can be used to decorate a lampshade, leaves and pine cones can be glued on paper and made into art. 

We have fun without the TV or video games and that is the best part of all.   

For our family it's all about access and involvement.  The important thing is to have fun...managing to do this can be quite creative...we love the interaction within the family...cooking (or should I say eating the ingredients), musical instruments are a fav, dancing and of course playdough & cooking cutters.  We try to ensure this is all at an accessible level...within hands reach of the young man. Crayons, colour pencils, playdough, paper, doodle pad, books, old plastic containers.  Access to all.  I can't wait until he's old enough to play Cranium 2. (what a fun creative game :-) )

I find just supplying the materials gets them creating.   We have a dress-up box filled with Hawaiin shirts, old hats and coats, my craft tower is filled with paper bags for puppets, play-dough for sculpting and paper plates to make masks.

 I provide them with time.  Right now my oldest son is in quiet playtime making up stories with his stuffed animals.  My younger son loves it when I squirt shaving cream onto the table cloth for him to finger paint with.  He can do this for hours.

 I make sure I give them an audience.  I try hard (and don't always suceed) in listening to their stories and listening as they explain their latest art projects. 

Mommy from the Midwest

I just wrote a post about this a few days ago.  I can give my child the simpliest thing and she can play for hours.  The other day she took the seat to the jumperoo and was an astronaut, dress up pants, and a hat.  We always try and put things in her hands and see what she does with them.  We will take indoor toys outside to see how she will use them in the outdoors and outdoor toys inside.  Sand and moon sand are a blessing.  She could build and create for hours. 

Dress up is another all time favorite.  She loves to dress in silly clothes and play with her pretend kitchen.  Often times giving her something as simple as a stool to play with is great.  She carries it around the house and sees things at a different level.

 I grew up in a creative house...my father was an art history major at Brown University and Mom was musically talented...among other things. I've always had a huge creative side so my 5 children do as well. My three youngest are still at home. We are constantly making things out of recycled materials...we have an awesome windchime we made out of just about everything in the recycle bin. It's gotten huge praise from all the neighbors!

This past week we decorated and designed a Gratitude Box. Read more about it here: 

http://dailyblonde.blogspot.com/2008/07/gratitude-box.html

A fun project that we now use nightly!!! 

Cheryl

http://dailyblonde.blogspot.com

I am pretty artistic and creative and grew up using my imagination and have tried to pass that on to my children. My daughter is 3 and ever since she was 6 months old she has been quite the muscian. At 6 months she would bop her head and clap to the beat. When she started to walk she would bounce to the beat, when she started to talk she would sing her little heart out. Now at 3 years old she is into Hannah Montana. She loves to sing and dance along to her music. For only being 3 she has an unvbelivable memory and can remember lyrics and dance moves that she saw while watching The Best of Both Worlds concert.

Hoping to cultivate her love of music, our favorite thing to do as a family is to make "rock videos". Each one of us gets an instrument. My husband likes my daughters pink Barbie guitar, my 1 year old son likes to bang on the drums and my daughter and I take turns playing the keyboard and singing.

We get into costume and press play on the ipod and sing and dance the evening away. We cover all kinds of music from jazz nights to disco days. We have hours of ourselves recorded and instead of watching regular TV my children like to watch the videos of our family instead. They laugh at our silly dance moves and get a big kick out of the fact that we all are in the video and everyone is having so much fun.

Sarah

http://www.freymoyerfamily.com 

I've found that just unplugging the television works wonders!

My husband actually does something with our kids that I just love. He is a great illustrator and he sits down and makes storybooks with the kids. He asks them what they want him to write and then they help him draw the pictures. Not only is it good for feeding their creativity, it's great Daddy bonding time!

 Stephanie

http://mommiverse.blogsome.com 

We do lots of things with our kids to help them develop their creativity.

One of our family favorites is Nature Scavenger Hunts... We go for walks with a list and try to find things that match the description... It's amazing what the kids will come up with.

We also play "I Spy" and sometimes we mix it up by using "that is the color..." for the younger one or "I spy something that rhymes with..." to help develop their rhyming and language skills.

Of course we also love speaking in spoonerisms -- How Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstien talks... "Pickled Tink" instead of "Tickled Pink."

And to this day, my kids favorite toys are building blocks, stacking cups and cars...

All of these activities help the boys to develp their imaginations, grow their language skills or increase awareness of the world around them and they have fun at the same time.

Mimi

The Things We Do 

Tomorrow 'm off to a family bday part for a 4 year old niece and a 3 year old nephew. I have given them pop-up books in the past, but how cool to give them something to *make* a pop-up book.

Now if only the store locator on the CFK site was working right now this minute, because I gots to get shopping!

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!

Here are a couple of ideas that we use to spark creativity.

