Cygnet Small

A Little Something over at The Artful Parent

cygnetsmall — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:05:48 +0000

Jean at The Artful Parent is hosting guest posts this month and today I wrote a little something about an experiment we recently tried. Thanks Jean for putting it up there with all of the wonderful guest posts. What an honor to be a part of your blog, which I have loved for many years.

Now if I was a good blogger I would have had this post up this morning to welcome any visitors from her site. But, since I am decidedly a sporadic blogger at best, hopefully this late evening note will suffice.

And, with that, I will leave you with a picture (totally unrelated, from the summer!) of the kids painting with cornstarch (one of the many ways we use it around here).

Where do you draw the line?

cygnetsmall — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:07:45 +0000

So, my son just drew a sword. On the tablecloth. I want to encourage his (enormous) creativity, but where to draw the line? Suggestions?

(I know this particular work of creativity was likely inspired by Draw a Stickman. In case you were wondering.)

Night Drawing

cygnetsmall — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:53:30 +0000

I wrote this whole post on my phone and when I tried to attach the pictures it crashed and my words were lost. Super frustrating. But, the project was so cool I’m trying again (and plan to save before adding images!).

We have really been enjoying Mariah Bruehl’s Playful Learning and last week when the moon was clear and bright we decided to do the moon journal project. The idea was to make little books (which we did out of a piece of construction paper and staples) and observe the cycles of the moon.

Well, my guys were having SO much fun drawing at night with flashlights and oil pastels that they completely filled their journals with pictures not only of the moon but the house across the street with one light on, the big old oak that appeared black in the darkness and the streetlight that glowed very brightly. It was so much fun that they asked to do it two nights in a row, despite chilly temperatures.

Below are images of the kids working as well as some shots of the finished pages.

Halloween is Almost Here!

cygnetsmall — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 01:15:38 +0000

The Halloween insanity begins for us tomorrow and I’m frantically trying to finish costumes. Part of it is going well (Eleanor’s bird) and part is a disaster (Henry’s Silver Surfer). Luckily, Adelaide is wearing a hand-me-down.

Here are some pictures from Eleanor’s bird costume. Inspiration came from The Artful Parent’s wings and from Elsie Marley’s owl mask. I used some wool (from old clothes, felted in the wash) from a rug hooking project that I haven’t worked on in a LONG time (a whole other story). I thought it might add a bit of warmth on a chilly fall night. The colors are not traditional, but I’m liking the way it is coming together. (Sorry the pictures are dark, the basement is not very well lit, especially at night.)

Kid directed art afternoon(s)

cygnetsmall — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:16:39 +0000

The kids have been entertaining themselves after school by working on various projects. This is not only great for me (I can make dinner!!) but it is great for them as well. The two bigger kids don’t get as much time together now that E is in full day kindergarten, so these quiet moments working and talking are all the more special.

The other day they decided to do some leaf rubbings after reading a library book about leaves (wish I’d written the name of the book down, it was quite good.)

After the leaf rubbings there was a Cheerios necklace making (and eating) session.

Then, a couple of days later, they decided to work on some spooky stuff for Halloween – a sign and a spider web.

[~~Grr, having trouble with pictures from my phone being published. Will work on this!~~ Seems to be fixed.]

Painted Pumpkins

cygnetsmall — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:52:29 +0000

Thanks to our great neighbor for this painting pumpkins project. The best part (in the kids opinion) is that they get to use glitter glue. I think I owe her a new package of glitter glue though, my guys are a bit heavy handed with the stuff.

For the start of school

cygnetsmall — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:08:55 +0000

I made these little hefty hearts for the kids to put in their pockets on the first day at their new schools. I saw the idea on Pinterest (to which I am now hopelessly addicted) from the blog Curly Birds and thought it would be a perfect little reminder that their family loves them dearly. I used wool felt, stitched with a blanket stitch and stuffed with barley (and love). I had hoped the barley would add slightly more heft, but I am happy with the result nonetheless. I also added a drop of lavender oil, so it smells extra nice. I don’t think I’ll be able to wait on giving them until the first day though.

(Edited to add Curly Birds website on 9/7/11.)

Nature Books

cygnetsmall — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:19:08 +0000

We were having a superhero figurine crisis earlier, so I sent the kids to “school” to work on nature journals. The idea came from Mariah Bruehl’s Playful Learning book (which I am loving). We made these simple books and I told the kids to find leaves, grass and flowers to fill the books with. They collected handfuls of nature from our backyard and set to work with their glue sticks. I think once the glue dries I will press the books (and their contents) and we can label them or add our own drawings.

Party Favors

cygnetsmall — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:03:23 +0000

Party favors for my Big Man’s 4th birthday. Big batch of playdough colored with our big box of food coloring and packaged in little tubs purchased at Michael’s. Writing this post on my phone. Going to try and get on the computer later and put up a couple of other things we have been working on.

Observation Drawing

cygnetsmall — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:17:44 +0000

Thanks to technology, you can look up an image of anything, such as a “spotted baby deer” and do a drawing while looking at the actual thing! This project was requested this morning as a part of “playing school”. What fun!