The Present: Parenting and Pondering
August 24, 2011 by Lora Rossi
Filed under •-Feature, Art for kids, Conscious Parenting, Family & Relationships, Parenting tips
“Nothing is worth more than this day.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“My ‘to do’ list is longer than the CN Tower is high, my baby is teething, my older son has soccer practice and “wow!” it is already 4:30pm and I have no idea what we are going to have for dinner! Can I make something out of tomato paste and diet coke? I don’t think so!!!”
Sound familiar? This is my life. Or at least it used to be. Now don’t get me wrong, I still have days like this… but I am learning to have less of them, and that’s a good start.
If you feel overwhelmed…like you are going through the motions… forgetting what a rose looks like, never mind what is smells like, take heart. You’re not alone. But do yourself a little favour will you? At least humour me this one time.
The next opportunity you have to spend a little time with your child(ren), try something. Take a deep breath and put your ‘to do’ list down. It doesn’t matter if you can spare a day, an hour, or even 10 minutes. Yes, 10 minutes. Can you spare that? I bet you can. Now here is a little exercise you can try instead of folding the laundry, because if you and your kids have clothes on, the laundry can wait. All you have to do is stay in the present moment.
Ready? Good!
Go outside with your child(ren) for a short walk. What is the first thing your child notices? A house under construction? Snowflakes? A shiny red car? The yummy taste of the Popsicle he is eating? A living creature? It could be anything really.
Let’s take “a living creature” as an example. And let’s say it is everyone’s favourite little pest – an ant – scurrying around an ant hole somewhere in your yard or on a sidewalk.
Now take a few moments to stop and take a closer look with your child. Is it a big ant or a little one? How is it moving? Is it going fast or slow? What different colours do you see? Are there more than one? Is it carrying anything? Eating something? Point out the ant hole. Answer your child’s questions. Tell your child what you are wondering about as well. What is something your child already knows about ants? Talk about these things. Notice the number of legs an ant has. Encourage your child to use their senses. Do they make any noises you can hear? Will they touch the ant? Do they smell?
Very quickly, you and your child will be experiencing learning while at play.
Now…notice how you feel. More connected to your child? More connected to your life? More in the moment? And even perhaps…interested in all there is to know about ants?!?
Now if you have a camera on you – and many of you do these days with the invention of smartphones – take a picture or two. Get your child to take a few as well. Maybe they want to get a picture WITH the ant(s).
And oh what fun it is to expand on this little adventure!
Maybe it starts to rain and you go indoors. Now what were some of the questions you and your child were pondering about ants? A plethora of information is at your fingertips! Sit down at the computer with your child and teach them how to spell “ant” if they don’t know this. Help them sound it out! Now do a simple search to find out a few interesting ant facts. If you prefer…take a trip to the local library and select a few books about ants. Not only will your child think this collaborative learning is fun, but you are both together, still in the moment. And hey…you will probably read a few things yourself and quip, “Who knew!?!
The lesson can go on as long as you and your child find it fun and stimulating. It can even be done over the course of a few sessions depending on the structure of your life, your child’s age, etc. Draw a picture or make an ant out of an egg carton box and pipe cleaners. I’ll bet your child will be very excited to share what he or she has learned/made with an older sibling, a friend, a grandparent.
And guess what?
Suddenly, you will realize that much of your “to-do” list is much less important than what you just experienced. And after the next soccer practice you maybe you, your child and probably a few curious teammates and their parents will suddenly be observing a few little ants on the sidelines. And your will realize the soccer jersey that had a little dirt on it beforehand has a little more on it now.
And it won’t matter. You have given yourself and your child a gift; a present.
The present.
And you have started something that will create memories that will last a lifetime.
Lora Rossi is a mother of three, wife and writer who blogs about life on her website The Hugging Home.
Dirty Car Art
August 6, 2011 by VividLife Editorial
Filed under Art for kids, Positive media, Videos
Scott Wade is the Da Vinci of dirt. The artist from Wimberly, Texas loves nothing better than a dirty car. With brushes and other tools, he creates amazingly detailed images in the window dust of his car. The range of tones and detail create the look of charcoal on paper. That is, until it rains. But for Wade, the short life span of his work just adds to its power.