For my children who cannot write yet, we use a tape recorder to let them tell their stories into.  I can then type them out at a later time.  They love hearing their stories read back to them.  We can also print them out and they can illustrate their stories.

While I like to have a good amount of art supplies available for them to use at any time, I've also found that limiting the more special (more expensive) supplies forces them to be more creative with them.  We have 5 small bins (one for each day of the week) that they are only allowed to use during "quiet time" on that specific day.  It trains them to think ahead and to make the most of those suppies...and to not be wasteful!

Kids are soooo creative! 

Antonia

For this, I will FINALLY register for BlogHer.

Typically, the television is off - which works wonders.

K LOVES to play pretend - in fact if she doesn't get enough "baby time" each day, you'll hear about it. She also loves to play with the phone and have detailed conversations about who-knows-what with herself. For her brother, he's into building. Legos, models, whatever, as long as he can put it together himself it's great. And he really likes it if he can make it work without following the instructions. Which is something that is frequently encouraged around here.

Pretty much just letting the kids be kids is great to encourage their creativiity, they come up with some awesome ideas all buy themselves.

One thing I do to encourage my kids to get creative is to not worry about the mess. I let them use the furniture and pillows in the living room to make a train, store, treehouse, or whatever it is they have in mind. Of course, it makes a huge mess of my orderly house. But worrying about that inhibits the brainstorming process.

Instead of having the perfect "door" for their train car, I'll say "Get creative and look around." They might pull off a blanket from my bed or use one of the big sofa cushions. It forces them to use their imagination when they build stuff from around the house.

They do know that at the end of the day all objects must be put back in their place. AND they aren't allowed to build things when we are about to have company over. But, those are the only rules and it allows their creativity to flow!

 flower made from biodegradable packaging peanuts

I've found the best way to inspire my children's creativity is with craft projects.  Especially projects that don't require too much structure and let them be free with their ideas. A good example of this would be peanut packaging sculptures.  Here's how we make them.

1. Dampen a sponge or paper towel and keep it on a plate.

2. Dampen the surface of the peanut by stamping it on the wet sponge. The water makes it sticky.

3. Attach it to another peanut.

*A plastic knife works great for cutting the peanuts. You can also mold
the peanuts by squishing them with your fingers. To draw on the peanuts
use pen or markers. 

jessica

www.zakkalife.blogspot.com

I try to spend a lot of time with my son exploring the outdoors.  Living in Southern California we enjoy fab weather and we're close to numerous parks and beaches.  We joined a playgroup which he loves and we also like going to visit the zoo and some children's museums.  I try to buy "educational" toys that encourage exploration but I also allow him to play with things that may not be considered toys like tupperware!  

jasonncaryn at yahoo dot com 

With the kiddos, my favorite crafty things are usually those that we've made from items that we've 'repurposed'...

The
cardboard box that became an astronaut costume. The quick oats
container that is now "The Crabby Diner", a lovely spot for
our hermit crabs to dine while enjoying a social evening out!!

Would love, love, love to make a pop-up book with them!

~Margaret

www.maurhoffbarney.blogspot.com

I provide my 2 1/2 year old son will all sorts of supplies and object that will allow him to be creative. He has an art easel, and containers for chalk, washable markers, and paint which he has easy access to. I love it when he says he is doing a "project". I don't have to "force" him to do i; oftentimes, I find him working on a masterpiece all on his own!

He loves blocks and legos. We keep them in different parts of the house - again, for easy access and spur of the moment "projects".

He also loves music! I've been fortunate that people have asked me what to give my son for a present and have been given what I ask for. He has a roll-up keyboard (great for travelling), a real keyboard, tambourines, and even a pair of maracas from Haiti. We also dance to music from different cultures. I love the Putomayo series of children's CDs.

Oh! and we read read read! He even tries to read me the book. It's quite interesting.  

Since kids seemed to be more interested in the packaging rather than the actual object most of the time, I started an invention bag. (I got the basic idea from a parenting magazine.)

We collect things . . . boxes, egg cartons, yogurt cartons, anything interesting or different (and you'd be amazed on how many things you can find once you start looking!)

They are all put in a bag.  Then, when bored, it's pulled out, add scissors, glue, markers as necessary . . . and they invent.

No rules. No right or wrong. 

Just put together as your imagination leads you.

They love picking things up on walks or as I start to throw things away and ask if we can put it in the invention bag!

Then simple things like marshmallows and toothpicks, straws and little pipecleaners . . . both make great building tools that require little effort and LOTS of imagination.

We actually got a book out of the library a while back on how to make pop-up books.  We had GREAT fun making a car and a zoo and lots of other fun things.  

Heck, anything with glue and some sort of paper is bound to be fun!

Beth Nixon
http://bethnixon.blogspot.com

I'm a wannabe minimalist. Something sounds very romantic and ideal to me about the kid from a small, remote village who can create an afternoon-long game out of stick and an empty can.

