while i didn’t initiate these (nor did i take pictures of them being made – sorry) i wanted to share what we learned and created so that you may be able to do this, too. the theme was spring, and we made some little friends to hang out with this season.

first was the pipe cleaner and wool caterpillar. he’s a fuzzy cute guy made by bending a piece of pipe cleaner in half, and fashioning some antennae out of the top, like so:

then we wrapped colorful wool roving around and around his body until he was all covered in fuzz. i curled his antennae at the end so that the pipe cleaner wouldn’t be sharp, though some kids at the faire coated the antennae in felt all the way to the tip, as well.

next we made a furry bunny rabbit. this was done in the “make a pompom” fashion, which if you’re a knitter or crocheter, you probably already know how to do. the cool thing is that novi could do a lot of this on her own, as we were using very wide (about 1.5″) natural colored wool roving instead of thin yarn.

here’s how ya do it. sorry i didn’t take pictures of the process – it was sort of awkward to do so, as a kindergarten waldorf teacher was just sweetly whispering instructions to novi as she did this, oh-so-quietly and slowly, while taking breaks to run screaming like a wild banshee normal 3-year-old through the grass in between steps, and asking the teachers “why is everyone just whispering here?” anyway, here’s the how-to, but you can google “how to make a pompom” if you are visual (like me) and need to see pictures.

• cut two piece of cardboard into the shape of a doughnuts. the bigger the bunny, the bigger the doughnut. (ours were about 5″ in diameter with about a 2″ in diameter hole in the middle.)
• hold the two cardboard pieces together and wrap the yarn evenly around the doughnut in a circle, working around the cardboard until the hole is full, but don’t wrap too tightly or cutting will be hard to do. don’t worry if you happen to run out of yarn – just leave the ‘tail’ on the outside and start with a new length of yarn. (this is the part novi did with very little assistance. the rest is for the grown-ups.)
• once the wrapping is complete, use the scissors to cut along the edge of the doughnuts a few layers of yarn at a time until you reach the cardboard.
• pull the two cardboard pieces apart slightly, and using another piece of yarn, wrap it a few times along the middle and tie tightly.
• pull out the cardboard pieces or cut a slit through the cardboard pieces so that they can be pulled away easily.
• fluff up your little pompom bunny.

take a look at the figure and see which part could become the head. then tie a piece of white yarn around what would be the neck so that the head stands apart a little bit from the body. then you can gently pull two pieces of the wool roving up with your fingers to create bunny ears. and there you have your faceless waldorf bunny.

except that when we got home, novi said “where’s his face?!” so she opted to glue buttons on for eyes and a nose… “blue eyes just like mine!” as opposed the the usual red rabbit eyes.

i imagine we’ll be making a lot of little springy friends this season, using various methods, so stay tuned and your spring altars, seasonal tables, and easter baskets will be chocked full of sweet little handmade creatures!

science: oil and water don't mix

i looked online to figure out how to go about this project, and found this little ditty. so we tried it their way, by mixing one color of paint with water and the other color with oil. however, they used tempera paints and we used liquid watercolors (as i believe my friend’s teacher had.) we got unsuccessful results at first using the instructions because, well, oil and water(colors) don’t mix. see? one of the colors so wasn’t happening.

so then we tried another way. we laid the paper on cookie sheets (the kind with edges) and drizzled oil onto the paper haphazardly. then we poured on pink liquid watercolors (diluted in water) and rolled it around. then some more oil. then blue liquid watercolors (diluted) and rolled the tray around. sometimes we used the eyedropper to drop blotches of undiluted color onto the paper for a vibrant effect, too.

and then we got marbling…

it was fun to see the effects on different colors of papers. the swirls weren’t as defined as the shaving cream method, but random and lovely nonetheless. we hung the sheets to drip dry in the garage overnight.

the next morning, novi was pleased with her results…

as was i… the paper made for cute stationery for a little note to a friend.