“CHALK4PEACE” The Song
May 16, 2011 by VividLife Editorial
Filed under Art for kids, Oneness, Vision
A video by Paradigm Pictures of the Crane Country Day School’s CHALK4PEACE event, 9/23/10. This is Crane’s third year of involvement with CHALK4PEACE, the global chalk art project. Since 2006, CHALK4PEACE has decorated more than 50 miles
of sidewalk with messages and visions of peace.
ART-Felt Learning: Summer Collage
May 5, 2011 by Sandy
Filed under •-Headline, Art for kids, Conscious Parenting, Videos
My whole life teachers would tell me to speak up. I wanted to be loud, to be center stage but my voice was quiet. When I grew up and had children, some teachers would call me to complain and try to fix my shy and quiet son. We worked together on ways to be more outgoing, but the harder we worked, the quieter he became. When my fourth child started school, he was loud and outspoken. It wasn’t long before he became pack leader in class and had the other boys imitating his walk and way of dressing. Soon, I received a phone call from his teacher telling me he was too loud. She told me he had too much self esteem and that I needed to fix him. That was the day I stopped trying to fix anyone.
I wanted to teach this lesson to children through art in the summer flower beds. God makes no mistakes, there is beauty in all of life.
The best way to learn about differences is in your backyard. But even in the Winter you can still enjoy the beauty outdoors. Notice the flowers. Some require hot sun, others shade, yet they all bloom beautifully, even the weeds. here are smells, texture, color to be explored when you look close enough. Wayne Dyer once said that the Sun doesn’t say to the Earth, “you owe me!” If we can release limiting beliefs in ourselves and others, our imaginations soar. Suddenly, there are blue moons, flying frogs and maybe a pink snake.
Helpful tips for creating your own art:
1. Look for cool paper at Yard sales, Estate sales and Garage sales. You would be surprised what kind of crazy paper you will find and cheap!
2. Don’t run with scissors, especially outside where you can fall into a big hole!
3. Find “CRAY-PAS” at the following link:
http://www.sakuraofamerica.com/Craypas-History
4. Try different ways of tracing your leaves/flowers, such as a negative. Meaning you lay the leaf down and shade outward from the edges, leaving the leaf as the negative space when you are done.
5. Try spraying hair spray over your chalk drawings to keep them from smudging!
You can help create our show! Just send us your ideas for art projects or something that you would like to see us do!
Tooth Fairy Boxes
November 3, 2010 by Sandy
Filed under •-Feature, Art for kids
“If you see the magic in a fairy tale, you can face the future.” Danielle Steel
Nobody knows for sure why fairies love baby teeth. Storytellers claim the teeth are used to help build magical villages but I say they hold the sounds of laughter. Perhaps they’re kept in jars with lids that save all of baby’s first words in the tooth. Whatever the story, a visit from a tooth fairy is very special. They only visit at night when dreams are placed on pillows so if you have a child with a wiggly tooth, better hurry, it’s tooth fairy box making time!
Since fairies love nature, they’re appreciative of leaves, flowers, any small stones, bark and bits of chocolate. My friends and I used cardboard rolls from spools of ribbons. Glue any kind of torn bits of paper to cover the cardboard. Small pressed flowers were then glued over the paper. If you don’t have any, you can microwave leaves for 35 – 60 seconds in between newspaper or use an iron to dry the leaves. Fairies love Mother Earth and will consider a larger coin for those who use recycled objects such as lids, cans or soap boxes for tooth trades.Lids may be optional because fairies are tiny winged creatures that can’t lift heavy things but we used the tops of recycled frozen orange juice can lids. Paint the tops with acrylic paint, glue more flowers on top. You can hot glue a small bead or crystal on top to make opening the box easier.
We used old candles and melted them in a potpourri burner while an adult spooned the melted wax over the box to seal the pressed leaves and flowers. You can sprinkle glitter on the box before the wax dries, make sure to do this to the lids as well. Happy tooth fairy box day!
“To all night fairies that fly at night, take my baby tooth out of sight. This box for you to keep, is even trade for wishes in my sleep.” Sandy J.