It's not a designer stick or a 'new and improved' can. And his mom didn't even provide him with the best art supplies. She just gave him the freedom to play.

We purposely don't pack many toys when we go on trips. (Primarily, we feel like we already have enough crap to lug around.) But we also think kids can learn to fill time with the stuff of their own mind and use the resources around them. And, after an occasional toy-mourning session, our kids never cease to amaze me with what they come up with.

So what can teach kids to overcome boredom with creativity? Freedom from contrived playstuff and plenty of time. Where do you think "Kick the Can" came from?

My mom always collected and kept every little thing which completely annoyed me in my late teens and 20s - I'd turn around and find an spare button, some extra ribbon or a old magazine tucked away in a closet or spare box. But now I get it! All that "junk" is great when you're a kid. So I freed-up a cupboard specifically for odds and ends that the kids can access whenever they want and we try to set aside time everyday to pick something  from the cupboard to work on. Plus, it's created a great opportunity to talk about the less popular cousin of Recycling - Reusing!

Cheers!

 My 10 year old son is either going to be a brain surgeon or a clay animation artist when he grows up!  His fascination with clay (actually, anything squishy)  began at a very young age.  By age 4, he could make identifiable critters, complete with teeth, claws, and cute little noses.  Some of his creations are so tiny and so detailed, I am speechless when he shows them to me!  I wish our digital photos were all hosted online, so I could post a few pics of his work, but I have a whole album of them uploaded to my myspace page if anyone wants to check them out. 

Go to http://www.myspace.com/team2shine and click on my photos to see his creations!

We LOVE clay.  It spawns creativity.

Wife. Mom. Friend.

http://www.amy.tohe.com

We spend a lot of time outside going on nature walks, playing at the creek near our hourse, or jut running and playing.  My son has ADHD and needs to have fresh air and lots of gross motor activities.  He also loves nature and is fascinated by finding new bugs and plants. 

 If the weather doesn't allow us to be outside we do creative things like cooking together (making cookies and baking bread are some of our favorites) or building things (K'nex are his current favorite).

My son has to "earn" his TV and video time with good behavior and by being a "helper."  It really helps us limit his screen time.

Since I was raised in an environment without electricity (and we even lived near civilizastion), we never had access to TV.  I think that had a big impact on my creativity.  For us, while we work in IT and can't exactly remove all electronics from the house, but we did buy a DVR so we could watch TV after bedtime.  Because of this, it rarely goes on when the girl is awake.  We also did the no batteries thing for her first birthday, and we'll most likely continue it for this Christmas.  In-laws be damned. 

For me, I think the key is being intentional about the choices we make.  As she gets older, we'll continue to do what we can to encourage her creative mind.  Thinking things through instead of giving in to the marketing hype.  Oh yeah, and an unlimited supply of art supplies.  She's getting the big box of crayons. 

A big part of encouraging creativity in kids is to make sure they have access to lots of items.  We're lucky enough to have a partially-finished basement space in our house.  Our 10-year-old son got one portion of the basement and a simple workbench.  We helped him gather some basic tools and he asks friends or relatives for broken items (radios and such).  He takes things apart, makes new things, etc.  Our 5-year-old daughter has another space.  I bought a large, old table, cut the legs down to her size and supplied her with basic art stuff like crayons, markers, scissors & tape.  I also save various items like catalogs, plastic bottle tops, small packaging materials, boxes, etc.  Both kids have materials and a space in which to make messes and be creative in their own ways.

For us, it's been a combination of limiting time with electronics and providing access to art supplies, books, etc. So far, so good.

Stephanie

http://quirkyblogger.com

I have tried to discourage battery operated toys, unless they're of the learning variety, like leap frog products.

We have a tea cart in our breakfast room and all of my daughter's craft stuff is kept there.  Her crayons, construction paper, markers, feathers, glitter, glue sticks and coloring books.

We encourage her to draw pictures and create stories for each picture, she then gets on our fireplace hearth and performs her plays and reads her 'books' to us and her 1 1/2 year old brother.  She spends at least an hour or two a day of imaginary time where she dresses up, holds tea parties and has grand balls in her room.

 I painted a small child's table with chalkboard paint and that's where she practices her letters and paints and plays. It's a wonderful outlet for her and it's a great way to play with chalk when it's too hot to go outside. 

We try to have craft playdates once a week with friends where we have puppet shows, and make crafts that encourage the kids to use their minds and imaginations instead of recycling what they've seen on television. 

At 3 years old, we've drastically reduced the TV time. I have converted our formal dining room into an arts and crafts center for my girls. MY buffet now holds everything from construction paper to crayons, scissors, and pipe cleaners. Every day we search the internet for a new art project to do. 

We use fabric, and yarn, and all kinds of cool things. We've reused a whole bunch of my old magazines to cut up and make into cool collages. We've even looked at things we'd normally throw away and figured out ways to recycle them!