who couldn’t use more luck? thus, blarney stones! in ireland, the famous blarney stone resides at the top of blarney castle in the southwest part of the country, where tourists climb winding stairs just to kiss the stone. this is said to give them “blarney” which means luck, but more specifically eloquence. (um, the gift to gab isn’t really something my daughter needs more luck with!) in the craft world, it seems that blarney stones are traditionally rocks painted green, with little faces on them (kissing faces usually) or they could have shamrocks on them, instead.

we figured it’d be fun to make our own blarney stones for our seasonal altar at home. we collected a few smooth stones with a flat bottom from our backyard flowerbed and washed them. then we gathered up our crafty materials and green acrylic paint (well, we mixed our dark green with some yellow to make more of a kelly green color.)

we painted each of them (except one*) green and let them dry. to speed that along, i used a hairdryer on low heat.

after they were dry, we glued on googly eyes, felt mouths, embroidery floss hair, and even a hat made of felt and a flower sequins adornment.

after making three blarneys to kiss all month long, novi had enough, so i painted a shamrock onto the fourth stone with glitter glue (which might make a cute good luck charm to give to someone someday?)

* novi was adamant about “keeping the last stone natural!!!” so we did, and she gave it to her “good luck care bear” as his st. patrick’s day gift.

this is an easy and seasonal variation on pet rocks…  it can be fun any time of year to make a face on a rock, but if you want the luck of the irish on your side, be sure to kiss these green cuties every day!

tree in our front yard

one of my favorite spring blooms are cherry blossoms. i adore their soft pink petals. with spring in our hearts, we went to a friend’s house yesterday for a playdate. novi and i brought along some simple art materials: paper, sharpies, and a pink stamp pad. because the kids were going to make fingerprints, i got the water-based, washable, kid-safe stamp pad, as opposed to the dye-based kind. i have to say that it’s not very washable anyway, and i’m disappointed that the pink my store had was more hot pink than the beautiful pale color of a cherry blossom. oh well, next time.

regardless, the girls went to town making lots of fingerprints on small rectangles of white paper.

we noticed they preferred to use just one pointer finger, so we encouraged them to use several fingers at a time to cluster the pink dots, much like the tree would have clusters of flowers. (they didn’t really care about that though.)

the more random the pink splotches, the more full and fluffy the trees turn out to look. after we had several little sheets of fingerprints, the kids were ready to play and dance, so we mommas sat down with our sharpies. we made branches connecting the little pink poufs on the page to create the cherry blossom trees.

must clarify that my tshirt was a happy matching accident - must have really had cherry blossoms on the brain!

after the playdate (and lunchtime and naptime) we gathered up some materials to glue the little tree pictures to cards, and embellish them with rhinestones, sequins, and glitter glue.

the finished cards would make sweet “happy spring!” cards or even nice mother’s day cards.

an alternative to using fingerprints would be to use a paintbrush and some (pale) pink watercolors, but i figured that when making these into cards for family, they always cherish little paw prints.

last year, novi loved washington, d.c.’s cherry blossom festival. because we’re on the opposite coast this year, we won’t be able to go again, but we have these sweet images, memories, and art-making.

1 year ago at the cherry blossom festival, d.c.

happy almost spring!

influential art therapist, janie rhyne, once said that form leads to content, which is to say that the images that any artist (aka: your child) makes contain the stories, emotions, intellect, and world view of the artist. don’t miss out on the rich opportunity to engage in uncovering the gems embedded in the lines, shapes, and colors that come forth from your child’s imagination. not only will you learn something, but this step in the process often makes the unconscious conscious for the artist — or to speak plainly, it can help your child’s idea to come full-circle and be integrated into his or her everyday life.

