The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family's Life with Art and Creativity

by Jean Van't Hul

Bring out your child’s creativity and imagination with more than 60 artful activities in this completely revised and updated editionArt 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 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

Genres: Parenting, Art, Nonfiction, Family

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

Jean Van’t Hul is an author, entrepreneur, and coach with over two decades of experience in making and harnessing the power of vision boards to achieve goals and make desired life changes. Her dedication to understanding how to build the bridge between a dream and a tangible outcome has inspired her own life-long quest and work. 

Passionate about helping people manifest their dreams, Jean’s mission is to help individuals unlock their full potential and lead a fulfilling life with purpose, authenticity, and abundance. She shares her knowledge, ideas, and processes through workshops, coaching, and writing at LifeDreamery.com. 

In addition, Jean is the founder of The Artful Parent website and an award-winning author of several books on children's art and creativity, seasonal crafts, and family fun. 

Jean lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her partner and daughters.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family's Life with Art and Creativity. Beautifully presented, includes not only how-to art instruction but excellent instruction for parents on how to encourage their young artists and invite art into daily life, including reminders to look for art in nature, in science, in cooking.... It contains an extensive back section with everything from suggestions for further reading to a list of the best art materials to have on hand for children by age group. Wonderful for first-time parents! I loved the suggestions of how to make time for art (even if you have a busy schedule) and gentle reminders of how to talk with your children about their art so that you encourage instead of inhibit their creativity. I especially appreciated reminder that we the parent need to be aware of the behavior and mindset we are modeling -- if you don't feel you are creative, "fake it 'til you make it!" and don't voice your own perceived artistic shortcomings in front of your young children (this was a good reminder for me as I definitely self-deprecate when it comes to my artistic ability (or, as I see it, lack thereof)) they will have time in later years for self-judgement and judgement by others, allow these very early years to be a time of joyous exploration. I also much appreciated the section on ways to encourage children who don't naturally gravitate to art -- as well as the reminder that, hey, maybe they just won't be into art and that is okay, too. (This is where I think the sections about finding the artistic in science, cooking and nature are great because children who might not want to "do art" can still BE artistic in other ways). As a mother of two children, a not-so-artsy seven-year-old and a totally art-loving almost-five-year-old, I found encouragement and ideas for both my boys and left feeling inspired, rather than overwhelmed, by what was presented. Highly recommend!

There's also a website (TheArtfulParent) if you can't find the book.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

So.many good ideas! Also love the way she encourages talking about art.

10SIMPLE ART INVITATIONS
* 1. Oil Pastel Painting. Set out oil pastels, cotton swabs, and a small dish of vegetable oil with a piece of sturdy paper.
* 2. Light Table Art. Set up a simple art activity, such as drawing or collage, over a light box, a DIY light table, or even against a sunny window.
* 3. Fingerprint Art. A stamp pad and a pen are all you need, but a fingerprint art book can provide some fun ideas, too.
* 4. Art Printables. Print out a creativity-inspiring sheet from the internet (I have many on ArtfulParent.com), and set that out with some markers or whatever is appropriate for the printable in question. (But mostly avoid coloring books, which stifle creativity.)
* 5. DIY Art Activity Pages. Make your own art prompts, such as sketching a few blank picture frames for the kids to fill in with mini artworks, pasting an image from a magazine to inspire the child to complete the picture, or arranging eye stickers on a piece of paper and asking, “Who is this?”
* 6. Q-Tip Pointillism. Paper, two to three shallow dishes of paint, and some cotton swabs are all you need for this art activity!
* 7. Pasta Collages. A sturdy paper plate, pasta shapes (colored pasta is extra fun!), and some glue allow kids to create collages in any design or image they like, including mandalas and faces.
* 8. Hole Art. Set out a piece of paper with a hole cut out of it (or a shape pasted onto it) along with a drawing tool or some paints.
* 9. Watercolors and Salt. Sprinkling salt over wet watercolors creates magic! All you need are watercolors (liquid works especially well), salt, and sturdy paper.
* 10. Tape Art. Tape of all kinds is fun to experiment with. Add scissors and paper to a setup with any kind of tape, including washi tape or colored masking tape.