I love watching them paint on their easels too! They've made some real masterpieces that Daddy and I have actually had framed! They love to be able to look up at something they've made themselves.  

Turn the TV off. 

The crayons, markers, paints, stickers, beads, yarn, stamps and playdoh is kept within reach.  They even have a special table to work on.  No biggie if they make a mess.  Thankfully we have hardwood floors and nothing a swiffer cannot clean up.

In the morning I can set out a few markers and paper and they always find them and end up wanting more paper.

I am running out of room on my fridge.  I have to throw away some and keep the special things.

Whatever my toddlers can think of or imagine can be made with Play-Doh.  We love to get it out and talk about what we'll make and put the Play-Doh creations into action.

We always have 50 billion boxes of crayons, markers, pens, and pencils around. Construction paper, tracing paper, loose leaf, spiral bound, and even tractor feed paper are plentiful in our house.

My girls love to doodle, trace, cut out, glue, and make big messes with all their art stuff, but that's ok. That's why I have a Dyson. 

For birthdays I always suggest art supplies. This past May my daughter received oil pastels, acrylics, watercolors, colored pencils,  scetch books, and four journals fopr her birthday. Not to mention all the books. I think the only toys she received were Twister and a Hannah Montana game.

I try to encourage tyhem however I can, it doesn't always work, but I try.

Last year, after my office was being overrun with crafts, I designated a whole room of the house for crafts.  While I thought that it would be for me and my scrapbooking, it's not.  My kids are forever in there painting, drawing, scrapbooking themselves but what they really like are Fuse beads and they will make designs for hours!  It's been a blessing for me this summer so that they can stay occupied while I work.

They also love to make homemade cards for every occassion... 

I love that my kids are so creative!

Heather

Desperately Seeking Sanity

http://www.desperatelyseekingsanity.com

As a former art teacher my kids are FOREVER elbow-deep in craft projects. Actually, it is rare for it to be ONLY my kids involved...like a silent dog whistle, when my craft closet hinges squeak, kids come running from all corners of the development.

Just this summer we have taken stained T-shirts and tie-dyed them in the backyard, made a clubhouse in the garage with packing tape and cardboard boxes, made creative framable designs using the words of our 100 Favorite Things and...well, this list could go on and on and on.

I have to say the trickiest part of all of this is the ages of my kids, 10, 9 and 3. Developing a toddler-friendly version of all of the projects so he can feel involved is sometimes tough but the look on his face when he wears his new tie-dye is worth the challenge.

I write about my projects on my blog and my readers FREAK that all the supplies I use are banned in their house...that makes me sad. I am an artist, so a life without craft supplies is like a hot fudge sundae without the hot fudge.

My kids love having a creative mom - my husband isn't always a fan of the messes but we clean up after ourselves...except for those few spots on the kitchen table that WON'T come off!

LOL! 

Michelle Kemper Brownlow

http://michellekemperbrownlowwrites4kids.blogspot.com

Here are some excerpts from a blog post I recently wrote, which has directions for this creative project we recently did:

This summer, my kids have been really getting into drawing, writing and
crafts. The only problem is that there is limited space in which to
hang said crafts. The girls have taken to decorating every bit of empty
wall space with their brilliant creations. Besides the peeling paint
and empty tape rolls - I want my walls back!!

My husband, the girls and I made clothespin wall hangers to put next to
their beds. (That's their favorite spot to admire their handiwork)

They were thrilled that they could actually participate in decorating their rooms!

Sarah @ Real Life
www.reallifeblog.net

We want our children to think for themselves, and for them to be creative in the way that suits each of their personalities the best.  Our daughter has excellent language skills, and recently we began journalling with her.  At five, she's not quite able to write everything she wants, so I take dictation for her.  She recounts her days, logs her wishes, dreams and prayers, and then we record her rhyme of the day.  That girl can drop a phat rhyme.

Our middle child is a worker.  He loves to fix and solve and generally figure it all out.  We provide him with toys and tools that cultivate that innate skill.

As far as art creativity goes, the children do photography, and coloring and painting outside.  We use leftover rolls of paper (old fax machines, newsprint).  After spreading the paper on the sidewalk, or even in the grass, they unleash their inner artistes and go to town.  Our babysitter recently introduced us to painting with chalk, which is a huge hit.  In a nutshell it's this: draw with chalk.  Using paintbrushes, paint with water over the drawing.  The colors are remarkably vibrant, and the pictures last for days and days.

We let our children go in the direction they wish to travel with regards to art.  And we talk about what they are creating, ask about the story behind the art.  We make it a point to spend more time encouraging our kids than worrying about the mess.

Okay, I am not crafty or artsy at all... but I can come up with good suggestions for role-play or pretend. I find that when my almost-4-year-old is getting bored or antsy (great right before dinner time), I just make up a scenario and she runs with it, dialog and all. And her little sister follows -- mission accomplished!