here are some respectful ways to approach talking about your child’s art-making and art product:

during art-making, be an active observer by assisting as a “third hand” when the artist might need help. for example, using scissors to cut something a child may be unable to cut or getting a fresh glass of water to rinse used paintbrushes, etc. also, while your child engages in the art-making process, you can support this by reflecting back only what you see. you can reflect verbally (“i see yellow lines across the top of your page”), non-verbally (mirroring the child’s affect or posture) or graphically (making art alongside the child copying the child’s artistic “handwriting” -so to speak- as a way to communicate: “i am paying attention to you.”)

once the art product is complete, approach the image with a humble curiosity, never assuming that you know more than the artist knows about what it is or what it means. i often describe the respectful way of talking about art to be the opposite of a dream-decoder book. you know, the books that say “if you dreamt of a pig, you are greedy or stubborn.” nonsense. art symbols, just like dream symbols, are unique to the artist. for one kid, a pig might be the scary boar he saw at a state fair. for another kid, a pig could mean the sweet, soft, cuddly friend he hugs when he goes to sleep at night. (sure, there are symbols that arise that reflect the collective unconscious, etc etc, but that’s a whole other can of worms.)

"this guy is sad because mommy said he can't drive the car" (car in brown, upper left)

to keep this objective attitude, you can try to visualize the art object as a separate entity that has entered the room, and engage in conversation with your child about it. for example, ask your child the simple question, “what do you see?” to begin. trust the artist’s words about their own art. if you have a younger child who may not have the ability to describe the art, you can plainly tell about what you see. be careful not to interpret what the image “must be” or what it “looks like to [you]” or what it means. just describe the lines, shapes and colors that you see with your eye. by describing the image, meaning comes. (again, form leads to content.) so, now your conversation may lead into a story from the child about what s/he drew, who is in the picture, what is he doing, what is happening, what is he feeling, why is he feeling this way, etc…

another fun approach is to dialog with the art itself. kids are great at pretend and imagination, so suspend any adult self-consciousness and your disbelief and go for it with them. “if the duck that you drew could talk, what would he say to us?” (only after child has identified that her picture is, in fact, a duck.) then you, your kid, and the duck can have a full-on conversation. stay within the metaphor, behind the safe veil of play. allow the meaning to unfold organically. you don’t need to translate the play into what it must really mean in the life of the child, at least not out loud. this sort of imaginal dialog with art allows the art piece to be projected upon or acted upon by the child, which can often externalize the child’s internal world (and get out feelings s/he may be harboring.) try to curb your own inclinations to change, brighten, or smooth over content that may seem angry or violent or negative to you — art is a safe playground. art provides an opportunity for sublimation of the darker side of being human, and for a child to be able to do this through art is a sign of health. if the child seems to be looking for a way to ameliorate a darker situation in his or her own art, you can certainly follow his/her lead and provide assistance in changing and moving the story. even when helping with this, be sure to allow space for the child to exercise internal resources to arrive at his or her own unique solution and make choices.

the mean yeti

when looking at someone else’s art, always check in with your own biases and opinions. if we were acting as a child-centered art or play therapist, the rule would be not to criticize or (get ready for it) praise the art or the behavior. as a mom, it’s hard not to say, “that’s a beautiful flower you drew, sweetie!” but honestly, as supportive and nurturing as that statement is, it doesn’t provide the type of positive reinforcement that the examples above on how to talk about the art can give to your child.

above all, be authentic. be yourself. art making and art talk shouldn’t take you outside of your role as mommy (or daddy, teacher, grandma, babysitter, or whoever you may be to the child.) your child depends on your voice, your context, and your consistency. coloring with your kid at home every day isn’t art therapy, so there are no hard and fast rules. these are merely suggestions for ways you and your child might get more out of making art together, and suggestions for what to do when the art is complete and how to learn from it. if you want more info on art therapy or recommended reading along these lines, you can check out my professional web site’s art therapy page or feel free to contact me with questions.

being witnessed and feeling seen are huge confidence-builders for any human being, especially our little friends who are forming their sense of self in relationship to the world. the art process allows cargivers a really concrete way to give children the affirmation they need.

"mommy, i drew a jellyfish!"