* Contact Paper Suncatchers
* Spin art on a paper plate
* Marble rolling: lay paper in cardboard box. Roll marbles in cups of tempura paint, spoon onto paper, then tilt the box to roll them around.
* Make your own postcards
* Glue batik (w/ acrylics): lay fabric on wax paper, draw design w/glue & allow to dry completely, paint on top & let dry. Soak the fabric in hot water for an hour to soften the dried glue, then scrub off.
* Toothpick construction
* Symmetry painting (Blotto/smash art - fold paper then open to create crease, blob paint on one side then fold over the blank side & smush) - start with shapes for holidays or use product as prompt for drawing
* Painting on foil
* Trace shadow shapes
* Bean mosaic
* Body tracing, then in the outline: paint, collage
* Papier-mâché bowls: cover outside of bowl w/ plastic wrap & set upside down. Dip newspaper in paste (INGREDIENTS 1 cup flour 2 cups water 3 tablespoons salt ½ cup glue (white Elmer’s works best) whisked together), then layer on bowl. Allow to dry completely, remove from bowl gently & paint.
* Shaving cream art: Fill pie plate with SC, add drops of liquid watercolor paint on top. Swirl the paint around with a stir stick for a marbled effect. Press a piece of card stock on top, lift up then scrape off & let dry.

Art games (make art lighthearted, about connection. Also, kids take risks while they play.)
* Back & forth drawings (you do a little, they do a little)
* Scribble art (set timer: scribble abstract shapes, each person passes to left or swaps, then color in sections and use it as a prompt or keep it abstract)
* Simon says, Draw! (for example: Simon says: Draw dots, Draw stripes, Draw squiggles, Switch places with the person across from you, Draw zigzags, Draw a funny face, Hand your marker to the person to your right, Draw a monster, Draw something really tiny, Take five steps to the left around the table, Draw something really big, Draw something that lives under the sea). Can collaborate on a big page or get individual pieces of paper.
* Combination Man: Each person starts w/ a piece of paper and draws a head & neck (of a person, animal, alien) at the top of your paper, without letting anyone else see your drawing. Fold the top of the paper down to cover the head, letting only the bottom of the neck show. Then pass paper on, so they can draw torso & arms. Pass on to draw legs & feet.
* Musical chairs art: When the music stops, they will stop painting, pick up their paint cup and brush, and move around the table clockwise, stopping at a new painting spot when the music starts again. At their new spot, they will once again paint to the music.
* Double doodle drawing - a marker in each hand!
* Blind contour drawing (look at object continuously, keep pencil on paper)
* Jackson Pollock–Inspired Splatter Painting
* Round Robin: draw a thing, send it to a family member for them to add to it, etc.
* Murals - themed, hang paper w/ masking tape or put on floor
* Paint a cake/cookies/cupcakes - start w/ white frosted surface and give kids edible paint (1 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons milk Food coloring in assorted colors) & paintbrushes.
* Mixed media collaboration
* Paint on assorted textured materials, such as crumpled foil or paper, paper towels, doily, fabric, wood, corrugated cardboard, tissue paper, an egg carton, etc.

Action art
* Splatter painting - Jackson Pollock style
* flyswatter painting, paint dancing
* Paint blowing with a straw
* Spin Art (paper plate with a few spoonfuls of paint in the middle, in salad spinner)
* Use lazy Susan w/ paper on top to spin draw with pencils or markers
* Painting with Marbles
* Land Art
* Action Painting with Cars

* Bubble Prints: Pour ½ to 1” of water into a bowl, add a few squirts of dish soap, & a few drops of food coloring. Poke a hole in the straw so kids can blow out, but not suck in bubbles. Insert straw in bubble solution and blow until you have a mound of bubbles, then press paper in lightly
* Paint a Song (“Choose colors the song reminds you of and listen to the tempo and tone of the music. Paint big or small, fast or slow.”)
* Dance painting: with shoes dipped in paint
* Splat Painting: Dip a cotton ball in liquid watercolor paint, then use a spoon to transfer it to the paper. Hit the paint-soaked cotton ball with the back of the spoon and watch the paint splatter on impact!
* Shaving Cream Painting on the Window
* The Exploration Tool Kit by Keri Smith


Prompts
Begin a simple drawing on paper or the chalkboard & add a question:
* “What’s inside this house?” / picture frame
* Use outlines: “Fill in the faces” (eggs, trees, hearts, jackolanterns)
* Complete the: car, castle, monster
* Drawing around a magazine image, such as eyes
**Prompts can help kids expand out of their self-defined drawing habits and try different styles and subjects.
artfulparent.com/drawingprompts