Here are a few of my suggestions:

"Make a zoo with your stuffed animals, and you be the zoo keeper and feed the animals!" (same can be used for a farm -- it also teaches what different kinds of animals reside where)

"Be the mailman and deliver these letters all over the house!" -- now she asks me where my mailbox is (I change locations every time we play) and I also leave letters for her to pick up. She has a mailbag and mail, which can be anything in case you don't have a bunch of envelopes you want to use. This is a great reason to save the fun envelopes you receive in the mail.

"Be a painter and paint the house!" -- I give her a painter's bruch and a bucket of water.

 Recently, we turne off our cable, I blogged about it here :)http://goddessinthegroove.blogspot.com/2008/07/cable-be-gone.html

We have a huge box filled with art supplies: glue, stickers, paper, noodles, styrofoam, paints, glitter, trash (recycles :)..), egg cartons, colored paper, etc, etc. It is a treasure trove, and it is MESSY. The kids love it.

I also always have a few new boxes of PlayDoh. PlayDoh has to be the best thing ever, and I enjoy playing with them. We also often do things with polymer, as I use this all the time for my work.

Empty boxes and paper rolls of all sizes make hours of play fly by. My kids, 6 & 10, make houses, robots, elevators, cars.

Mud, water, straw, and sand make great earth clay. Again, even my 10 year old GIRL loves digging for mud. They build little sculptures that dry in our garden. You can glaze them and mke them permanent. 

And of coourse, LEGOS.

So with all of this, yu can imagine I do not have the perfect looking house. But I do have Pergo floors that can take a beating. We often read stories, and instead of just coloring a picture, the kids "build" things.

Great posts...I am taking notes! 

Goddess in the Groove! Women with opinions wanted.....

Daily (almost) musings and Kaffeeklatsch...

http//:www.goddessinthegroove.blogspot.com

To see the magic bellys, or the magic book, venture to

http

I think creativity and imagination in children are one of THE most important things, so I encourage it as much as possible.  I think it's important at any age, as I have a brain full imagination that needs let out so I myself have creative outlets in crafting and writing. 

I keep a well stocked cabinet full of art and craft supplies from markers, paints, to popsicle sticks to clay and playdough.  This way my children are free to decide what they want to do when they want to make "art".  My youngest loves to pull out playdoh or construction paper and paint his little heart out. 

I also lead them in creative projects.  We do lots of "altered" art projects by drawing pictures and creating magnets for the fridge, stamping and using Modge Podge and creating our own journals from composition books and pictures we've printed and cut out to so much more.  We frequently have an "Art Day" where I just put supplies all over the table and the 3 of us sit there and create all kinds of things.  My oldest loves to make her own earrings from my jewelry making supplies.  And we love to create collages of just about anything.  My youngest's absolute favorite thing in the world is to glue and tape things together. 

We also homeschool and have a journal to create stories.  I think it is so important to cultivate imagination.  Children come up with such amazing stories, and I cherish those ideas. 

I also keep a well stocked dress up tote for my children full of costumes and old clothing and hats and all kinds of accessories.  I love when they dress up as someone else and come up with imaginative stories to play out and tell me.  There's nothing like seeing a fairy princess with a superman cape and a pirate with a batman mask running through the house. 

Recently, we made clothespin dolls that became puppets for my children and we created a puppet theater with a box.  We dressed the dolls in fabrics and glued them on, then we put faces on the dolls.  My children each take turns putting on an elaborate story for each other. 

I also think it's important to display their creativity, so we have pictures and paintings and clay scupltures from our children placed all over our home.

Stephanie

http://sewingchick.blogspot.com

I had a second grade teacher that had a set of flashcards that had interesting photos on them.  She would have us pick a card with a photo that appealed to us and ask us to write a story about it.  I always loved that activity.  Now I find photos in magazines and newspapers and clip them out and do this with my 2 year old daughter Lilith during potty time.  It makes potty training easier too.   I hope to continue this activity with her through the years.  It opens up all sorts of conversations and teaching opportunities.  It teaches you a lot about what your child thinks and what is important to them.

First and foremost, I turn off the tv.  TV is generally for Saturday mornings only at our house.

I also have a well supplied craft room, or studio, as we call it.  It has books, paint, mulitple kinds of paper, markers, glue, glitter, you name it...

In out studio anything goes from mixing concrete for a garden stepping stone to sewing.  We actually just finished making a toy dog out of an old pair of gloves (from the book Sock and Glove).

So we have the tv off, lots of tools, and most importantly I let my daughter take the lead. I try not to tell her the "right" way to do something. 

Art is personal.  There is no wrong way.

Although my kids have a ton of toys, they usually ignore them in favor of creating elaborate make believe scenarios with blankets, boxes, and plastic cups.   I encourage them by playing along with their scenarios and not stifling their creativity.

