Get Some Fun Art Inspiration with 500 Kids Art Ideas

January 26, 2017 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I picked up the book 500 Kids Art Ideas by Gavin Andrews rather at random on a visit to the craft store last summer. I was sure we would need more ideas for getting through the break, and because my daughter and I both love art, I thought this would be fun to look at.

And it is, but it is quite literally an idea book, not an instruction book. It’s a book of photographs of different projects and techniques, such as painting with cotton balls, drawing your house, painting an Expressionist-style portrait or simply playing around with paint (to give a few examples from a random page I opened to). There’s a brief preview of the book at the publisher’s website, linked above.

The ideas cover a wide range of materials and types of projects, including:

felt, fibers and more
made with nature
making art togetehr
mixed media and collage
paint projects
paper and book art
printmaking and stamping
recycled and upcycled
sculpture and 3-D art
sketches and drawings
art and technology

There are also a couple of pages on how to set up a creative space at home.

Flipping through the pages is sure to be inspiring for you and your kids, and it’s kind of nice to know that even if you’re inspired by a project you see here, your project (or your child’s) will be unique because you aren’t following instructions, just using the finished projects here as a jumping off point.

About the book: 176 pages, paperback, full color. Published June 2015 by Quarry Books, retail price $24.99.

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Summer Reading Printables and Tips for Parents

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Reflecting on the Past Year with Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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