“Extra” (Non-basics) Materials ideas
Paper plates
White basket style coffee filters
Sticker and tape resist
Styrofoam printing (brayer, mini roller)
Poster board
Washi tape
Hole punch
puffy paints, chalk paint, fabric paints, and window paints.
Fabric crayons
Shaving cream - foam, not gel
Oil pastels
Paint droppers
Glue gun (esp. for collage w/ buttons, pasta, etc.)
Misc. office supplies
Recycle bin things
Potter’s clay
Thrift store canvas to paint over

Talking about their Art in open, constructive ways
* Resist value judgements (“that’s pretty!” - encourages seeking your approval, instead of deciding for themselves)
* Don’t ask about subject matter (puts pressure to make it “about” something, guessing makes them lose confidence in their ability - disappointed you can’t see it)
* Comment on process, but no need to make running commentary
* More helpful:
* “I see you’re: drawing big today / using a lot of yellow / drawing a lot of circles / doing a lot of mixing and creating new colors.
* “That looks like it was fun to make!”
* “Want to tell me about your painting?” (Sometimes I just listen closely and add a “Hm,” “Oh,” “Wow,” or “What about this?” as I point to some aspect of the painting she hasn’t mentioned yet.)
* “You really worked hard on that!”

* Are you modeling creativity? —-> And talking about your own work in a process, not product way!! (I.e. don’t denigrate your own work). Be at peace with your own abilities.
* Are you encouraging free expression?
* Accept what has been created, whether or not it makes sense to your eyes.
* Be sincere: If you say you love everything a child creates, he won’t feel that your approval is genuine or worth very much.
* Encourage them to think about their own work.
* Don’t assume their work is finished.
* Encourage exploration of: materials (colored pencils, chalk, oil pastels, crayons), ideas (big/small, themes from life, similar and contrasting colors), and techniques (watercolor resist, scratch art, tangle drawing) in his own way.
* Encourage wonder: What is this new material? Where does it come from? What do you know about it? What do you wonder? And of course, “How can we find out?” is a great question to get everyone thinking and researching.
* Help build vocabulary. (For example, w/ clay: hand and finger actions elicit descriptive words and associations such as poke, pinch, stretch, slide, pound, squeeze, roll, ball, coil, join.)
* The basic question to work with is “What happens if?” “What happens if we try painting with dirt or tea? Can we use this stick as a drawing tool? How many different colors of stones can you find in the gravel at the playground? What if these leaves were a kind of paper? What if your bowl were an instrument?”
* Thought experiments: “If you were able to fly, how would the world look? What if every tree had a secret door in it?”
* The artist and author Robert Henri wrote about art, “What we need is more sense of the wonder of life and less of the business of making a picture.” - Art as an articulation of ideas, expression of emotion, and exploration of wonder.
* Don’t be an expert - treat art as co-learning.
* Make mistakes. Let your child see you “fail” and recover. When you make mistakes—big and little—you show your child that things don’t always go as planned. And when she sees you work though these mistakes, she learns how to recover from her own mishaps. Mistakes can be surprising, and they often lead to fresh discoveries and insights.
* Teach respect for materials & responsibility by enlisting children in cleanup.


**Sit down and do art yourself!
“Realism is overrated. Draw a completely abstract elephant in nice, bright colors. Or just draw abstract shapes or markings, period. Doodle squares, circles, spirals, hash marks, letters, or whatever else you think of across the page. Enjoy the process. Keep your pen moving. Perhaps try for a Zentangle-type design or a mandala.”
Take pictures & notes of their process

Nature art
float blossoms in bowls of water; arrange the stemmed flowers in vases; and use the petals in an endless succession of flower art, including suncatchers, collages, pressed-flower art, and flower crowns.

* Paint rocks
* Print with “nature brushes“ (leaves, flowers, pine boughs)
* Do leaf rubbings
* Make nature collages, flower sun catchers
* Observe and draw in nature (en plein air)

Music
The idea that all voices are for using, no matter what they sound like, is a powerful message for children to hear.

Use simple, open-ended questions like such as “What did you notice?” or “What did you hear?”

Have new experiences to “fill the well”

Here are three ways of thinking about writing poetry with young children:
* Poems can appear by surprise, like hummingbirds in the garden.
* You can look for poems the way you search for just-right pebbles on the beach.
* Poems can be written through observation and thoughtful effort, as when you read a map and start hiking.


Recycling bin Robots

Teacher Tom blogger (teachertomsblog.blogspot.com)


* DIY Geoboard Art (w/ pins & rubber bands)

* Colorful Paper Sculptures : make tubes, accordion folds, pyramids, spirals, fringe (making cuts along the edge of a piece of paper), curls (wrap strips around pencil and holes a few seconds). Use hole punch, tape, glue, staples.