 We also do lots of arts and crafts - using what we find outside like shells, flowers, leaves, and even cicada wings.  The entire basement is turned over to their artwork - it's their space.

I have 3 kids who live to draw and we've got a fun game that we play.  Remember the roundtable story?  You start, the person to your left continues, then the next person picks it up?  

We do that with our drawing project. Each person gets 10 seconds with the paper and then we keep passing it around. Some days its neat to see what we end up with, others it's just a bunch of gibberish.  It's always fun and we love to laugh over those pictures. 

Anissa Mayhew

www.hope4peyton.org 

www.onevoiceproject.ning.com

When I would have extra children over for sleep overs I would have them bring one of their father's or older brother's white tee shirts. 

I'd get out the collection of colored permanent markers and newspaper.  The kids would put the newspaper inside the shirt and then draw, color, and even sign each others shirt.  After, we'd stretch some of the designs over a bowl and slowly pour rubbing alcohol on the design(which would catch in the bowl beneath) and blur it to perfection.

Once everyone was done I'd throw the shirts in a wash of cold water, dry them, and then the kids would have them to sleep in that night.

Other mother's would tell me how their child slept in that tee shirt for years!

token 

ɯoɔ˙ɹǝƃƃolquǝʞoʇ

I think most kids are pretty creative on their own.... using their own imaginations. I try to encourage and nuture that in my daughter... letting her think for herself and come up with ideas. We have crafting times, I just provide my daughter the supplies- crayons, markers, scrap papper, glue, stickers and she does her thing. My daughters fav rainy day activity is playing with dried beans in her water tables or a big tub on the floor. I give her measuring cups, bowls, spoons and she sorts, pours and has a great time.

http://ukraineadventure.blogspot.com/ 

In our house, creativity has so many different outlets, so we just go with the flow. But the main thing is turning off the boob tube and encouraging the kids to use their imaginations.

We spend a lot of time outdoors. We are incredibly lucky to live in a place where no matter time of year it is, we can do this. We rarely get snow, and if it's raining we just throw on a jacket and some rubber boots. We'll go for hikes and have the kids collect things to bring home. Then they decide what to make. 

 Recently we went to Glass Beach and collected hundreds of little pieces of beach glass. While I was envisioning making a mosaic picture or mirror frame, the kids had other ideas. A stepping stone was in order and it came out beautifully.

 We get the big giant rolls of newspaper ends from the local paper press and tape it to our backyard fence and let the kids go crazy....or they just chalk right onto the fence.

 The big thing in our house is music (from my husband...the bass guitarist) and literature/poetry (through me). My eldest is constantly writing short stories, songs and poems now and the youngest likes to make music with whatever he can get his hands on....laundry baskets, tin cans etc.

 I think back to when I was a kid and I remember being outside all the time, making up games and stories, being creative in a million and one ways and I want to encourage that in my children. So far it's working and I have a couple of well rounded, happy kids.....and a LOT of free artwork :)

MadWoman Meg

http://mindofamadwoman.blogspot.com

One large wall, in a prominent place in our house (between the kitchen and the living room) is an art wall where I tape up the art projects any of the kids do. We routinely do art projects, and I try to avoid ones where kids have to follow specific directions to make a specific thing. I prefer art projects that use different and novel materials, and are open ended. FOr instance, we've made our own finger paints out of corn starch, made puffy paints from flour and water, or shaving cream and glue, added texture to our paintings with salt or coffee grounds, etc.

When the wall gets too crowded, I take down some of the older art projects and put them in ring binders, so the kids can flip through and look at their older masterpieces, while still displaying their new ones!  

I hate to admit that I have been a Mom who has used the "ol' boob tube" for a source of entertainment. Adjusting to having three little girls was/is a challenge for me. It was all I could do to get a moment's peace, less alone a shower or teeth brushed. I know!

BUT...

My creative juices have resorted their way back into our home, and I am happy to say that we are stretching our way from the tube and into more fun adventures.

Here are some of my ideas---that seems to be working well so far for us. I have kind of split things up into "TIME"...

Activity Time: I wrote activities on 3x5 cards, such as Cooking, Painting, Watercolor, Beading, Bean Bags & Hopscotch, Sewing, Taking Pictures, Chalk on Black Construction Paper, Board Games, Puzzles, Dancing, Puppets, etc. (I even had the girls come up with their own ideas of activities!). We put all the cards in a box and we choose 5 activities that we will do that week. Some of the activities are all ready put together inside an "Activity Bag". Grab and Go for it!
We do the activity an hour or two each day.

The rest of the TIME is free play, dress-up, OUTSIDE TIME (sprinklers), BOOK TIME(reading for 20-30 minutes---we even read outside on picnic blankets), etc.

