Art Games

I tried this game yesterday with kids: In a bin I had all kinds of different words written down on pieces of paper (folded so that they couldn't see the words right away). I like a good mix of animals and household objects. The kids would p...ull out two pieces of paper and draw a combination of the words they got. They had a few minutes to sketch it out. After they did about 10 combinations each, they got to pick their favorite one and draw it out on a different paper, and color it in. It was a lot of fun! My favorites were definately the Book Chicken, the Elephant Trees, and the Cat Spaceships. There was also Alien Ice Cream, Balloon Pony, and many more. The kids had a blast doing it.

We also played the broken telephone with art. One kid would come up with a rather detailed idea for a picture, like a Big Blue Shark Playing a Loud Flute Under Water, and whisper it to the next kid, and the next and the next, etc. At the end everyone had a different idea. It is a broken telephone after all. :)

For the first game and more cool art games see the article below by Becca Swanson:

http://voices.yahoo.com/10-art-games-play-classroom-7177042.html

I have been busy

Past few months I have been very busy building my site: www.happyfamilyart.com 
There are so many new projects on there, and yet more to come. 
Here are a few of the most recent ones:

Learn how to draw this wonderful Landscape in Colored Pencil:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Landscape-In-Colored-Pencil.html

 

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Or you could make a few notebooks as stocking stuffers:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Handmade-Notebook.html

 

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Or you could check out my awesome list of kids books that includes our favorites through the kids ages:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Great-Books-For-Children.html

 

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You could also read the Tips For Nurturing Creative Kids that I wrote over here:

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Tips-For-Creative-Kids.html

 

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There is also a few new art works, and mosaics:

 

 

I hope you enjoy it all!!!

Statue Of Liberty

This is our second trip to the Statue Of Liberty as a family.  After being there once only a few years ago, I don't know if we would have made this second trip so soon.  However, this time my aunt was visiting from Odessa, Ukraine.  We decided to go there and enjoy it together. 

We went on a weekday in October, and were not disappointed.  The weather was glorious, and since we took the ferry from the NJ side, it wasn't crowded at all.  The island hasn't changed much, and neither has the statue.  We took a nice leisurely walk around the island and shopped for some snacks and then souvenirs, and then caught the ferry back home.  None of us felt like climbing even a few steps up, so we were happy with just the walk.  I do have to say that the snacks and drinks have becove quite a bit improved.  Unfortunately, the Ellis Island was closed due to the government shut down this October.  We will just have to go and visit it next time.

Of course the views of NYC can't be beat from the ferry and from the island.  I do think that the ferry ride was the most exciting thing that day for kids and adults alike.  The statue, well, it is a statue.