* Self-Portrait on the Mirror (w/ window crayons, chalk markers, or tempera) OR draw a portrait of someone else sitting on the other side of a window.
* Watercolor Experiments: wet-on-wet, rubbing alcohol (w/ dropper), crayon/sticker/tape/glue resist
* Cardboard Shape Sculpture (air dry clay on base, then stick in cardboard pieces or pipe cleaners w/ beads etc.)

* Pick and Paint a Rainbow: find flowers of various colors and try color mixing to get those colors, then make a painting with them.
* Double-Doodle Drawing: marker in each hand, drawing a symmetrical thing at the same time.
* Stained Glass Art with Black Glue: Draw a picture with black glue (can make w/ white glue mixed with black acrylic), let dry, then fill in the “stained glass” lines with colorful watercolor paint.
* Light Table Art (can diy a light box: Place white holiday lights in a transparent storage box with the cord running out under the lid. Plug the lights in.) Draw on lightweight paper w/ markers. OR Tape thin paper to a sunny window and work with nature’s light box.
* DIY Scratchboard Art: Cover card stock w/ oil pastel drawings. Use a foam brush to paint over the oil pastels with black paint. Scratch pictures & designs through the black paint with a toothpick. Works best while the paint is still wet, but you can also save this step for later.

* Hole Challenge Drawings: cut a hole out of paper. It can be small or large, centered or off-center, circular or square, an abstract blob, different numbers of holes. Then let them draw around it. OR offer the cut out blob.
* DIY bathtub paint: ¼ cup cornstarch ¼ cup shampoo or body wash 1 cup shaving cream (foam, not gel) Food coloring Paintbrushes (optional)
* Homemade finger paints: 3 cups water 1 cup cornstarch Food coloring in assorted colors (In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Whisk in the cornstarch, stir constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and let cool, add food coloring, store in airtight containers. **Tools to use w/ fingerpaint: comb, chopsticks, bubble wrap
* Dyed pasta for collage/necklaces: Add one teaspoon rubbing alcohol to a bag of pasta, close the top, and shake until the alcohol is evenly distributed. Add food coloring and shake to distribute. Empty the contents on baking sheet to dry.
* Salt puffy paint (1 cup salt, 1 cup flour 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon tempera paint, 3 or 4 squeeze bottles (find squeeze bottles w/ kitchen equipment or hair styling materials. Old ketchup/mustard bottles.) Use on Cardboard, foam core, or card stock. Takes a few days to dry.

* Playful Exploration of Art Ideas and Materials by Rachelle Doorley

[Red · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parents/caregivers/teachers, put this book on your list!

The first half is a solid introduction to why you should allow your kids to get messy and be creative. If you are someone who doesn't care for mess, and you struggle with where to start for these projects, I think the encouragement you find will be extremely valuable. Additionally, the author makes reference to a number of other books that are out there as resources; pages 251 to pages 263 is nothing but references by types of art-interest.

The second half of this is exactly what I needed-- my kids have gotten a little older and I think the art projects (block art, bubble paint, spin art, etc) are going to be extremely fun! I'm especially glad to have these in the bag for when we inevitably get our Jan/Feb ice storms and school shuts down!

[Jyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was underwhelmed with the projects suggested in this book, also wasn't expecting half of it to be arguments towards being artful. I expected much more emphasis on projects, perhaps that is my bad for going in with expectations. I was hoping for something that felt more akin to the Artful Parent Instagram page, whereas this book doesn't achieve that, in my opinion, nor does it really add anything that I couldn't have found from the page.

[Beatrice Mabrey-Robeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great projects, clear instructions

I thought the book offered a wonderful selection of art projects tailored to different personalities and occasions. Would have appreciated greater attention to sustainability.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciate the dedication of the first half of this book to the "why + how" instead of just jumping into a few activities to do with your kids. It helped me understand that our baking sessions are just as much art as pulling out the paints, thank you!

[Bobbi Galvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t think I got a single NEW idea from this book. It was nice to be reminded how and why art is important for children, though.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The craft ideas were great in part 2. The chapters of part 1 felt like she was just trying to fill a page count for the book. More words than necessary. I didn't find much new there. Repetitive.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good!! Wish I’d read it when my kids were younger, but still picked up some tips for my 9 and 7 year olds.