AND...
CLEAN TIME! Yes, we make time for learning how to clean in a creative fashion! The girls LOVE using a spray bottle of water and a little of vinegar and drop of lavender oil to spray on the sliding glass doors. Squirting is fun! We build towers of folded towels. Sock Matching Game! Singing while we put away the dishes. Dress up like Cinderella and sweep the floors. Believe it or not cleaning can be fun....and we can be creative with it. I know I have to be in order to get it done. :-)

So...Yes, we still watch some Sesame Street and Super Why...A little TV TIME....but, we are using our imaginations galore too in Activity Time and Clean Time and this Time and that Time...you get the point!

Blessings,
Bella
Bella

I find if I can focus long enough and listen to my daughter, she'll give me the ideas. Like she'll tell me she wants mail in her playhouse, so we'll take out old postcards and put stamps on them and draw on them to make mail. Or she'll ask what a trapezoid is (or something) so I'll draw a lot of shapes for her to color in or glue onto construction paper. 

I am not a crafty mom and I'll never be the type who lines of activities for every hour of the day. Good thing we can work as a team.

Also? Take the batteries OUT. Sometimes my kids have a better time imagining what the toy would do than watching it actually do something.

Mom-101

Cool Mom Picks.com

hi, i have noticed, as some others have said, that our kids will often let us know what kinds of things they would like to do. we have been known to make masks from egg cartons, bugs from toilet paper rolls, frogs from q-tip dispensers, a butterfly from a paper towel roll, etc... As my kids have watched and participated in this, they, in turn, come up with some great ideas. They make cards for their teachers and friends adn family. our newest venture is into the world of Artist Trading Cards (ATC)- coloring art or collages. I do them myself, but came to realize that it is also an opportunity to keep my kids busy, artistically motivated, and they love to make these mini pieces of art. There are even some I have come across that are interactive...as in a 2.5x3.5 card with felt topping, and a finger puppet velcroed on. that makes for tactile fun even during travel time. My kids love dress up, and are very good at making up games all by themselves. they have even put together some of their own costumes with other toys or pieces of material laying around. they love to learn, as most do, so everyday things can be made into the extraordinary as we include a few different elements at a time. pool time changes if you include cut water bottles into a funnel... they can watch a tornado in action. My daughter loves to pull her dry clothes into the pool with her and pretend she is handwashing it. they all love to sing and each has been known to make up their own songs, we have even made up our own Bible memory verse songs. parades, pretend concerts, break-dancing sessions, lots of coloring and glue and gel pens galore. feathers, beads and brads to keep things fun and busy. Have fun being crafty and teaching without really "teaching"...   Spice-c7   (have some other ideas on my blog at perilloparodies.blogspot.com  that i have done myself or received from others- mini pool table anyone, themed treasure hunt, or homemade go cart? with how-tos...  :-) ) by the way, glue is our friend... so are pompoms and googley eyes.

As a parent of three very busy boys and being dumb enough to live in a state that not only provides us with wind, but also with winter and lots of snow, that just gets tiresome. So if perhaps you live in the cold states like us, and if you are watching your money, if money is tight,  invent the WINTER OLYMPICS within your own household walls.

 Childhood obesity is growing at an alarming weight  rate and we can't just blame the ones manufacturing the food-not to mention the ease of fast food windows on days of dreary gray don't wanna make lunch wintertime. Lets face it, the promotion of  physical activity isn't what it used to be.

 Bring it back in your home...
turn over those cushions and flop them on the floor, throw pillows down from all the beds and let your little ones bounce their energy until it's time for nappies. Turn those cushions into forts, or perhaps a special homemade boat  or car with any fun tools from around the house. Find dad's old sprained ankle wrap and use that as the fishing pole and have the kids pole construction cut out fish taped from the land of the ocean, or perhaps have them attempt to catch the "BIG ONE" while they attempt to "pull you" to the boat. Anytype of heart increased activity is providing them with physical activity to make you feel a bit better about being cooped up while you prepare their lunch or fold the clothes. Empty laundry baskets make great train cars, btw and work hand in hand with tied socks or again, dads sprained ankle wraps.

Bring back the oldschool games with name changes...I'll let you make them up on your own, but the games that I speak of are simple: SIMON SAYS, FOLLOW THE LEADER (Okay, I'll give you one name-the choochootraintrip--throughout your house you lead them but they must tell you what they're viewing/visiting by allowing not only their heart rates to increase but also their imaginations when the chug chug chugging increases up and down the stairs or down and around the furniture). DUCK DUCK GOOSE another old classic or even indoor hopscotch with hula hoops serving as the jumping guides.

Sometimes the most creative ideas come from the most simplest of games.

