Play, Make, Create, A Process-Art Handbook: With over 40 Art Invitations for Kids * Creative Activities and Projects that Inspire Confidence, Creativity, and Connection

by Meri Cherry

Packed with fun, edifying, and joyful art experiences, Play, Make, Create is filled with simple, yet powerful, "art invitations" that are focused on the making and doing, not just the final projects. 

Founded in a process-based philosophy, this unique book includes over 40 activities set up as invitations—carefully designed prompts or provocations to play or make something. Author Meri Cherry has over 20 years of teaching experience, and her blog www.mericherry.com has set the standard for meaningful and enriching process art experiences that are both manageable for moms, and engaging and fun for kids.

Play, Make, Create begins with an in-depth guide for parents, teachers, and facilitators that shares all the details—how to set up materials in an inviting way, how to present the activity and talk to kids about art, and how to stock your cabinets with the right materials for ongoing creativity, plus best-practice tips for clean up, trouble shooting, and more.

Within the book, parents will find four types of creative invitations. Invitations to Explore are process-based, open-ended activities that are set up for ongoing play and discovery. Invitations to Create inspire children to make something. By exploring, playing, and discovering what the materials offer, children will create exciting projects such as salt paintings, a mini book, a shadow box, puppets, nature crafts, clay sculptures and more, each with completely individual results. Invitations to Play are sensory-based activities such as making doughs, slime, moving toys, and more. Lastly, there are Invitations to Collaborate. These are fun group projects, perfect for playdates, families, classrooms, and parties.  

As children explore the activities in Play, Make, Create, they are engaged in active, meaningful, and socially interactive learning. Children are encouraged to wonder, to experiment, and to 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.

GetPlay, Make, Create and give your children the gift of creativity. These activities wake up kids' brains and get them busy doing things. The tactile, colorful, and engaging materials also offer a way to decompress and relax, as well as build fine motor and critical thinking skills. Giving your children these creative play opportunities is a way to say "I love you. I thought about you. You are important to me. Your ideas are important to me." 

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Parenting, Childrens

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 11, 2019

Reviews

[Toni]

What I liked the most about this book is the fact that it is consistent with its child-focused, process rather than product philosophy. The activities are not ready made lessons for tired teachers and caregivers, but invitations to explore, create and play. Mostly easy to set up, they are open-ended and will engage your children's senses and imagination. I was hooked straightaway as soon as I saw salt painting, cotton pad colour mix and papier mache unicorns. But there is so much more...Draw what you don't see, hammer time, corn starch homemade slime and volcano eruptions? I am going to have so much fun using this book. Is it going to be messy? definitely. Bring it on :-)
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarry Books (Quarto Publishing Group) for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

[Etienne]

I didn’t like the way this book present its activities. The activities themselves are simple, but not a bad choice and a good variety of them, but the editing/organization/presentation of them is just not working well to search through or just to enjoy it visually. This might look like a very small detail, but for me, in this type of book, this make a huge difference.

[Kate]

process over product

Too often, when we want to engage a child with art, we stress the final outcome. Children learn to judge themselves, and others! Children often become discouraged, rather than engaged, often leading to a lifetime of avoiding art making. Emphasizing process, fun, and creativity, leaves everyone feeling great about art. This book clearly lays out multiple “projects”, “experiences” and all kinds of art processes. I appreciate how she describes setting up the experience. Great, great resource!

[Julia]

Process-Art, what's that? It's art where the process of creation is more important than the result. It's about having fun with materials and colours. This book is full with ideas to use for process art, or as Meri Cherry put it, invitations to create. From collages, to homemade slime, to clay donuts - so many interesting projects.

The book provides materials lists, how tos and information on how messy the project could become. It's clear that the author is a mother and knows how out of hand some hands on sessions can get.

[Amy]

Celebrate the art of making and creating. Forty art invitations open the door for creating, exploring, and playing while celebrating beautiful created work. On the principle that “process art is about the journey,” this book takes this philosophy and explores it on all angles, for all ages and all developmental stages. Created to dive in and start, some of these projects might be messy, but the outcome is amazing. Set up stations to explore and create with sensory-based activities and projects that spark the imagination. From tracing on transparency films, cotton swab oil paintings, making oobleck, and even ice sculptures starts off the book’s projects. Spend a day making unicorn horns, magic wands, and sweet stuffies to spark the imagination to run wild.

For more of my newspaper column's reviews please visit https://www.instagram.com/amy_forthel...

[Naomi]

This book is all about focusing on the process of art making rather than the finished art product. It is a fantastic philosophy to adhere to because we can get so caught up in perfection that we forget about the enjoyment and importance of the creative process itself.
With a range of projects (which clearly identify the materials, top tips, photos, and guidelines) this book is a fantastic place for parents, carers, educational staff, care staff, and anyone working with children and young people to start engaging in the creative process alongside children.
The photos are bold, engaging, inspiring and offer lots of encouragement through the book’s invitiation to create. 4*.

[Leyla Johnson]

We have all been there, school holidays, kids are complaining that they are bored and they have friends over with nothing to do. Well this book will be a life saver, not only will it keep them amused for hours but they will be creative and had fun too.
Great projects, well explained and a bit messy, but what the heck, they will enjoy themselves. I love the papier mache unicorn in particular, but all the projects are fun and many a little less messy.
A great book to get the creative juices following

[Michelle Castaneda]

Play, Make, Create by Meri Cherry is a book full of art projects. I was excited to pick up this book, particularly because it was full of art invitations and I like that format. When my son opened the book, he did not take to it at all. The format was not inviting and it looked geared to older kids. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

[Maeve]

An introduction to process-based art for parents and educators. The author describes the importance of process-based art, and how parents can utilize the technique to connect with their children. The author also includes 43 activities and projects that range from very simple to more complex.

I really appreciated that the author included a guide for parents and facilitators that focused on effective language to use to inspire children to create.

[Audrey Stars in Her Eye]

Play, Make, Crate describes a variety of fun activities with a focus on creating be the best part of the process. There are a variety f fun projects from simple paintings to more complex paper mache projects. The author tells you how to deal with the mess and the rules she uses in her own house about things such as slime. These guided activities are fun and creative.

[Kate TerHaar]

I am always looking for ideas for projects and activities to share with students. Great projects, well done explanations, and wonderful photos make this a great resource.

[Megan]

I always judge NF books by the ideas and inspiration! I wrote down 15 ideas of things to share with my Girl Scouts this year.

[Trish]

Lots of great art projects to do with kids.

[Ciara]

Love how all the details are given so you can be prepared. Makes art simple fun and delightfully messy.

[Lisa Hammer]

As a non crafty person naturally who is mom to some super crafty kids, this has given me so many great craft ideas! I love Meri Cherry!

[Andrea]

Fun art invitations for many ages and great ideas on introducing many different types of materials.

[Nathalie]

It is a fantastic book for all parents. For me, a big "no TV" supporter, it is a real treasure. The book is reach on a different types of activities, where all you need is 15-30 minutes of your time and as a result you will get a full of joy child with creative thinking and happy memories. The book became our favorite right away. Children want to try EVERYTHING! We are using it constantly working on a new projects and doing again and again the ones we liked the most.
I will be definitely looking for more books of Meri Cherry.
Thanks very much to the author and NetGalley for a review copy, All opinions are mine.

[Hannah Jane]

Lots of great ideas, easy-to-understand instructions, and giant, exciting pictures. I can't wait to jump in and start making things! Though the unicorn horns are at the top of my list, the artist trading cards idea is my favorite craft idea. I especially love the story about what the author's family did with the cards. You will have to read the book to find out!