FOR THE OUTDOORS:

The ingredients:

Chalk

plastic golf balls

imagination

two lawn chairs

and children

Draw boxes/rectangles in a long "line" (or rows) --like hopscotch, only longer and better!!-- outside in a sidewalk or on the driveway. Along each side of the boxes draw "the desert" (snakes, sand, catcus) and the other side of the boxes draw "the ocean." (sharks, fish, alligators..) in any chalk box that you want write in a number (O, 10, 100... allow the kids to pick the numbers, you may be surprised when they yell out google plex), write one name of each child that is present in whatever boxes they pick, do they have a favorite number? Put that in a box (one favorite number, name, whatevers per box) and don't forget about drawing in the occasional black holes (if they're into space) or whatever theme they may be into, sandtraps, or pitfalls (if it's princesses draw a dragon, if it's baseball draw three X X X's...) Take plastic golf balls and draw a rectangular box at both ends, in one end write START, in the other write END.. each person rolls their plastic (the lighter and less bouncier the better) ball one at a time, and wherever the ball lands is where their ball stands. do they earn points? Do they have to go back to start if they roll into their fellow friends name box, do they lose a turn when the ball stops at the black hole?do they have to subtract whatever their pals favorite number may be from their own running total, say if their ball managed to stop in that square.....whatever the idea, they will enjoy this fun simple chalk made game and surprisingly this is another activity that will engage the heart into happy pumping as they race after their balls when it rolls beyond the long drawn box game we liek to call up in chicagoland,  goofy golfing. You can add more spice to it by turning over your lawn chairs at the very END of the squares/rectangles to serve as the bounce/roll back for the balls to end up back into the chalk squares, where they stop you don't know, but it will promote addition, subtraction, teamwork and again imagination. Allow them to name the squares, you'll be amazed at what they pop up with!

 Sit back with your book, be the tally keeper, or whatever your motherly heart desires and enjoy watching the development. Remember childhood only really lasts for 6570 days, that's not that long of a time, even on the days when you haven't showered, brushed your teeth or made the beds..not to mention the part about the laundry still sitting washed in the washing machine--whoops!

Good luck.

Sincerely,

a Crusty mom with three boys

www.crustybeef.blogspot.com

My days are never boring with two very creative and curious kids!  If I have creative materials available, they hardly complain about the television or computer being off.  I often tell them that too much tv or computer is bad for the brain! Daily, they push me to come up with new ideas to help nurture their creative minds. Some of the best ideas are created on a whim like the golf game we played with left over ping pong balls and foam tubes. We numbered the balls and tried to hit the other balls with our master ball that we colored one color. The foam tube was our golf club. Other ideas come from the many magazines and books scattered around my cluttered home. Also, others from my years of experience as an Elementary teacher. Recently, I created a blog that I am hoping will inspire other parents  to have fun being curious and creative with their kids!!  Below I will share one of my very first posts from Curious and Creative Kids!! http://raisingcuriousandcreativekids.blogspot.com

Puppets, Puppets, and More Puppets!

Over the years, I've been collecting puppets for the girls- hand and finger puppets. One of their very first puppets was a birds nest that had little baby birds sticking out of the top. I've found the best puppets at flea markets for pennies! A couple of my favorites include a bright colored dragon and a little girl that looks like one of the Muppet's. I also enjoyed having my students and girls create their own puppets. My students would use balloons and papermache to create the head. If kids don't mind getting their hands dirty, they love this! I have had a couple of students who didn't want to put their hands in the papermache mush!! (This great idea for making puppets came from my teaching partner!) Anyways, the students would make the puppets first and then work in a group and write a puppet show together. The challenge was to see how they would fit all of their characters into the story! I've also had older students create puppet shows about topics of study (for ex: endangered species) to share with younger students.
I told my youngest daughter Emmy what I'm blogging about and she is all gung-ho about creating a puppet theatre today! "We'll just tape cardboard together and paint it and cut out a hole, Mommy! Let's do it now!" It is 7:00am, so I did tell her she would have to wait until after breakfast!! I've been tempted to invest money into a fancy puppet theatre for them, but decided that they have more fun creating their own. Also, it is very easy to fold up and store and it's FREE! Below are some ideas for making puppets with your little ones and a few links to websites! Have fun and Mommies- don't forget to create your own puppet!!
PaperPlate Puppets: very easy to make with very little materials needed!

Materials: Lg. or sm. paper plates, markers or crayons, lg. craft stick, other fun materials such as googly eyes, yarn, feathers (optional), glue

Directions: Have child create face on front of paper plate and glue on fun materials if handy, attach to stick

Lunch Bag Puppets: Same materials as above- minus the craft stick. They put their hand into the puppet to make it talk!

Directions: Be sure they decorate the right side of the bag where it is folded for the face. Other than that, they can be creative about what they want to add. Scraps of material for clothes and buttons would be fun! My girls like creating animal puppets with lunch bags.

PaperMache Puppets: Go to links for details instructions on how to create this fun puppet. I haven't tried this with my little ones yet, but Abby is probably about the right age for this one now!

Well, I guess I better get the craft materials out! Looks like we are going to have fun today playing with puppets!!